ARTICLES

LESSONS FROM THE TURKISH ARTISAN

Management Theories

Modern theories of organisational learning and knowledge management center predominantly on people issues rather than implementations of technology. Certainly, technology is the great enabler but the spotlight has turned to knowledge creating people as assets. As seasoned artisans of revenue generation.

The question is, 'what is the individual contributing to the organisation, society in general, and to h/erself?'. Continuous learning, creativity, collaboration, non-linear innovation are the buzz words. Are you helping to produce works of art in your organisation.That is the question in the new economy. As Hamel puts it, "what is not different is not strategic."

We are very fortunate in that the human brain is overpowering the traditional means of production - raw material, hard labour and capital. Our role has become one of contributing innovation, knowledge and collaborative spirit. And an ability to see the end product as a "way cool" offering that is a work of art.

The Urn vs. The Intranet

Understand this. The 'internet banking' product, or the 'central operations project', amongst others, that you are working on are indeed artifacts. Any product that makes life 'different' for its consumer is labeled 'value added product' or 'intelligent product'. If we look at the car industry, these days companies are not competing on physical components such as engine technology, air-conditioning or power steering. In fact, there is more technology in most cars today than there was on the space craft that took Neil Armstrong to the moon. The competitive battlefield today is in design, warranty, the service, the image and the finance deal. Intelligence and intangibles. People are what make products and service solutions unique.

What constitutes an artifact, an urn;

"No artifact is a mere thing. Each is a complex record of human engagement with the world, a text continually narrating its creation. And a large, consistent assembly of artifacts in diverse media interlocks through patterns of variation and stability into a massive presentation of the relations between personal will, collective order, and the embracing universe that characterize a people." Henry Glassie, Gunumuzde Geneleksel Turk Sanati, Pan Yayincilik, 1993, p70

Seen in this light, our 'internet banking' product, or the 'central operations project', are artifacts of human engagement with the world. All combining within the corporate milieu 'into a massive presentation of personal will, collective order that characterise a corporate culture.

The Corporate Artist

In this new world of improvised theatre, where the 'corporate career' script has been thrown out of the window, we have all become performing artists because within organisations it is becoming more evident that the employees have the answers. Organisational procedures are being geared to stimulate one, several, or all of the employees to extract and remember what they already know. These experiences, knowledge, and insights are then captured in products and services. So each employee needs to see the art in their labour.

The corporate intranet poses as the perfect allegory for the artifact. I have implemented intranets that have been very much works of art for all concerned. They have been about functionality, benefit and an ability to work with the 'resources dealt by life'. Its creators, supporters and contributing users were able to see the art in their labour. Because it made a difference to the professional and personal lives of people.

To Be Like the Turkish Artisan

"The Turkish artisan assumes art is functional, always in some measure useful. It is used by its creator to gain profit, and it will be used beneficially by its consumer. And art is not bound by this medium or that. It is a potentiality within all media, from the humble craft of the basketmaker to the lofty craft of the calligrapher. Medium is a biographical accident. Some make axes, some make carpets. What matters is how the individual handles the medium dealt by life." Ibid p71

The emerging technologies are increasingly allowing each and every one of us to be like the Turkish artisan. In an age of object oriented computing and 'networked intelligence' , the humble corporate offerings or 'artifacts' interlock "through patterns of variation and stability" spiraling to generate a New Model for the Creation of Wealth. A process of "effective individuals, working on high performance team structures; becoming integrated organisational networks of clients and servers; which reach out to customers, suppliers, affinity groups, and even competitors; which move onto the Net changing the way products and services are created, marketed and distributed." Don Tapscott

Just as the artisan works with the medium dealt by life, and manages a profit, the modern corporation too is organising around creative people (effective individuals) who generate value and product innovation within a network that is able to sustain companies. As Jack Welch comments of GE;"We are betting everything on our people -empowering them, giving them resources, and getting out of their way."

'Artist' Redefined

These people that you 'empower' in an interactive environment are the new artists of the information age. When you read the following quote from Peter Gabriel, keep in mind that the term artist can also refer to a broad spectrum of creative roles, from product development to marketing to management.

"Traditionally the artist has been the final arbitrator of his work. He delivered it and it stood on its own. In the interactive world, artists will be the suppliers of information and collage material, which people can accept as is, or manipulate to create their own art. It's part of the shift from skill-based work to decision-making and editing work - where the choice becomes as important as the actual piece of work. That's what's so exciting - the fluidity and flexibility of technology is a good complement to the human artistic spirit."

Something like the corporate intranet needs to be the 'flexible technology' that complements the human artistic spirit. In an organisation driven by communication, the quality of interaction is often more important than what you think you own. Propreitery knowledge of individual managers are a sub-standard asset in an age where information can morph into a thousand variations of the product or service we thought we owned. So in this respect, a corporate intranet needs to reflect this reality and be managed to accomodate tightly knit on-line communities. Once we establish relationships as the basis of exchange, then the technology(intranet) becomes subservient to the conversation that surrounds it.