Just back from a trip to Oslo - combined business/pleasure. I can recommend spending some time in this city, good food, lovely spots and in summer days you are likely to have a 7/11 effect. Sun does not really set during the summer in Norway and you might end up seeing the sunny side of life for at least 20 hours a day - it does not really get dark and even at two at nite, it is still light skies! Not so good for insomniacs though.
While I was in Oslo I started reading Malcom Gladwell's the tipping point. Interesting stuff about diffusion of new ideas and products. The tipping point effects is that very momentum that creates breakthroughs... or as Gladwell defines it "the levels at which the momentum for change becomes unstoppable". The concept finds its origins in social psychology and can be seen in relation to other concepts such as the moment of the critical mass, the threshold, the boiling point, spreading of a virus or social epidemics.
In his book, Gladwell also refers to the term Interactional Synchrony: Interactional synchrony marks the moment when individuals morph into a cohesive group. People who "click" emotionally will start synchronizing their movements and body language. They will mirror each other's posture, speech patterns and movements thus creating harmonious whole. (various sources).
Now, what really struck my eye is that Interactional Synchrony or automatic synchronizing can even be pleasurable and has been noted to create energy surges. This balletic-like coordination of a group of people has been found to have an energizing effect on all members.
Energy, interaction, synchrony, emotional click, cohesiveness and harmony... All words that can be the descriptors of tomorrow's IT.
I have already referred to business/IT fusion as a way to melt business and IT together. But fusion cannot be started without enough energy... without these energy surges that create sparks and lite the fuse. Interactional synchrony is what is needed between business and IT:
There has to be an emotional click between the two otherwise it won't work. But if the feeling is there - and in an business-like context you'd describe this as a trusted partnership - then the two can do the tango! Their strategies become synchronized, energy is created and there is harmonious interaction.
Perhaps this mash up of social psychology and IT management seems to be a bit far fetched but if you come to think of IT: IT is about people, processes and platforms. You can digitize the processes and virtualize the platforms but you cannot digitize the people.... So in the end it is all about the right people connecting with each other. Connecting as in interacting, communicating, collaborating, sharing, liking and synchronizing.
If you can see it this way, Interactional synchrony in IT doesn't sound so strange after all, does it?
While I was in Oslo I started reading Malcom Gladwell's the tipping point. Interesting stuff about diffusion of new ideas and products. The tipping point effects is that very momentum that creates breakthroughs... or as Gladwell defines it "the levels at which the momentum for change becomes unstoppable". The concept finds its origins in social psychology and can be seen in relation to other concepts such as the moment of the critical mass, the threshold, the boiling point, spreading of a virus or social epidemics.
In his book, Gladwell also refers to the term Interactional Synchrony: Interactional synchrony marks the moment when individuals morph into a cohesive group. People who "click" emotionally will start synchronizing their movements and body language. They will mirror each other's posture, speech patterns and movements thus creating harmonious whole. (various sources).Now, what really struck my eye is that Interactional Synchrony or automatic synchronizing can even be pleasurable and has been noted to create energy surges. This balletic-like coordination of a group of people has been found to have an energizing effect on all members.
Energy, interaction, synchrony, emotional click, cohesiveness and harmony... All words that can be the descriptors of tomorrow's IT.
I have already referred to business/IT fusion as a way to melt business and IT together. But fusion cannot be started without enough energy... without these energy surges that create sparks and lite the fuse. Interactional synchrony is what is needed between business and IT:
There has to be an emotional click between the two otherwise it won't work. But if the feeling is there - and in an business-like context you'd describe this as a trusted partnership - then the two can do the tango! Their strategies become synchronized, energy is created and there is harmonious interaction.
Perhaps this mash up of social psychology and IT management seems to be a bit far fetched but if you come to think of IT: IT is about people, processes and platforms. You can digitize the processes and virtualize the platforms but you cannot digitize the people.... So in the end it is all about the right people connecting with each other. Connecting as in interacting, communicating, collaborating, sharing, liking and synchronizing.
If you can see it this way, Interactional synchrony in IT doesn't sound so strange after all, does it?