In his book The Effective Executive (1967), Peter Drucker writes of the similarities between an organisation (group, tribe, culture) and an organism.
The surface area of the organism increases by the square of the radius, whereas the mass of the organism increases by the cube. This means as the organism gets bigger, more of its resources go towards regulating the internal operations (digestion, heart rate, temperature control, behaviour etc).
When the organism (or organisation) is small, relatively, more of it’s energetic capital goes into meeting and perceiving the environment.
The internal workings of the organisation become data, or “fact” driven (post event) whereas outside of the organisation we have “perception” of the events themselves.
Drucker discusses the introduction of the computer as a tool that focuses on data (post event) potentially at the cost of perception – which picks up trend changes and shifts in social behaviour:
“The tremendous amount of computer information may thus shut out access to reality.”
“Eventually the computer… should make executives aware of their insulation and free them for more time on the outside. In the short run, however, there is danger of acute “computeritis. It is a serious affliction.”
While computers (and devices) have changed radically, to the point where they are also windows to the “outside” culture, the fact remains that how we use them is important (and even more so as we grow)
Are we scrolling, checking, following, curating? Or are we perceiving, creating, launching, shipping and distributing?
Are we focused inwardly, or are we focused outwardly (connection and contribution?)
