There was a time when people used goods and services in barter for the things they needed. So, if I needed some wheat to feed my family, I’d trade you some stone tools I just made…you get it. But, not everyone wanted my stone tools, so I had to search and search for people to do business who not only wanted my stone tools, but who also had the wheat I needed. This meant that I had to do a lot of traveling or go to events that were established just so people could find each other. This must have really been a pain…
Eventually, some of us started using gold and silver as a way of collecting the value we had in our goods, so we could more efficiently build tools, and use the alloy to hold for the time we needed wheat. This proved to be such a good concept; we now have a world financial system that facilitates this commerce, and it is efficient (despite some more recent hiccups in the system). Money became the cloud that facilitated the movement of commerce, made it fast and efficient, and reduced the amount of time needed to manage the equity we had, allowing us to put energy into making and working on our goods. Money created an inherent speed and effectiveness.
In today’s scenario, you are a professional and a leader in your field. Your stone tools are your skills, ideas, leadership. You have to use this equity in an efficient and profitable way, so you can buy wheat for your family. You have to travel far and wide, looking for the right people who need your stone tool. Currently, you use some brokers, people along the path who say they know who needs your wares, but they are sorting through so many other people who offer similar products. Therefore, to be more efficient, you begin to attend events that will allow you to meet other people who are shopping for you, and trying to sell you their wheat. In fact, looking for a job, assignment, or money for a project is as archaic as it was to sell stone tools.
This same scenario can look like an idea you have at your company that you are trying to advance, or finding a consulting assignment, or just finding a board to sit on. We have no currency, no tool to facilitate exchange, no vessel for collecting equity. We go to networking events and try to bump into people at random, or we post our resume on Monster. We have a currency in our personal brand, but there is no system to carry it.
Your personal brand is an intangible thing, an impression of you based on how people have perceived you, your work and your accomplishments. It’s a reputation, and a feeling about you. It’s your equity that can not be collected and put somewhere…you carry it with you all the time. We try to manage and document this currency in the form of a resume. In truth, the resume says nothing about your character, love of your work or who you really are. It is a list of what was done, and usually embellished in a way that loses any authenticity and connection to a real person. So, while we may have goods that are useful, and we have a currency of brand, what is the best system for managing these intangible impressions of future tangible work? I think it has to do with the cloud.
Since most of our “organizations” are build to look like brick and mortar infrastructures, and our internal structures are built like pyramids, it stands to reason that the resume, a broker, gate keeper, and manager, will all work within that paradigm. It also stands to reason that a person in accounting who has a good idea about a new system that will improve profitability, but until it goes up the chain and back, it is equity lost. It is brand lost. There is no means to which that currency can pass. Now let’s assume another scenario. The person in accounting has a LinkedIn account, is connected to peers in her profession, has her finger on the pulse of the future of her field…and she is well connected in the cloud. Also assume that the company is organized in an open organizational architecture. There are no pyramids to climb over and through, everyone was connected to a Facebook home site and collaboration is encouraged. If this were the case, the currency of equity and brand may not be lost. And, if the new system she envisions is real, think of how much faster it can be sold and used. The cloud facilitates movement of commerce, makes it fast and efficient, reduces the amount of time needed to manage the equity we have, and allowed us to put energy into making and working on our goods. The cloud creates an inherent speed and effectiveness. Just like money did so long ago.
The cloud represents the virtual space to which equity and brand can travel, in this new world. It makes all other systems obsolete, old fashioned, and inefficient. The cloud removes the friction of time and infrastructure, and allows us to provide our stone tools to anyone with wheat, in a fraction of the time. The cloud also avoids the gate keepers, the keepers of the power and authority that will do anything to protect their castle. The cloud changes everything.