The Hindu Business Line : Absence of leadership is not a weakness

Here is a toughie: "What do an encyclopaedia, a piece of software, a phone company, classified ads, and naked people in the Nevada desert have in common?" Answer: "They're all decentralised." Thus write Ori Brafman and Rod A. Beckstrom in The Starfish and the Spider (www.penguinbooksindia.com) .

The book is about leaderless organisations, about `what happens when there's no one in charge', and there's no hierarchy. A sure recipe for chaos and disorder? No, powerful groups are coming up, all around us, say the authors. "Decentralisation has been lying dormant for thousands of years. But the advent of the Internet has unleashed this force, knocking down traditional businesses, altering entire industries, affecting how we relate to each other, and influencing world politics."

Absence of leadership and formal organisation is, therefore, not a weakness, but an asset, asserts the book. Unsettling thought, it can be, for many.

Just as it was for a bunch of French investors whom Dave Garrison met in 1995, to raise funds for Netcom, an early ISP (Internet service provider). They wanted to know who was in charge of the Net. Dave told them, "There are thirty to forty thousand networks, and they all share in the burden of communication."

They asked, "But who decides?" Dave replied, "No one decides. It's a standard that people subscribe to. No one decides." That didn't satisfy the investors. "You don't understand the question, it must be lost in translation, who is the president of the Internet?" they demanded. "Eventually Dave surrendered. He gave the French what they wanted. `I said I was the president of the Internet,' cause otherwise we weren't going to get through with the sales spiel."

Amusing anecdote. The lesson that the book draws from the incident is that the French mistook a starfish for a spider. Means? Both creatures may seem alike, with similar features, such as, `a bunch of legs coming out of a central body'. But while in a spider, `a body's a body, a head's a head, and a leg's a leg', it is not so in a starfish; it doesn't have a head. "The major organs are replicated throughout each and every arm. If you cut the starfish in half, you'll be in for a surprise: the animal won't die, and pretty soon you'll have two starfish to deal with."

Watch out: "The decentralised organisation sneaks up on you." Unlike spider organisations that take time to spread, `the starfish can take over an entire industry in the blink of an eye'. Take for example, the recording industry, which was owned for a century by a handful of corporations. "Then a bunch of hackers altered the face of the industry... "

A book that merits urgent attention!

One is not only a number

The book celebrates common strands in humanity, by bringing together contributions from all over the world.

One. The largest value in the binary or base-2 number system that computers run on, with only two symbols, 0 and 1. "One is a number but not only a number, it is often forgotten as if it's in slumber, so many look to higher figures... " Thus begins `One', a poem by Megan Katherine Dahle in Open My Eyes, Open My Soul, compiled by Yolanda King and Elodia Tate (www.tatamcgrawhill.com) . The book celebrates common strands in humanity, by bringing together contributions from all over the world, across ages and races.

Resuming `One', you would read how one point wins the game, one vote makes a difference, and `one wrong turn leaves us in states of confusion'. Sings Dahle: "One statement of truth that was never spoken, turns into a secret and an unused token, one untrue rumour spread with cruelty, one innocent victim foreseen as guilty, one misunderstanding that was never made clear... "

The book opens with Maya Angelou's poem titled `Human family', where you see a variety of skin tones that can `confuse, bemuse, delight... " In minor ways we differ, in major we're the same, declares the poet. An affirmation of unity.

When national boundaries blur

Their study identified three distinct ways in which computer mediated communication can go seriously wrong.

Does diversity bother you? Do you feel hassled by geographical and people `differences'? Here is help: Communicating Globally: Intercultural Communication and International Business, by Wallace V. Schmidt, Roger N. Conaway, Susan S. Easton, William J. Wardrope (www.sagepublications.com) .

The first `key concept' in the book is a lesson from an anonymous quote: "We could learn a lot from crayons... some are sharp, some are pretty, some are dull, some have weird names, and all are different colours... but they all have to learn to live in the same box." Essential in globalised businesses, as most of our IT enterprises are turning out to be. The book emphasises that today's leader has to overcome cultural differences, have general awareness of diverse worldviews, and draw on the cultural synergy of his team.

"With today's technology, time and distance are collapsed. Anyone can access anyone and anything through groupware, intranets, and expert systems." Technological mobility has given rise to real-time, virtual organisations, where `the line between organisational and national boundaries' blur.

"For example, organisations like Sun, IBM, and Caterpillar have created `collaboratories' of scientists and engineers in separate locales, who work in real time together on product development and design via televiewers, video-conferencing, shared computer displays or whiteboards, networked electronic notebooks, and synchronised Web browsers." However, virtual communication is not an unmixed blessing, as research by Orasanu et al notes. Their study identified three distinct ways in which computer-mediated communication can go seriously wrong. "First, messages may encounter transmission problems, prohibiting information from reaching its destination. Second, errors can occur when messages are transmitted so their original meaning is not conveyed as intended. Finally, messages may be accurately sent and received, but a shared understanding of the situation does not exist between the parties."

A disquieting finding emerged from the researchers' investigation of `a number of international airline disasters between 1972 and 1990 that claimed over 700 lives'. In every instance, they found `a variety of communication failures due to a lack of cultural or linguistic awareness'.

Vital read.

Tailpiece

"He keeps talking to himself... "

"Oh! Did you take him to the doctor?"

"No, we hung a hands-free mobile to his neck so that he appears okay."

http://BookPeek.blogspot.com