Where are the Web Work tools?

I’m writing this on Friday afternoon. Through the magic of social networking I know that several friends of mine have “checked in” at local pubs and are already imbibing Portland’s finest. I also know that a former colleague now living in Denver is stuck at JFK. I know that one of my favorite VCs returned to San Francisco this morning from North Carolina via PHL and ORD. He shopped at Whole Foods for what I assume are ingredients for a dinner that I am sorry to be missing. Plus, a friend pointed me to the latest thinking on the possibility of parallel universes.

What I don’t know right now is whether my Web designer has picked up the latest copy I posted to our shared server. I don’t know if our dev team has decided to push the latest changes over the weekend. Tomorrow I plan to prepare our financials, but I don’t know if our accountant has made the updates to the chart of accounts. I have no email from him; I should have called him before he left for his beach house.

Like most people, at any given time I focus on three or four objectives. Why can’t I know as much about those as I know about the drinking habits of my friends? Why don’t I have activity streaming, location updates, automated availability, ubiquitous micro updates, and integral ratings and feedback from my colleagues and business partners working with me on my priority objectives?

I need something that will allow me to identify the group of people with whom I share objectives. We need to self identify the tasks we are contributing to and identify our dependencies. When I need something from someone in the group I should be able to request a task/deliverable from them. They should be able to accept or reject the request with feedback. My ideal tool would let me see the availability, location and status of everyone in the group. I should receive real-time updates for all activity related to tasks that I depend upon. Everything I do related to our shared objective should be available to the group and streamed proactively to those dependent on me.

Technology to do all of this exists today, but no one has yet packaged it into a useful tool. Microsoft’s lame attempt at collaboration services requires a bizarre collection of servers that can only be assembled by a certified SharePoint integrator. The result is overly rigid and can’t accommodate free-form workflows or easily accommodate participants outside the organization. Collaboration and unified messaging from IBM, Cisco, and Avaya are no better. So where’s the Zukerberg who will fulfill this 400 million user opportunity?

Today, while waiting for new tools, I’ll send out a couple of emails requesting updates from my web designer; I will leave a voice message for my accountant; and I will send a text to the head of our dev team. I’ve checked our project management dashboard: the last updates were posted Wed. The shared server shows the latest version of the Web copy is the one I posted yesterday; I have no idea if anyone looked at it. On IM, most of our folks are unavailable and two have status notes clearly posted during the Mesozoic era.

I know with the right tools I could have gotten so much more done before heading out for a beer.

Passing The Torch

“The next generation”, “passing the torch,” it has seemed that we have heard it all before. But this week I embraced the contextual filter of generational shift and everything has become clearer.

I am not a Gen X’er or a Gen Y’er, or a “tweener”; technically I am a boomer born in the diminishing tail of that curve. I have watched “slackers,” and “grungers” and seen MTV repeatedly “rock the vote.” It is easy to be a little jaded toward “the rise of the next generation”.

Now the generational shift is for real. Don Tapscott calls them the Net-Gen and there are as many of them as baby boomers. The shift is as profound as that to the “greatest generation” which was shaped by the great depression, WWII and the Marshal plan; and the “baby boomers” who were molded by civil rights, Viet Nam and the Cold War.

This generation gets to deal with the energy transition, climate change, the rise of a global middle class, the decline of US global dominance, etc. Looking at the election, government, policy, and global economics through this filter is very valuable.

Alan's World

I am more than ever struck by the ubiquity of the iPod. Walking the streets of San Francisco, I am assaulted by Billboards pushing the device as a fashion accessory. The Olympics were dominated by images of Michael Phelps stretching on the pool deck with buds in his ears. What I have noticed most lately is how we no longer notice.

I upgraded my iPhone to the latest 3G model. It is an amazing device. With it, I text, tweet, buy, browse, blog, read, search, mail, mix, mash, locate, direct, calculate, and play. Unlike my lap top that I set up, this device is always with me--always on. It seamlessly extends my capability and constantly connects me to the people and the information I care about.

This is different than the Palm I use to carry. It is more about me than work communications. Back in the ‘70s I heard Alan Kay talk about wearable computers. He saw them as the true personal computer and that they would revolutionize the way we live and work.

At some point the automobile became more than a fast horse cart and led to a new industrial infrastructure. Similarly the desktop computer became more than a powerful typewriter and calculator and lead to the fundamental restructuring of the workplace. Each of these led to fundamental shifts in lifestyle, quality of life and commercial productivity.

We are in the midst of another such phase change. We are just beginning to understand the importance of what this device (and others like it) can do. We are beginning to weave it into our social fabric. Alan’s world is finally emerging.

Gen Shift

My son is in California enjoying the summer: spending time in the Sierras, visiting friends, just goofing off. He barrows a phone every night and calls me to complain that his cell phone is broken. This is ruining his summer.

My son is a high school senior. He and his friends don’t just use computers and cell phones, they depend on them like they do their arms. To them their laptops and cell phones are not better typewriters, faster mail, and more extensive “ten keys”: they are communication, entertainment and social connection. They are extensions of themselves. With them they manage their various personas, chat with friends, hone their skills and show off their capabilities. These devices allow them to express themselves in ways otherwise impossible.

A few minutes in the twitter-verse, on Facebook or in World of Warcraft demonstrate this new social order. We are just beginning to see the profound shift taking place. Don Tapscott, calls this group who are now just entering the workforce the Net Gen. Clay Shirky documents the power of their dynamic social groupings. You should also check out Kevin Kelly who muses convincingly that the Internet in the coming years will by completely different than what we have today.

Attending tech events lately, it is clear I am one of the old guys. But I am an old guy that grew up with technology. I had an HP calculator in 1969. Unlike my friends at college who paid to have papers typed for them, I had an Apple II. I bought a Mac the first day it was available and founded DMUG (Davis Macintosh Users Group).

I know I am old because at my first corporate job in 1986, I was given an office, a Dictaphone and secretarial support. I was expected not to waste my time typing myself. Everywhere I work, I notice that people younger than me use PCs and people older tend to not. I was on the cusp of a generational shift that has helped fuel the greatest increase in productivity ever experienced. But it will pale in comparison to the next one.

We are only just beginning to see is how this generation is going to change the work place. They will get things done in ways the will make today’s meetings, emails, reports and annual budgeting cycles look like Dictaphones and typing pools. Adopting these new work styles, adapting our work environments and putting this new generation to work will be the competitive advantage for the foreseeable future.

The Urban Future

The Urban future has arrived. We entered this century with about 45% of the Global population in cities. The pace of migration from rural to urban is continuing unabated. We may already be at the 50% urban mark, if not we are approaching fast. This is likely a tipping point.

Why are people moving to the cities? Stewart Brand started looking and writing about this several years ago. He sums it up nicely – cities provide education, work (i.e. income) and services. The city provides a better quality of life and higher standard of living than any rural alternative.

The cities are also the planets salvation. A person in a city requires fewer resources to support a comparable quality of life. But most important cities, are population sinks. Birth rates in cities naturally drop from above 5 births woman on average globally in rural areas to less than 2 in developed urban areas. Today birth rates are only 2.1 in developing urban areas in Brazil and India.

Because of accelerating urbanization and an unprecedented change in birth and survival rates, standard population forecasting is proving unreliable. The sky-is-falling “population bomb” predictions of the past are yielding to a growing consensus that we are within a generation of reaching the maximum global population. Many now suggest that the maximum may be in the 8 billion range. Even the UN has declared it is not likely to exceed 9 billion.

Population is not a problem, it’s an indicator. More to the point, “overpopulation” takes care of itself. Our challenge and opportunity is developing new ways to provide productive employment for the high density urban workforce. What does it mean if your potential workforce is not limited to the suburbanites that live within 50 minutes drive of your tilt-up office park? How do you tap the increasingly educated, highly connected, highly motivated workforce in the vibrant urban centers of Shanghai or Dubai; or San Francisco or Portland for that matter?

The housing and education of Shanghai’s exploding population is remarkable. The new Shanghai is more connected and has greater availability of intellectual (and arguably creative) capital than any city in the US or Europe. Mumbai, Dubai, Rio and dozens of other developing urban centers represent the same potential. What could this mean for the business of the future? It changes all the rules. That is why Shanghai is so interesting.