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II d- Enterprise
informal networks
The business world is not
alien to these dramatic sociological changes either, as JF David [16] points out: “[…]When the business environment is fraught with
complexity, enterprises tend to change their behaviour and try
and adapt to this new environment. Instead of the traditional
top-down approach, organisations tend to favour experiments and
field trials; as a result, it may happen that certain minority
stakeholders are promoted at the forefront and their approaches
may become mainstream”.
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Figure
5: our ever-changing world as seen by JF David |
This dynamic and reciprocal influence between technology [17]
and social behaviour is the main reason for the amazing development
(First at home, then in the office) of a flurry of collaborative
tools. One should also be aware that new technology adoption always
takes place in the consumer market nowadays before the business
market replicates these changing behaviours [18]. This is also a
very significant sign of the times.
II e- These tools that make working in informal networks easier
If we agree that as hypertext and the Internet developed, networking
practices increased (as was shown earlier on), I must stress however
that they are only a starting point. E-mail was obviously the
number one driver, which made it possible to lift the barriers
against communication within the organisation itself to begin
with, because it meant that it was no longer necessary to go through
the hierarchy for two similar levels in the organisation to talk
to one another. That was a very big change which did a lot for
lifting hindrances to communication. It also forced middle management
to change its way of working and mostly change the way that they
were behaving with their staff. Middle managers’ power shifted
from authority to suggestion followed by control. The second barrier
that was lifted by the introduction of e-mail was that of inter-enteprise
communications. Indeed that was a major change in the way that
one was doing business. Enterprises were within easy reach of
their clients and vice versa, suppliers and partners could easily
communicate with their clients too.
Whoever was in the organisation, however high in the hierarchy
could also engage in conversations with clients, suppliers or
partners alike. Once again, it meant that interfacing with the
outside world was no longer a privilege that only a few managers
or VP’s could afford. This came as one more blow to authority
as we knew it. This change took place in the early 1990’s and
today’s network giant Cisco Systems was created in 1984 to address
– and even provoke – that change. Cisco’s founders were two researchers
who were working in different places on different incompatible
and non-connected IT systems. They invented the network router,
which made Cisco so famous, in order to be able to exchange e-mails
from their workplace to agree on who would feed the dog when he
or she gets back home [21].
II f- Collaborative work and informal
networks
The communications revolution that we have just described has
impacted asynchronous communications. Synchronous communications
were bound to be next on the agenda and this is happening now.
The idea that people should share the same document and work on
it in real time is not very new in fact. Way back 1993-1994, Microsoft
Exchange and Lotus Notes were already competing with each other
on the concept of Groupware. But it took a long long time for
this concept to be actually deployed in the field and become a
reality. Without diminishing the interest of both Lotus and Exchange,
I would like to stress the importance of the Web in the development
of collaborative work. On the one hand, there are fun tools like
Microsoft Netmeeting [22], but also Peer to Peer network clients (Napster in 2000, Kazaa,
emule ETC…). Most of the latter are illegal but they also undeniably
provide instant gratification to their users. On the serious side
of collaborative work there is Webex [23]and its webconferencing clones. Webconferencing made it possible
to develop that kind of services without having to invest in heavy
and costly infrastructure. This is yet another new revolution
of the way that people work everyday.
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Box1: Example No. 1: Finding a new position through
networking
Europe is a nice place but finding a job here can prove
a little difficult. It’s mainly the case when you get older
or vice versa, when you are inexperienced [19].
However, uncertainty is a strong driver for change, and
interesting methods are cropping up here and there. Apart
from LinkedIn and its clones, I have a particular liking
for Daniel Porot’s PIE method [20]. Porot is a Swiss consultant who invented
his own special networking approach (PIE stands for Passion,
Interest, Employment). Porot’s idea is very straightforward:
80% of jobs are never advertised through normal channels.
Daniel Porot concludes that you might as well forget about
the good old CV, if you want to be noticed by the right
people. His method emphasises that you had much better show
your passion and start talking about it if you want to be
able to stick your fingers in the ‘PIE’.
The PIE method is threefold:
1. P for Passion: start prioritising the activities for
which you have a passion. Then make a few appointments with
people who share your Passion. Just talk to them about your
common interest. Don’t even think of telling them you are
looking for a new job at that stage. Passion interviews
have nothing to do with begging for a job: don’t spoil it.
At the end of the interview ask the interviewee two questions:
a) Could I go and see them upon your recommendation?
b) Could you please recommend three other names of persons
with whom I should make appointments in order to exchange
valuable information on that subject?
2. I for Interest: it is very likely that after approximately
10 interviews of that kind you will have raised the interest
of one or more of the persons you will have visited. It
is recommended to resist the temptation to say yes to job
offers at that stage.
3. E for Employment: now you will most certainly have created
a network of people who share your interests. It is up to
you to keep this network alive. It is also most probable
that you will have found a new job in one of the areas which
excites you most and this is the the starting point for
a brand new adventure. uld you please recommend three other
names of persons with whom I should make appointments in
order to exchange valuable information on that subject.
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[11] This phenomenon is more recent in south European
countries but it may sound like ‘déjà-vu’ to our north
European readers, mainly in the UK.
Cp. The Time of Tribes: Decline of Individualism in Mass
Society (Theory, Culture & Society S.) by Michel Maffesoli,
Rob Shields (Introduction), Don Smith (Translator) [Amazon link click here]
[12] Cp Femme actuelle n° 1037 du 09 au 15 août 2004
p41: « à quelle tribu appartient-il ?
[13] Flashmobs are seemingly spontaneous gatherings
in one or several places for the sake of having fun (http://flashmobs.com).
[14] See http://flashmobs.com. their actual
catchphrase is ‘Breathing life and vibrance into the dull
corners of modern life’.
[18] Cp. Visionarymarketing ICT marketing dossier,
Ibid.
[19] NB: strong variations exist between the UK and continental Europe.
Still most of the advice delivered by Daniel Porot are
still applicable, whatever the circumstances.
[21] This anecdote by Gary Bridge, Senior VP IBSG Cisco Trusted Advisor Club, May
2004, Paris.
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