Weblogs: February 2004 Archives

This article was clipped from the February 2, 2004 copy of the New York Times, technology section. I agree with the assertion that new software is allowing people to adapt more quickly to changing business situations. Collaborative technologies and social software allow fast problem solving and innovation in distributed teams.

"...John Seely Brown, former director of the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center, says he believes that recent changes in software technology could allow big gains in productivity and innovation. The opportunity, he says, is to move beyond the limitations of centralized systems for automating business operations, like enterprise resource systems. "Those systems are prisons," said Mr. Brown, who is scheduled to speak at today's conference.

The software plumbing of computing, Mr. Brown explains, is evolving, and so is Internet-based software for individual workers. Software systems built on Web standards, he said, can be used as pick-and-place building blocks, instead of the more formal hierarchical systems of the past.

Mr. Brown also points to the rapid development of what he calls "social software" like instant messaging, Weblogs, wikis (multi-user Weblogs) and peer-to-peer tools - all of which make it easier for workers to communicate and collaborate online, almost instantaneously.

The combined result, Mr. Brown said, is information technology that can amplify social interaction and enhance workers' understanding of what is happening around them. The benefit, he added, could be to increase their ability to "collectively improvise and innovate."

That is a key to productivity and peak performance, according to Mr. Brown. Business, he said, is a lot like soccer. In soccer, there are some set plays, but the best teams also display a wealth of effective improvisation based on the players' deep knowledge of one another. "It's the same in the best corporations or start-ups," he said.

Mr. Brown insists that the relentless pressure of global competition and the migration of skilled jobs abroad adds urgency to the pursuit of technology-enhanced productivity gains. "We can get a lot more out of people here if we really tap into them as new sources of innovation and productivity," he said. "And we're getting the right kinds of technology tools to move this along.

"It's the only way we can compete."