Connected Intellect issue #1

The connected intellect – #connectedintellect – creates our path to our collective imagination, and to the growth of our human capital, and our collective imagination delivers our path to our future.

Previously, it used to be hard, if not impossible, to capture and transform into usable information the knowledge and insights of those across an organisation.

Yet, using the as-yet little recognised human resource of our “social internet literacy,” through private, internal Facebook-like or networked, document-sharing technologies available within every business, we can now investigate and convert workplace and community knowledge into new value with unprecedented ease.

Using it, we must prepare for a future shaped by a focused and often disruptive collective creativity no one can yet see or imagine.

When connected with purpose, the power of the connected intellect is likely to transform everything in its path, playing a critical role in the nature and design of smarter organisations, buildings and cities.

This newsletter comprises a linkblog of posts clustered generally around these related themes.

I have no fixed schedule for publishing this work, but each issue will appear roughly every two weeks and generally comprise from six to 10 links as I find items I consider sufficiently deserving to pass on and share with you.

And, if you are able to suggest other related content you discover to which you think I should refer or might include – with full thanks, and attribution, of course – please let me know at graham@shiroarchitects.com.

Thank you.

I live in Sydney, Australia.

Graham Lauren

There is a little more about me here: https://connectedintellect.shiroarchitects.com/about-me-graham-lauren/

Ganes Kesari, Forbes

The smartest entity ever known is groups of people. Almost everything humans have ever done has been accomplished not by lone individuals but by groups of people working together, often across time and space. MIT Sloan School of Management’s Thomas Malone calls this a supermind.

Superminds are powered by collective intelligence—not just individual brilliance. What is collective intelligence, and where is it used? How can organizations leverage human-machine collaboration to scale decisions? How should executives prepare for a future where super-intelligent machines will be commonplace?

…

Adam Gale, managementtoday.co.uk

In the age of misinformation, the inability to identify facts from perceptions is the biggest threat to the widespread development of collective intelligence, as are the polarising effects of political events like Brexit that stop people talking to each other.

Simply mobilising the crowd or data streams is not enough, meaning collective intelligence requires “careful design, curation and orchestration,” which may differ from business to business.

…

Howard Wu, Future

Fortunately, we’re about to see a change in how the web works. New technologies, based on cryptography, are enabling a class of web services that are more incentive-aligned with users. Way beyond a matter of data ownership, though, these technologies unlock new functionalities that can make the web more fair and more user-focused. 

…

Greg Satell, Digital Tonto

Perhaps most of all, leaders need to understand that digital transformation is human transformation. There is no shortage of capable vendors that can implement technology for you. What’s key, however, is to shift your culture, processes and business model to leverage digital capabilities.

…

Deloitte, Deloitte

With customer expectations on the rise, only those companies able to translate expectation into experience will win the battle. Companies are compelled to design connected experiences, irrespective of the touchpoint or channel, so that customers can enjoy them whenever, wherever and however they choose. In a nutshell, organizations that carefully manage the customer experience can maximize customer satisfaction and improve their bottom line.

…

Robert Hillard, Information-Driven Business

The three things that separate the best projects from the rest are: insight (into the future), simplification (of the business today) and inspiration (through new capabilities).

…

Ethan McCallum, O'Reilly Media

There’s an implied “tell me more” in an open-ended question. Follow it with silence, and (as any professional interrogator will tell you) people will fill in extra details. They will get to what happened, along with when and how and why. They will tell a full story, which may then lead to more questions, which branch into other stories. All of this fills in more pieces to the puzzle. Sometimes, it sheds light on parts of the puzzle you didn’t know existed.

…

Thanks to these writers: Ganes Kesari, Adam Gale, Howard Wu, Greg Satell, Deloitte, Robert Hillard, Ethan McCallum.

Ganes Kesari, Forbes

The smartest entity ever known is groups of people. Almost everything humans have ever done has been accomplished not by lone individuals but by groups of people working together, often across time and space. MIT Sloan School of Management’s Thomas Malone calls this a supermind.

Superminds are powered by collective intelligence—not just individual brilliance. What is collective intelligence, and where is it used? How can organizations leverage human-machine collaboration to scale decisions? How should executives prepare for a future where super-intelligent machines will be commonplace?

…

Adam Gale, managementtoday.co.uk

In the age of misinformation, the inability to identify facts from perceptions is the biggest threat to the widespread development of collective intelligence, as are the polarising effects of political events like Brexit that stop people talking to each other.

Simply mobilising the crowd or data streams is not enough, meaning collective intelligence requires “careful design, curation and orchestration,” which may differ from business to business.

…

Howard Wu, Future

Fortunately, we’re about to see a change in how the web works. New technologies, based on cryptography, are enabling a class of web services that are more incentive-aligned with users. Way beyond a matter of data ownership, though, these technologies unlock new functionalities that can make the web more fair and more user-focused. 

…

Greg Satell, Digital Tonto

Perhaps most of all, leaders need to understand that digital transformation is human transformation. There is no shortage of capable vendors that can implement technology for you. What’s key, however, is to shift your culture, processes and business model to leverage digital capabilities.

…

Deloitte, Deloitte

With customer expectations on the rise, only those companies able to translate expectation into experience will win the battle. Companies are compelled to design connected experiences, irrespective of the touchpoint or channel, so that customers can enjoy them whenever, wherever and however they choose. In a nutshell, organizations that carefully manage the customer experience can maximize customer satisfaction and improve their bottom line.

…

Robert Hillard, Information-Driven Business

The three things that separate the best projects from the rest are: insight (into the future), simplification (of the business today) and inspiration (through new capabilities).

…

Ethan McCallum, O'Reilly Media

There’s an implied “tell me more” in an open-ended question. Follow it with silence, and (as any professional interrogator will tell you) people will fill in extra details. They will get to what happened, along with when and how and why. They will tell a full story, which may then lead to more questions, which branch into other stories. All of this fills in more pieces to the puzzle. Sometimes, it sheds light on parts of the puzzle you didn’t know existed.

…

Thanks to these writers: Ganes Kesari, Adam Gale, Howard Wu, Greg Satell, Deloitte, Robert Hillard, Ethan McCallum,