WWWeb-o-lution II
By Bob Maher, The Careerpilot

Change is inevitable... but the quest for results is constant!
- The Careerpilot

The Web changes everything-- including change itself... and its not just the Internet!  It is also the digitalization of process, supportive software, hardware applications and wireless technologies that make spontaneous and interactive inclusion happen.  Customer service takes on additional meaning in the light of consumers wielding the incredible power of choice, an ability to switch to something better instantly.  Change today happens unpredictably, dynamically and in a non-linear way. 

Doing IT faster, cheaper and better is no longer enough, because IT, itself, keeps changing.  Growth is no longer the singular and automatic solution, rather we should be considering our ability to maneuver and change direction... career management, then is like a sailboat race in open waters, subject to the variables of wind, current and the skipper's prowess in adapting to change.

By their very nature, organizations and individuals alike resist change... the future compels us to embrace it.  "The old school" taught the wisdom of incremental change.  We are evolving to realize the advantage to constant change with the way we form our organizations and conduct ourselves within our careers.

MANAGING THE COMPONENTS OF CHANGE... Competition fosters change, the need for new people, their ideas and their energies.  Rather than "fix" the turbulence brought by change,  we must learn to harness its energy.  Companies are learning to be online instead of old-line. 

This allows them to thrive on the tension between "seasoned professionals" and fearless new hires--and therein lies the challenge:  Too much turbulence and you can't get things done... too little and you go stagnant and fall behind.  The Internet provides us the tools with which to manage the balancing act.  The need for "new blood" will cause us to redefine the nature of what we call "a good fit" for an individual within an organization.

RELATIONSHIP BUILDING REDEFINED... When stability and predictability were desired goals, long term relationship building was the fuel that fired business growth, with change creating instability.  Business happens much more dynamically in our new economy.  Technology allows us to clear the communication challenge.  Free flowing information crosses more boundaries, clears more bottlenecks, overcomes lethargic chains-of-command--so that complaints, suggestions and options get their fair hearing inside and around any organization.

Community relations, customer relations, employee relations... the stream has become endless--and limiting!  "Let's get together" is no longer bounded by the shackles of costly or time consuming meetings and travel!

SALESPEOPLE AND TECHNO-GEEKS RULE... No matter what our calling, what it is that we do for a living, we must learn to recognize the value of and take on the characteristics of our best allies in meeting the change challenge.  "The old school" has taught us to take care of business rather than pay attention to changing the business.  The salesperson and the geek in us all must be encouraged and developed.

New economic times requires new measures and ways of managing change.  What gets measured, gets done... remember the need for results will remain constant.  But if we apply old standards of measurement to new ways of getting things done, how can be possibly "keep score" in this environment of constant change?

KEEPING SCORE IN THE NEW GAME... Survivors of the "Dot.com" Derby will learn to play by two sets of rules: First, Its not enough to assume that the "new economy" will change the basic laws of economics.  Supply and demand, profitability, ROI for venture capital and knowledge of the language of finance still applies.  This reality has already begun to temper the Derby.

Second, to be a survivor in the Derby, players will create their own rules and measure performance with metrics representing a new mind-set.  Being able to play the game with two parallel sets of rules and measures is, then, the first step in changing the way the economic game is played and scored.

I would submit that Internet applications and the WWWeb-o-lution they create will help determine the winners in any "new economy" or new set of rules and guidelines.  So don't fall behind.  Be on your personal learning curve to update your technical competencies, a most challenging, but rewarding journey.

- The Careerpilot

Submitted 10-13-2000... still TRUE today!