Rick asked if I could summarize the reference I made earlier to an article
by Eric Vogt titled "The Nature of Work in 2010: Convergence and the
Workplace." I had specifically noted the article's introductory scenario
as an interesting and provocative look at the notion of a virtual team.
In any event, this scenario is titled "The Itinerant Knowledge Worker,"
and takes place in the Amazon rain forest. As the piece beings, the main
character, a woman named Lupita, places her "personal communications
environment" over her head and, through a series of verbal requests, links
up with other members of her "workgroup" who are located in Stockholm,
Martha's Vineyard, Banff, etc. The workgroup had been formed two months
earlier with the aid of something called the Global Knowledge Exchange,
and the focus seems to be on practical ways of linking education,
knowledge commerce, accelerated learning, and standard of living in Africa
and China.
As the group "chats," (and none of them speaks the same language; they're
able to communicate through "translator chips " and a 3-D "thought picture
technology" developed by Sony) if that's the word, among themselves, they
make use of instantaneously-generated images (through a "shared
holographic workspace") and are able to engage in "simultaneous workgroup
speculation and individual reflection."
There's considerably more technology at work, used to access existing
knowledge, both tacit and explicit, and to support the creation of new
knowledge. (One of the most interesting ideas in this piece -- which is
maybe beginning to sound bizarre: trust me, it's not -- is a reference to
The World Bank for Human and Intellectual Capital and its public knowledge
server.)
The group's work is described in some detail, and I won't go into it now.
The conclusion, however, is worth isolating: When the "meeting" ended,
Lupita "stepped out of the workspace and noticed by the sun's position
that it was almost midday. She place her PCE in its case and carried it
down to the Rio Napo, a primary tributary of the Amazon. Her dugout canoe
was waiting. With a few steady strokes of the wooden paddle she was
midstream and being carriedd toward home by the current. After rounding
the first bend in the river, Lupita carefully balanced herself in the
dugout canoe and removed her clothes, leaving only the simple waist cord
that her people, the aboriginal Amazonian Huarani, had traditiionally worn
for the past five thousand years."
Eric himself raises some important questions about this scenario, which
I'll also quote:
1. What possibilities does this scenario open for you or your organization?
2. If this scenario of work in the year 2010 develops, what role might you be
playing?
3. What else is missing from this scenario, in your opinion?
For my own part, it raised a concern about what I've taken to calling the
"Political Value Chain," and the sealed-off, narcissistic quality of so
much of our conversations about learning and collaboration. It also
raised a concern about a kind of reverse entropy: All this knowledge is
presumably being created and, carried to its logical extreme, will
ultimately (and I realize ludicrously) fill a finite space. What happens
when there ain't no more room and ain't no more time?
Some info if folks want copies of the real thing: The Annual Review of
the Institute for Information Studies, in which the article appeared, is a
joint program of Northern Telecom (200 Athens Way, Nashville 37228) and
The Aspen Institute (Wye River Conference Centers, PO Box 222, Queenstown,
MD 21658).
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Host's Note: Another route to get the article might be by calling Vogt's
firm, Micromentor at 617-868-8500 and ask Eric's secretary.
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Hope this helped.
--Ron Mallis ron2785@eworld.com