Backstory

More and more organizations are moving towards a community model in their structure. They are doing that because it allows them to interact more closely, be creative and get products to market quicker. But for communities to be truly effective and not dysfunctional, they need to align their form, focus, and work processes. In a more traditional organization with a maximum of face-to-face communication, many misalignments could be tolerated because there was so much redundancy in communication. But in a virtual world (community), redundancy is restricted. You have to get the right message to the right person at the right time. There is far less room for error and less tolerance from customers because they can go elsewhere with less cost.

There are particular forms of communication patterns that support this. There are also shifts in management attention that support development and sustainability of the community. Lastly, there is a physical manifestation of community operations. One of the most significant challenges we face in moving towards an Internet economy is to find a way to bring these cultural, process, form, and architectural dimensions into concordance. If these dimensions are in concordance, there is a maximum potential realized in the community. If not, it will seem out of touch with customers, slow and inefficient.

I will detail the various design perspectives that each of these four factors brings to the process over the following four blogs. But before I begin that exposition, I want to lay the social-psychological foundation.

There are several contemporary perspectives in the business press that talk to each of these points, which can be unified. My aim here is to bring these perspectives together and give you a set of guidelines for constructing your influential community of commerce.

I will detail the various design perspectives that each of these four factors brings to the process over the following four blogs. But before I begin that exposition, I want to lay the social-psychological foundation.

Underlying Social Dimensions

I am a sociologist by training and a curious observer of human nature. Throughout my career, I have been fascinated, not obsessed, with looking at all the ways power and status color our interaction, all the way from simple dyads to geopolitical nation-states. Quickly,

• Power is the vertical dimension of an individual’s ability to control or direct others.
• Status is the position or rank of someone or something compared to others – the horizontal dimension.

That’s what I’m going to tease out for you. How do the power and status relate to each of the four basic design paradigms, and then what are the practical implications for people creating ‘places’ for people to work, learn, live and develop to their full potential?

Let me recap how those four design factors relate to one another and the metrics that unfold in each of them. To me, it looks like this:

Summing Up

Within each of these four bubbles, I will look at how power and status play out and how that influences effective design. Please take a deep breath; here we go.