The following are approximately the first 1000 words from Chapter 23 of Jonar Nader’s book,
How to Lose Friends and Infuriate People.

Characteristics of the modern world:

Apart from sudden death, nature is generally fair

There are many networks operating around the globe. We have social, monetary, political, and military networks, as well as corporate, infrastructural, and religious ones. Although some are larger than others, their characteristics are similar. We are at a stage where networks form the backbone of an organisation or system. Hence, understanding their characteristics has become a matter of survival.

During some of my lectures I ask participants to name the single biggest issue facing organisations that compete in the modern networked world. Very often participants vote ‘technology’ as the biggest issue. Some say that an organisation’s success hinges on its ability to effectively implement and use computer technology. After all, almost everything in the new networked world is computerised in one form or another.

As a Post-Tentative Virtual Surrealist, I beg to differ. I have been an avid technologist for two decades, and I have observed organisations of all shapes and sizes. During this time, it has become apparent that technology, although important, is neither the most vital nor the biggest issue facing organisations. From my observations and studies,

I rank ‘the lack of leadership’ as the biggest issue facing organisations in the networked world. Those who do not engage in leadership will find that no amount of technology can give them the advantages they seek.

Next we must ask: ‘What is the most important issue facing leadership?’ Again, the answer is not technology. The biggest issue is that of nurturing wisdom in managers. Wisdom can neither be bought nor borrowed. When born, we have no wisdom. During life and through maturity, we learn how to acquire it. Sadly, upon death, wisdom cannot be bequeathed. It stands to reason that leaders ought to focus on nurturing wisdom in the people around them, especially their managers.

If we follow this train of thought to examine the biggest issue facing managers, we see that ‘time-wasters’ are the most challenging. Although technology plays a big part in sound management, it ranks lower than the need to eliminate both genuine and artificial emergencies that drain managers. Time-wasters include extraneous meetings, politically induced reports, deputations, explanations, and office gossip.

What is the biggest issue affecting time-wasters? What is it that overrides our better judgement and commandeers precious time? The single biggest issue is that of ‘diplomacy’. Diplomacy is a waste of time. There can be no argument about it. I am not suggesting that we ought to discard the art of diplomacy. Whether it is necessary or not does not alter the fact that diplomacy devours precious time. At its worst, diplomacy becomes ‘politics’, and political machinations soon become ‘backstabbing’. Such behaviour eventually seeps into every project and every action. Disrespect becomes the norm, and its roots are difficult to trace because it emanates from a ‘corporate cancer’ that lurks invisibly and permeates quietly. Its removal becomes as difficult as catching the elusive. This turns the spotlight on to the single most important factor in allowing diplomacy to permeate: lack of leadership. With this we have travelled full circle. We are back to square one. Better technology cannot mend this problem. Leadership in the networked world cannot flourish when it is besieged by corporate cancer. The only way to break this vicious cycle is to arrest it with big doses of audacity. (For information about audacity and leadership, see Chapter 10, ‘Leadership’.)

Understanding the top-ten characteristics

Through the years I have conducted hundreds of lectures, workshops, and focus groups, and I have engaged in overt and covert research and studies. From these, together with my professional observations, I have arrived at what others believe to be the ten main characteristics of the networked world — namely, the networked world: is fast; lacks time; is changing; demands information in real time; is complex; is linked; places emphasis on tangibles and intangibles; catapults an operator from the ‘marketplace’ to the ‘marketspace’; relies on information; and seeks growth through convergent technologies.

Although many executives agree with the top-line results, they do not always realise that there are more profound findings at deeper layers. My pertinent finding behind each of these characteristics is outlined below.

Characteristic 1 – speed

To say that the networked world moves very quickly does not seem to be of much value because, upon closer scrutiny, we find that, throughout the ages, every generation has experienced a pace that could be said to be faster than the one before. Naturally, things today occur at a much faster pace, but the most important element to surface from this is not the speed but the acceleration. To say that this period is ‘fast’ does not really explain the main issue. If it were a case of things happening quickly then organisations need only determine the speed, communicate this to their staff, and put systems in place to gear up for that speed. However, upon reaching that desired speed, the organisation would find that things have changed once more. The exercise would have been futile because by the time an organisation manages to reach the speed in question (which others loosely call ‘fast’) the speed would have increased yet again. This is why we must comprehend the nature of acceleration.

The concept of acceleration brings with it a whole new set of requirements. To gear up for a particular speed is much easier than to build an engine that can constantly grow to cope with the energy required for perpetual acceleration. Furthermore, the rate of acceleration must be flexible, so that both minor and major bursts can be accommodated.

It is no longer true to say that ‘we live in fast times’ because it is now a matter of living in ‘accelerating times’. To prepare for acceleration requires much smoother operating procedures that allow things to happen when they need to happen, not when they are approved by a committee. The networked world does not wait for you. It has its own agenda and follows its own rhythm. Within such a framework, it is true to say that, when we blink, we are likely to miss something; and definitely appropriate to warn the weary that, when we sleep, we automatically fall behind. This is a tough road indeed.