The Cluetrain Manifesto declared in 1999, that digital technology will change the way we do business. The relationship between companies and customers is going to change because people have access to information - and to each other, like never before.Information flow will not be one-way any more as digital technology becomes as common as the morning cup of coffee. The average consumer will be empowered with real-time information about the products he or she buys and about the companies that produce them. This enables consumers to make informed choices about how they spend their money. Businesses can no longer afford to remain distant or indifferent to their customers’ needs.
One of the theses in the Cluetrain Manifesto states: “Don’t worry, you can still make money. That is, as long as it’s not the only thing on your mind” (Levine, Locke, Searls, Weinberger, & McKee, 1999, p. #80). This is a bold statement spoken to American businesses, which seem to have only been concerned about making money, at any cost. The business culture in America has increasingly become more cut-throat, winner-takes-all, and value-less (other than making money). I experienced this personally when working in the exhibits business, which is on the cutting edge of ‘making money’. I was involved in creating million-dollar exhibits that stood for a few days glamorizing a sexy new product, only to be thrown in a trash pile a few days later. The same applied to how people were treated: they were used to exhaustion, and thrown under the bus when they weren’t useful any more.But businesses were making money - a lot of it, it seemed - and that seemed to justify the means.
Since my exhibit days the economic collapse of 2008 happened, and the exuberance of ‘money growing on trees’ has ended. Does this mean that businesses are going to change their desire only to make money? Is the era of ‘end justifies the means’ over?With the internet maturing and people becoming more internet-literate business leaders must consider their customers in their business plans. Is this the perfect storm that creates a new set of values for businesses? Charlene Li discusses this in her book “Open Leadership: How Social Technology Can Transform the Way You Lead” (2010). She asserts that the new business-customer relationship must be built on trust, and humility:
Leadership requires a new approach, new mind-set, and new skills. It isn’t enough to be a good communicator. You must be comfortable sharing personal perspectives and feelings to develop closer relationships… You must come to embrace each openness-enabled encounter as an opportunity to learn. And it is not sufficient to just be humble. You need to seek out opportunities to be humbled … (Li, 2010)
This is the polar opposite of winner-takes-all culture permeating American business. I would like to believe that Li is correct in her assessment, but such a cultural shift does not happen overnight. It took at least thirty years for the business culture to become so audacious, so thoroughly lacking a sense of reciprocity or humility. It will take some time to regenerate a new business culture that embraces moderation, or, as Cluetrain Manifesto declared, a business culture that does not focus only on making money.
According to Li the new business leadership model requires mutual respect and an acknowledgment that customers and employees also have power (Li, 2010, p. 123 iPhone). This power is to be shared “constantly to build trust” (Li, 2010, p. 124 iPhone). Only then will the companies survive the upheaval of the cultural shift brought about by digital technology and a more informed customer base. The notion of ‘trust’ also goes against the grain of American (business) culture. You are considered naïve and exploitable if you show openness or vulnerability. But due to our new capability to communicate cheaply, quickly and spontaneously via digital technology, the old economic model has turned upside down. Trickle-down communication from top to bottom in a fully controlled environment is no longer possible. Perhaps, as Clay Shirky states: “When we change the way we communicate, we change society” (Shirky, 2008).
American style business with its raw, greed-based hunger for profit and growth is the most finely-tuned capitalist machine, five centuries in the making. Like the mythical phoenix, who burns itself to death every 500 years only to emerge anew out of the ashes,a new economic model will rise. A model that is based on reciprocity, information-sharing and respect. I am not sure if this will be the case, but I do believe that history goes in cycles, and it seems as though our current cycle is coming to an end.
Bibliography
Levine, R., Locke, C., Searls, D., Weinberger, D., & McKee, J. (1999). Cluetrain Manifesto. New York, NY.
Li, C. (2010). Open Leadership: How Social Technology Can Transform the Way You Lead. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Shirky, C. (2008). Here Comes Everybody. New York, NY: The Penguin Press.
