Very interesting overview, thanks for sharing. Difficult to say who will benefit from the network sprawl situation, even though I think MS was probably looking in that direction when it bought Yammer...

Good to see you pointing this, Michael, I think it's really a critical issue for success. My understanding, based on my experience these past six years, is that "social business management consulting skills", while based on the same basis that more classic management consulting skill, demand a whole new worldview in terms of collaboration and cooperation, transdiciplinarity, social impact and people management. And it's difficult to learn these skills other than on the field I don't see this gap getting any better soon, and it's a shame

I'm in ! "Never settle. Never. Ever. Not even once"

John, It is a great article, thanks for sharing The question I would have is, how do we transform existing push institutions ? I understand building "pull" institutions, but changing existing ones is extremely hard. As you write: "what about all those wonderful things that the authors indicate will never likely be automated – imagination, creativity, genuine insight and emotional and moral intelligence? These attributes have no place in the push driven institutions we have built. They are ruthlessly rooted out wherever they rear their ugly heads" Actually, the corporate function that should be responsible for fostering imagination and creativity (HR), is today the owner of the classic managerial mindset in most corporations. And even though, individually, many HR executives would like to move in the direction you point out, moving the system is just to hard. I argued some years ago (http://luisalberolasblog.blogspot.fr/2009/12/beyond-enterprise-20-age-of-builders.html) that the E2.0 movement was an opportunity as it allowed HR to frame a strategy to develop the firm employees from "users" to "contributors" to "builders". But I still do not see that happening at scale. Maybe you have some examples of push firms transforming themselves into pull firms ?

Very interesting post. I am working on how social technologies can help HR transcend engagement, and yes, passion development is a worthy goal for an HR team. What I think the focus of your post does is redefine the goal of HR (which should probably change its name, and become just one of the "genes" of an organization). The question I have is about performance, and thank-you Bitstrategist for your comment also. In my opinion performance management is a key pilar of the industrial organization (pre-big shift organization if you'd prefer). I wonder whether the very word performance is not a limit to the development of passion in an organization ... because I think that is what you are pointing at. Passionate people do not search performance. Performance management was invented to control workers work in an industrial setting, when they left their autonomy and creativity outside the corporations, and whatever passion they had with it.

Hello John Truly interesting article, I had not read your previous HBR one. Having lived for some time in Asia, I have to say your views totally match previous feelings (more than explicit thoughts). Today, I feel there is ground for institutional innovation also in developed economies, if only leadership mindset would change and accept the social/technological tsunami under way (today, it is mostly FB or twitter, but those are only premises) as an opportunity to rethink business. Thanks for this idea. Luis