Intelligence Advantage Summary Table of Content Excerpts Preface Introduction Bibliography Background Conceptual background Praises Review

Preface for The Intelligence Advantage My intention in writing this book is to explore the possibility of human organization. Throughout the book, I will explore ideas recently made available through advances in philosophy, science and technology (especially communication). These advances, and the way in which I intend to present them, will foster insight into ways of organizing productive activity that are consistent with the nature of human beings and society. This book will provide access to a way of thinking and questioning that is capable of transforming our current corporations into organizations that will meet the demands of the Information Era. The phrase "iron cage of capitalism" refers to a way physical production is organized that dehumanizes those working for money. The organizations of the Industrial Era were compatible with machines but not with human beings who wanted to have full, rich lives. The way we organized during the Industrial Era perfectly suited times in which information costs were very high. As we reorganize for the Information Era, we begin the process of freeing ourselves from the confines of the iron cage, without having to reject the marketplace or hinder the human spirit or intelligence. The ideas presented in this book evolved over a long period of time. My father was a lawyer who spent most of his time working for people who were persecuted. He argued for and defended the Dukhobors, who were always in trouble in British Columbia, the families of those in Japanese internment camps, and the members of the labor unions. His practice involved work with the credit unions in Canada and legislation that kept Canadian cooperatives "member owned with one vote per member." My father was Calvinist in his belief in the value and integrity of work. There was no such thing as "good enough" with any job. Some of my earliest memories are of going to his office to play with the machines. From an early age, I worked in his law firm taking care of small support tasks. The world of work has fascinated me as far back as I can remember. This book is the result of a lifelong inquiry. My inquiry was fueled by hopes that it might reveal something that would contribute to the possibility of human productive activity. I have always been puzzled by people who don't love their work. And I have always wondered why they continued on such a path, rather than undertaking the journey of discovering what it would take to love their work. From my early teens, I said that I wanted to be a philosopher of business when I grew up. My father always laughed at me when I told him this and responded "There is no such thing." Well, there is now. During my school years, I was taught that an atom was the smallest particle in existence. At that time, such information was about 50 years out of date. The degree of outdatedness of such facts is nothing compared to the degree of change in the thinking models that have been influencing philosophy, science and technology for the past century. The way of thinking used by the general population is about 100 years behind the times. I can say this with confidence, because the commonly accepted thinking in philosophy, physics, evolution and economics, to name just a few fields, altered dramatically decades ago and yet the thinking of the general educated population would be familiar to the people of 100 years ago. My countless conversations with boards of directors and senior managers have revealed that these people are completely unfamiliar with current thinking. In fact, many executives and managers become hostile when they hear that there is fundamental thinking with which they are not familiar. Many are skeptical about the usefulness or potential application of any new way of thinking. It never fails to amaze me when this kind of response is aimed at thinking that has been accepted by scientists and philosophers for decades. These very same breakthroughs in thinking are responsible for generating the technologies that are reshaping life for everyone in the world and are being applied in every science and by virtually every master practitioner in all fields of human endeavor. Politics, business and education have managed to remain far behind in their integration of new thinking. This book is an inquiry into the nature of a new way of thinking about the world we live in and its significance in organizational design and management practices. I have been told by early readers of my manuscript that the chapters read like separate inquiries or meditations. You will not find simple packaged answers here. Nor will you find neatly outlined models for analysis. Rather, you will find this new thinking being integrated with the challenges facing executives and managers responsible for the success and survival of their organizations, for which they have the privilege of responsibility. This book will raise useful questions and provide principles for initiating the transformation of an organization. If you are struggling to make a profit, or struggling to provide a future and livelihood for the community of people around you, you will find what is presented here invaluable. If you are finding that more and more energy is producing less and less return, there are parts of this book you will find very useful. It is intended for people who are dissatisfied with the way things are and have a sense of how they might be, but cannot get their organizations to behave in a way that is appropriate to the current circumstances. It is for all those who are engaged in efforts to change, or know they should be, but are not confident of success. The book is divided into sections. The first section provides the foundations of the new thinking and outlines the approaches generated by viewing a corporation as an independent entity with its own intelligence. In the next section, the new thinking is translated into fundamental principles, and in the final section, we will explore the processes of transformation and the nature of the journey from a design based in the principles of the Industrial Age to those based in the Information Age. The courage and commitment of the people I have worked with -- from the board room to the factory floor -- has allowed this body of knowledge to unfold in the way that it has. In each of the companies I consulted, we worked in partnership -- a partnership of ideas and practical concerns -- to develop approaches and practices capable of turning around the performance of corporations. Each endeavor brought its surprises, learning and rewards. And the process continues. There are, as yet, no definitive answers regarding how best to accomplish a transformation. And there likely will never be because the processes of change are more developmental and evolutionary than ever before. We are in the early stages of the transformation from machine-based to information-based organization. It is likely that in the next couple of decades our understanding of the process of transformation will become more refined, and models and formulae will be created to assist that change. It became clear to me, during my years working with corporations in the area of organizational transformation, that the executives and managers who suffered the dangers and frustrations of being leaders -- showing by going first -- also realized enormous benefits. People involved in corporations that are being redesigned to match the principles of the Information Era report that their work is a more satisfying experience than ever before in their careers. This is occurring at the same time that sales and profits are increasing for their companies. I would like to thank Howard Sherman, my intellectual mentor for many years, for his contributions to the emerging process of my thinking and my work. Combining experience gained from a professorship in philosophy and a successful business career, Howard has shown me the power of ideas throughout history. He has stirred in me an appreciation of both the depth and limits of thinking that can be called upon from history. In particular, Howard opened doors that gave me access to interpretive philosophies as a pragmatic and powerful approach to the challenges of our times. Howard has enabled me to work with new challenges and confront the larger questions of organizational design and management practices. I would also like to extend my gratitude to members of the faculty of the Santa Fe Institute, who shared their thinking, models and understanding of the sciences of complexity. The faculty has been remarkably willing to engage in dialogue with me, even though I'm not a member of the scientific community. The Institute has contributed language, principles and metaphors with which to think about organizations. The work of the faculty includes investigating ways of taking questions beyond metaphor and analogy. Their research is opening up enormous possibilities for application in business fields such as risk analysis, scheduling, strategic analysis, computer programming, new product invention and learning approaches. Complexity is becoming a common word in business literature. It is being used in many different ways, and each use of the word has a slightly different meaning and produces significantly different results. I will use the word complexity frequently in this book. But before I distinguish the word "complexity" in the way in which I intend to use it, let's consider other uses of the word and their consequences. The earliest popular use of the word came out of chaos theory in physics. Popular references use "chaos" and "complexity" as a pair, often interchangeable. When the word complexity is used in this way, it refers to applications in physical sciences that describe events using mathematical formulae. These applications of the word describe physical entities, the forces that affect them, and any patterns that occur (or do not occur). This field of science provides a way to break down our embedded view of the world, but it has limited direct application to the understanding of human systems. The other approach to complexity is Systems Dynamics: this approach appears to be more relevant to corporations. It provides new insight into complex living systems and assists us in considering their properties when the systems are seen holistically. This field of complexity has created breakthroughs in our understanding of communication and information, and the systems dependent on them, and provides models and metaphors for considering systems beyond the understanding of linear mathematics. The tools the developers of Systems Dynamics had available were the computers of their day, which provided some very interesting work on scenarios and modeling. The terminology and computer systems used were inert systems which reduced the systems to parts and studied the interrelationships which were not alive. Again, this approach to complexity is of limited use for living organizations and human systems. The approach to complexity developed by the Santa Fe Institute is rooted in living systems such as ecology, biology, evolution and economics. The term complex adaptive systems is used to distinguish the field currently being worked on at the Institute. Features such as adaptation, learning and self-organization, mark the interests and research endeavors of the Institute. Terms such as emergent, threshold points and co-evolution suggest a field of independent agents operating with local rules that create increasingly complex patterns of activity and results. These ideas are amenable to use in the marketplace and organizations where the agents are independently intelligent and independently intentional. The basis of this book is a combination of complexity, as it is being developed at the Santa Fe Institute, and interpretive philosophical approaches to dialogue, inquiry and the nature of human existence. This combination provides a way of speaking about and viewing organization that is acceptable to business and compatible with the way that we actually experience organizations. Blending complexity and interpretive philosophical thought provides useful metaphors and analogies, as well as practical design principles and effective management and work practices. Two other people deserve special mention. Katrina Schnieder provided an editing service beyond my fondest hopes. She has made my work accessible. Most of the difficulty that remains is due to my insistence that a difficult expression is sometimes necessary to convey a sufficient depth of understanding. Paula Alter, who has been a close associate in consulting over the years and an integral part of the development of this work, has provided invaluable insight and simplicity. She has been able to understand whatever I write, whatever I am attempting to communicate, and translate it into an expression that was far easier to comprehend, yet always maintained perfect integrity with my intentions. Her contribution went far beyond editing. Love, family, creativity and contribution are very special aspects of our life. These elements can bring a tremendous sense of fulfillment if they are given the attention and care they deserve. I consider work another aspect of life that can be equally fulfilling. Without fulfillment in our work, we cannot live the full possibility inherent in our lives, nor can we understand what it means to be fully human. The joy, beauty and satisfaction that result from the cooperative endeavors of human beings toward a common end are seldom matched by anything else. Community emerges out of such work endeavors. Full expression of our humanity requires such endeavors. And a sense of making a difference in life is impossible without them.