Tips on the Future From an Urban Anthropologist

February 27, 2009

What's happening to our economy? What are we shifting towards as a nation, a world? Will this digital revolution stabilize? When/where it does, where will we be?

These questions are very simple to ask, but very difficult to answer. With so many people working on asking and answering, it is often easy to get caught up in the frenzy surrounding our current situation.

Enter Jennifer James, Urban Anthropologist.

She does what I do through Cyborg Anthropology, but her view is slightly larger in scope -- she studies how we're changing as we get stuffed closer and closer together in cities and how our politics are changing as we enter a world of diminishing resources. Her words are especially useful in a great time of change like the one we are going through.

I was able to meet her a few moments before she gave the Keynote at Business Leader NW, a conference that occurred this Wednesday and Thursday at the Portland Convention center.

Speech Highlights

"Why are all the newspapers failing? It's because they don't print the news. They're not challenging anyone".

Except for the New York Times, most newspapers just don't get what people need. David Pogue works for the NYTimes Technology section and does a fantastic job of engaging readers. Additionally, the NYTimes reports on timely, global information in an interesting, intelligent way. Small town newspapers have additional problems. Often, a single reporter is sent to the scene of the crime after it happens. But mobile microbloggers can report an event directly from the scene as it happens. Additionally, users of Twitter can provide multiple views of the same event -- providing an often transparent, more accurate view that traditional newspapers generally miss. Twitter users that report an event are generally part of that event's geography, meaning that they're more likely to correctly report the details that make up the event correct.

"Let's not teach evolution in schools -- because it is only a theory. They're right - but so is gravity. I invite someone to the roof of this convention center with me right now to prove me wrong".

Nobody from the audience came up to that challenge, but some of the more conservative businesspeople in the audience looked a little pained.

"What is adaptability? The ability to use your critical thinking skills".

Adaptability is something that will become very important as we transition towards information savvy thought workers. We need to be able to know how to quickly orient ourselves to any situation, with the ability to understand any sort of process. We need to be taught how to think in schools -- not information.

"We change the definition of intelligence -- now you have intelligence retrieval".

Information is quickly replaced by new information. Thinking allows one to be able to deal with any kind of information.

"We're choosing clients and consultants because we think we're like them. Because we'll get along with them. It's often what we need is the opposite".

When I first arrived at Business Leader NW, I felt that I was very different from everyone there. A group of fellow bloggers and I were hanging out with computers, and we thought we would never be able to get through to the traditional businesspeople on subjects such as the importance of expanding one's online presence. We had tools to teach them, but not the language to connect with them. But as the conference progressed, many of the traditional businesspeople begin to come over to the Blogger Pavilion. They all expressed an interest in learning at least something about new media. And after we realized that we weren't so different at all, we were really able to communicate.

"It's amazing how much time we waste because we've 'always done it that way' - that's what the comic strip Dilbert is about".

Trying out new practices is often difficult because it takes training and stress. But sometimes using new tools and techniques can make company processes run faster and smoother. The most important thing companies have to be able to do today is to be able to quickly embrace changes in the way they approach creating value and engagement. Ignoring the digital revolution can only work for so long. Technologies that improve a company's capability to communicate or produce products is similar to using a tractor instead of a mule to harvest a field.

"You have to consider what people need. It's not just money that motivates, but a work/life balance".

The traditional motivator (money) is not what people really need. They need to feel that they are trusted, that they are adding value to a company, and that they can work and have a life at the same time. Commuting to work in the morning and surviving rush hour at night is not only a waste of time, but it stresses family relationships at home. One of the ways to avoid this is to allow employees to work at home. That way, they can care for a family and save money on gas. That's both family and environmentally friendly. In the end, these employees may cost a company less in health costs because they're experiencing less stress.

"You have to match tasks in an organization with those with the strength to do those tasks".

Many companies locate competent employees into a corner. That is -- they ignore the strengths of an employee and force them to do a task unrelated to their true capabilities instead. Good companies know the core competencies and weaknesses of employees, as well as which tasks are best suited to those employees. They assign or allow workers to do what they do best. This allows workers to amplify their ability to get things done, as well as increase worker happiness.

"The best way to lead through times of great change is through influence -- which is by telling a compelling story".

Brands need to tell stories. But in the age of blogs and forums and Twitter, a brand's story has to tell the truth. Blatant advertising no longer works. Instead, consumers are looking to use products that enhance their lives in some way, or actually solve problems. They're looking for ways to get things done more quickly, or reduce stress, or help them communicate better. A compelling story consists of the following things: • A set of ideas that fit the future. • Those ideas have to resonate to deeply held values • The person telling the story has to be believable.

"Those who have a high amount of productivity in the workplace are those who are most trusted: it relaxes them. They can do more work. They can do better work".

"If you offer people a business that gives them meaning -- people are hungry for lives that have values -- they will work harder and take less money".

Three Parts to Civilization

• Increasing access to information • Increasing inclusivity - the more we're wiling to see leadership where it is, the more likely we'll accept it • Increasing non-violent alternatives to violence - learning to debate -- learning to use soft power The audience at this conference contained no laptops. Except for the blogging pavilion, I was the only technosocially connected one in the audience. This is one of the reasons I love business conferences. The people to talk to are not the ones that understand who you are and what you do -- they're those who are different. This situation maximizes the potential exchange of ideas between people.

About Jennifer

Jennifer James is an urban cultural anthropologist who was for 12 years a full time faculty member of the Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Department at the University of Washington. She left the University in 1982 to follow her interest in international business and community service. She now lectures to audiences around the world.

More About Business Leader NW

There was a lot more to do and see than just this one speech. Want to know more about Business Leader NW? Check out the Business Leader NW conference site, or the BLNW blog. Tweets associated with #blnw are available as well. Thanks to Alex H. Williams - @podcasthotel for organizing the Blogger Pavillion which serviced people new to social media with advice on blogging, Twittering and digital marketing. Also check out the website of Jennifer James.