http://wwc.demillo.com/2009/11/30/murder-starvation-catastrophe/ When innovation and execution collide Fri, 30 Jul 2010 00:46:11 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ http://wwc.demillo.com/2009/11/30/murder-starvation-catastrophe/#comment-80 The Saga of Eric the Red and the Anthropology of Innovation: A Parable « WWC Mon, 28 Dec 2009 15:02:44 +0000 http://richde.wordpress.com/?p=499#comment-80 [...] Murder, Starvation, Catastrophe [...] [...] Murder, Starvation, Catastrophe [...]

]]> http://wwc.demillo.com/2009/11/30/murder-starvation-catastrophe/#comment-70 richde Tue, 01 Dec 2009 14:42:16 +0000 http://richde.wordpress.com/?p=499#comment-70 All good points. The re-emergence of guilds an underlying theme of both my Edupunk posts and "Regional Advantage." I hadn't thought to frame it that way, so thanks for the pointer. The "Collapse" metaphor breaks down because the long-term consequences of enterprise collapse tend to be confined -- more like island societies than, say, Mayans. The main lessons lie in cultural dimensions which I will argue points toward leadership and, in the case of companies, individual actors. All good points. The re-emergence of guilds an underlying theme of both my Edupunk posts and “Regional Advantage.” I hadn’t thought to frame it that way, so thanks for the pointer. The “Collapse” metaphor breaks down because the long-term consequences of enterprise collapse tend to be confined — more like island societies than, say, Mayans. The main lessons lie in cultural dimensions which I will argue points toward leadership and, in the case of companies, individual actors.

]]> http://wwc.demillo.com/2009/11/30/murder-starvation-catastrophe/#comment-69 Mike Miller Tue, 01 Dec 2009 04:17:50 +0000 http://richde.wordpress.com/?p=499#comment-69 Interesting direction! Looking forward to seeing you apply Diamond's societal success criteria to modern enterprises! I think though that Diamond was a little too broad, too reductivist in places and that it's too much of a generalization to say that all ancient cultures - or just the array of ones covered in Collapse - were vertically integrated affairs. I think it's more accurate to say that since the emergence of monarchism and the modern nation state (circa 1500 in the West) most succesful enterprises, social/political/business/military, have been vertically integrated. Chandler dealt with the German, American, and Brit variants of vertical modern Corp culture in Scale and Scope: The Dynamics of Industrial Capitalism, and Huntington did the same for the Japanese, German and American modern military cultures in The Soldier and the State. With the world getting flatter, and sources of power and knowledge becoming more diffuse, maybe we'll see a return to a more feudal way of doing business, where guild type orgs (independent professional orgs, journeyman consultants, etc) help to cross fertilize ideas and innovation to a degree that wasn't possible under the old 20th century, vertically integrated model where the state and the Corp had a monopoly on resources. I'd like to hear your thoughts on this, and see more cases of how individuals overcame their cultural constraints. Another small quibble with Diamond - I wish he'd give a little more credit to individual actors! Anyway, great post - looking forward to where this goes! Interesting direction! Looking forward to seeing you apply Diamond’s societal success criteria to modern enterprises! I think though that Diamond was a little too broad, too reductivist in places and that it’s too much of a generalization to say that all ancient cultures – or just the array of ones covered in Collapse – were vertically integrated affairs. I think it’s more accurate to say that since the emergence of monarchism and the modern nation state (circa 1500 in the West) most succesful enterprises, social/political/business/military, have been vertically integrated. Chandler dealt with the German, American, and Brit variants of vertical modern Corp culture in Scale and Scope: The Dynamics of Industrial Capitalism, and Huntington did the same for the Japanese, German and American modern military cultures in The Soldier and the State. With the world getting flatter, and sources of power and knowledge becoming more diffuse, maybe we’ll see a return to a more feudal way of doing business, where guild type orgs (independent professional orgs, journeyman consultants, etc) help to cross fertilize ideas and innovation to a degree that wasn’t possible under the old 20th century, vertically integrated model where the state and the Corp had a monopoly on resources. I’d like to hear your thoughts on this, and see more cases of how individuals overcame their cultural constraints. Another small quibble with Diamond – I wish he’d give a little more credit to individual actors! Anyway, great post – looking forward to where
this goes!

]]>