Wednesday 12 March 2008

Red Monkey Domination

At the UCISA Management conference in Glasgow - a bit windy and rainy, but a lovely venue. I've not seen much of the City as I was in an executive meeting this morning, and sessions all afternoon, but my hotel room overlooks the river, so I've got a nice view at least.

Some excellent sessions to start with. the first was from Jeff Staes talking about 21st Century Futures. He based his talk on the premise that our environment has changed rapidly, from a predictable 2-Dimensional (2D) Channel into an unpredictable 3-Dimensional (3D) Ocean. This change is happening quickly, and many managers and organisations are unprepared for this very innovative and ever changing market.

Information is increasing at an exponential rate - by 2012 70% of digital information will be created by individuals. Social networking sites are increasing in use, and children use many different methods to communicate and learn. "Online gamers have a better learning & information culture then most of the organisations ... this should be the opposite."

In this new environment organisations have to be innovative, and intuitive. Mangers and leaders don't have to be the smartest in their organisations and know everything - they have to set the vision, and make sure the right people are in the right places. Major culture changes have to take place - so major that he referred to them as Drama Changes. The new leaders will have to accept conflict, disruption and risk.

And if you're wondering about the title of this post, he used the analogy of red monkeys as transformational ideas, being killed by the red monkey hunters in our organisations. We have to develop a culture where the red monkeys can thrive and evolve.

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