Wikinomics Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Collaborative Minds

This chapter is essentially an attempt to tie the rest of the book together neatly at the end. The four principles: Openness, peering, sharing, and acting globally are reinforced one more time.

The "innovator's Dilemma" is an interesting one. I think it is far-reaching though. Once you are the market leader, it's hard to stay on top. To be the "best" at anything, you have to constantly be on your guard. It's similar to being a great athlete. Being the best golfer in the world in 2006 only means you have to work harder to keep that position in 2007. You are the person to beat; everyone is training just to beat you. Last years workouts aren't going to cut it just like last years business plan isn't going to work anymore.

Next up, internet phones. Why not Skype? When I found out about this, I thought-what's the catch? Why isn't everyone doing it? I think organizations that aren't doing it will be doing it soon. Who pays long distance anymore? And really, on an individual level, who has land lines anymore?

The authors hint around at a sort of touchy subject: old people and technology. And by old people I mean not Net-gen. people. The book encourages people unfamiliar with facebook, you tube etc to try it out. Immediately, I envisioned trying to explain these things to co-workers who had no idea what I was talking about. Although the impending retirement of the baby boomers will affect the makeup of firms, it is unlikely that whole firms are going to exist of people under the age of 30. So my solution- Continuing Technology Education. Doctors have to keep up with advances in medicine, lawyers have to keep up with new laws, so why shouldn't businesses encourage employees to keep abreast of new technology.

One last takeaway is that of organizational flexibility and communication. If a CEO wants any of the principles discussed in wikinomics in her firm, she’s going to have to shape the culture in a manner that is open to things that have never been done before. Otherwise, employees are going to capitalize on their ideas elsewhere. It's a huge risk to say: this has never been done before, but we're going to try it. But the reward potential is there.

Wikinomics- Chapter 9

Chapter 9- The Wiki Workplace

This chapter was substantially more helpful than the last. The Geek Squad was a great example and gave insigt as to ow one might incorporate “wikinomics” principles into a business in the future. Although the Geek Squad ended up not using the original wiki as planned. But, would this work in a company that wasn’t made up of self-proclaimed Geeks?

Net Gen:
It’s interesting to think about how businesses are going to be run in the future when the “Net-generation” takes over. Are the principles of “wikinomics” going to be the exception or the rule? For Google, for Amazon, for all these “non-traditional” companies, how many failures were there? They are good examples, but doesn’t the average millionaire have 5 failures before striking it big? I wonder what the stats are for businesses.

As I’ve said before, I think one of the great things about our generation is a sort of disbelief when it comes to authority. We have question and we get answers. We do things our way. I’m promoting anarchy here. Just saying that it is good to ask why things are done a certain way and how they can be done better.

Bottoms up:
The bottom up approach is an interesting proposition. I would agree that a lot of times, employees have super valuable knowledge that managers are not tapping into. Especially those employees that interact with customers. Transparency-to a certain extent- is a good thing because all employees should be aware of what’s going on in a company. It’s a two-way street. Opening communication (either top down or bottom up) will lead to the other opening direction opening up- if people are willing to listen. The Sun Microsystems CEO’s blog is a great example…

As far as non-traditional business practices, I’m hoping that time allocation (google was the example in the book) is one of the first things to change. I’m seeing 3-day weekends becoming the norm fairly soon…. And if not, I'm holding out hope for fiesta or aloha Fridays...

Wikinomics Chapter 8

Chapter 8: The Global Plant Floor

Seriously? I’m starting to get annoyed with this book. Perhaps I’m being too critical, but it seems like the authors are just stating the obvious about the state of the world. Something I could figure out by skimming a newspaper. Maybe this book is geared towards those who are out of touch with technology or live under a rock… on an island… far, far away.

First, look at the examples given: Apple, Intel, Boeing, BMW. What do these firms have in common? Oh that’s right, they’re already successful. They’re names are recognized around the world and have been for quite some time.

The key element of this chapter is integrating supply chains into networks. This seems like a logical procession from the development of competitive advantages. I’m good at this, you’re good at that, so together, we can have a great product or be efficient, whatever the case may be. So then the supply chain evolved and now it’s the network. Instead of a typical supply chain,

We get:

Or something like that….

It is interesting that BMW is a prime example. I guess they’re safety standards are at an optimal point already and everyone is aware of that. (?). Also BMW has built up its brand so everyone equates BMW with high quality. In an undergrad management course, I remember the professor telling us that even if GM was 99% accurate in putting together its cars there would still be thousands of safety related problems per year. So it is kind of startling to me to think of BMW’s being put together and just working. Same goes for Boeing. It makes sense though that BMW would choose to concentrate on its marketing, etc. and leave the dirty work to up and coming specialists who are experts in digital engineering. I think the authors try to differentiate this “global collaboration” from outsourcing, but it is one and the same.

The authors also insinuate (not too subtly ) that BMW should open up even further. Yes, it works for Amazon because they sell books (and assorted other products). They don’t sell vehicles which we view as safe little bubbles that transport us from here to there. Book accidents don’t kill people, but car crashes do. Slight difference.

Finally, at the end the authors encourage the readers to ponder the global plant floor + healthcare. I’m just not feeling it.