The alternative to a managed team

The possibility of replacing managed teams with something else when competitive pressure necessitates using the Internet is seldom considered. And, the idea that a managed team should be replaced by a virtual team, where people are employed on a temporary basis and treated as objects seems unthinkable.

The reaction to these object oriented solutions is not so much on the grounds of logical reasoning, but, a reflection of an instinctive awareness that people don't want to feel vulnerable or isolated. It is based upon a conception of people wanting to feel safe and secure. It is a recognition that people need to feel wanted and looked after. Any system that creates negative emotions in these respects is seen as being unrealistic and unworkable.

However, the connectiveness of the Internet brings about a new way of thinking about groups and what separation from a group implies. The reality of the Internet is that there is no real separation between people: everyone is permanently connected to each other either directly or indirectly. This makes it impossible for anyone to be lonely or isolated unless they actually choose to opt out of the connectivity.

Outside of the environment of the Internet it takes much effort to become a member of a group; it is impractical to belong to many groups at the same time; being dropped from a group is a traumatic experience and to join a new group involves a wretched process of finding new contacts, making new friends and building new relationships.

Things are very different on the Internet. It is incredibly easy to join a new group. In fact it is easy to join many different groups all at the same time. By being actively involved with many groups, the temporary dropping out from one of the groups is not a serious problem; there are many others and, unlike the world of bricks and mortar, it is easy to drop out of a group for a while then drop back in again later.

It is this ability to be sociably mobile, to move easily in and out of groups that makes the Internet such a different environment from the environment of the physical world of bricks and mortar. This ease of mobility takes away the pressures normally associated with belonging to a group. Nobody is forced to stay in groups where they don't feel comfortable. They don't have to stay in situations where there are incompatible goals or conflicts of personality. It is so easy for anyone to re-position themselves in this people space to be where they feel most comfortable and productive. In other words, people can move around until they find a nice group of people to socialise or work with.

This is what is so hard for the Industrial Age mind to come to terms with: people don't have to be stuck with the particular group of friends and colleagues that chance, geographic location or an occupational environment forces upon them. Anyone can simply adjust their position in the Hilbert Space of the Internet to go where it suits them best.

The managed group of the Industrial Age corporate world is purposely designed to play upon the emotions of human instinctive needs for a group: forcing them to pull their weight; forcing them to conform and get along with other people; making them feel bad if they are not a member of the team. Billions of dollars has been spent on psychological techniques to get group members thinking this way. This is why any other method of organisation seems so strange; it is because the corporate idea of a managed group has been conditioned into every employee as a way of life which has no viable alternative.

Outside of the corporate environment of the Industrial Age, the psychological pressures to maintain group adhesion and induce team spirit are seen as a kind of emotional blackmail and employment as a form of emotional slavery. The near infinite choices available in world of the Information Age doesn't facilitate this kind of emotional pressure. People are too free to move on. This is not any kind of Utopian dream, it is a reality brought about by the connectiveness of the Internet.

Strangely enough, most people find such freedom scary. They like to be managed, they like others to take over responsibilities for them. So, how is an object oriented organisation going to work if so many people prefer regulation and dependence? The answer is that they can have freedom, regulation and dependence all at the same time. These are just more of the paradoxes of the Information Age: you can be controlled and managed without having to sacrifice freedom; you can exercise discretion without having to bear responsibility.

These paradoxes are resolved by the connectiveness of the Internet environment, which allows people to be continuously in contact with others. The very nature of the connections ensures that everyone is reliant upon each other, yet, just like the Internet itself, breaking any single link is not fatal and most times it is not even regarded as an inconvenience.