The Industrial Age Has Finally Run Out of Gas

“Throughout the 20th century, we created wealth through vertically integrated corporations. Now, we create wealth through networks. We are at a turning point in human history, where the industrial age has finally run out of gas.”– Don Tapscott

The thesis of his work lies in the nature of how people are now participating in mass collaborations within or across the boundaries of the organization. InWikinomics, he described seven different approaches to these new platforms for participation. Occasionally referred to as crowdsourcing, but more accurately ascollective intelligence, these are specific models of how to organize tasks, draw participation and collating results that really only happen because of the structure of the method utilized.


For example, the model of social brainstorming, also referred to as ideagoras or idea management, you create an open online system to involve all the people that you may like to draw from a specific target population, provide some topics to structure discussion and then allow them to debate, rate and rank the best ideas. This can be done within organizations or with customers, partners and communities to develop new products, teach and adapt business transformation initiatives, or even partnerships to support projects in regional, environmental and civic responsibility.

Such a model is empowered not only by the willingness to debate in an open platform with advocates and detractors alike, but also facilitation to drive constructive debate and results. It requires facilitation, not management, to help people understand the tool, the issues, and the scenarios involved. In this way, the role of leaders becomes to guide and influence others, rather than to give orders and instruction. Simply said, they are not managers any longer but influencers and this takes new skills and a different mindset.

An Interview With Don Tapscott - Forbes