Five Trends in Modern Organizations

1. Organization are opening up their boundaries

We view boundaries not as edges but as areas of overlap. How might mobile enable collaborations between inside and outside? (FoldIt, Innocentive, Nike-Green.)

2. Organizations are searching for purpose beyond profit

We spend significant portions of our lives working, and individuals are looking outside organizations for purpose. (e.g. Target, Patagonia, Nike). How might mobile platforms enable employees see the impact of their work? Could organizations dynamically reflect their health and well-being?

3. Organizations are redefining their place in the lives of their employees

We seek better workplace design, at home, at work, or at our local Starbucks. In parallel, organizations are measuring the well-being of their employees (e.g. Gallup). McKinsey is evaluating how its alumni network might help maintain continuity in their organization. Enterprise gamiifcation can be applied to both social transactions and business transactions.

4. Organizations are looking to unlock the creative potential of their employees

Google is allowing its employees to pursue 20% of time to do other things. Use organization forums to share ideas and promote the best ones. (e.g. Twelpforce, Parsons – New School)

5. Organizations are prioritizing culture

The physical and virtual ambience of an organization is designed to optimize the culture, such as Zappos, that links culture to brand (Tony Hsieh), or the Bridgewater Fund (Ray Dalio) who describes the modern culture in terms of Wind (culture), Captain (CEO), and Ship (Organization).  How might mobile connected technologies maintain a strong identity and culture in a distributed world? Culture can be maintained by adopting multi-generational design: maintain core principles while rapidly adopting to changing conditions. (e.g. IDEO’s Evolve to Survive: How to adapt to changing conditions; Genentech’s Enterprise Social Content (ESC); or Xerox’s Document 3.0).