Businesses and individuals need to adapt to a whole new set of rules as the new economy changes the way we see the world, says futurist Wolfgang Grulke.
Speaking at a seminar hosted by CCH and FutureWorld, Grulke said market economics, openness and technology are causing central power to be broken down everywhere, with that power being moved to individuals - employees, consumers and investors.
A centralised system is mechanical, predictable, stable and simple, whereas a distributed system, such as one in which individuals have the power, is chaotic, unpredictable, volatile and complex, he says.
In distributed systems, which are natural and organic, there is no central control and no hierarchy, which implies that anyone can lead, there is no one right answer, and that small change has massive effects.
Grulke refers to this as a fractal model, in which relationships are more important than the individual parts. Networks are the hierarchies of nature, he adds.
He cites Nortel as an example, since it no longer creates divisions to launch new products, but "spinouts" which may end up competing with Nortel itself.
Napster will also be a victory for the fractal individual. "Fifty million users are saying to the music industry, 'Guys, there`s another way`." When the laws change to allow that, the individual will be victorious.
Various industries, including health care, security and investment, are not being dominated by a few central players.
Grulke says that when the individual has ultimate power there is nowhere else to go.
"This is not a stepping stone to somewhere else. When the individual has ultimate power, this is it. If you want to go somewhere else, the only other way is to go backwards."
The new economy is a network in which the individual`s relevance is measured and remunerated by a value judgment of the context in which he operates. In other words, the network judges our value.
He adds that this relevance is time related. The definition of value does not remain constant. "You can be relevant now, and irrelevant next week."
However, businesses and individuals can capitalise on the new worldview.
Individuals must get relevant, Grulke says. They need to design their future and build the skills. They must create the vision and create their own support system (office, health care, investments).
He adds that people need to do what they love, and find a way to make it economically attractive. Finally, they need to realise they must not allow geography to dictate their future. It is possible today to work in one country while being in another.
Businesses need to realise that there is a global resource base. They also need to seek measures for output rather than attendance, simply "clocking in".
Businesses must capitalise on relationship equity - seeking partnerships and co-operation. They must lead relationships in the network and manage the individual parts. They must also realise that it is always a "new generation" market and act accordingly.
The principles for success in a fractal world, for businesses and individuals, are interdependence, partnership, flexibility and diversity.
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