Okay, I admit it: maybe the image below is just wishful thinking.



But let me try to convince you why it may be true.

Previously in this mini-series, we discussed the pending collapse of the nation-state as well as the demise of conventional financing systems.

That is essentially about the collapse of authority 1.0: authority granted from the top down, in a hierarchical, bureaucratic, command and control fashion. When authority collapses and is re-built from the bottom up, there's going to be an absence of systems of control.

The new institutions that arise -- the institutions that will have to grow without external capital financing (due to the rising cost of financing an economic collapse would create). The way to grow without external capital financing is through peer production. Think Wikipedia, YouTube, forums, etc.

Organizations committed to harnessing peer production are going to have very different managerial styles; there will be some elements of command and control, but these organizations rely far more on individual choice and contributions given freely.

When individuals participate in an organization based on choice rather than on force, the psychology of the group is characterized by group consciousness as opposed to of mass consciousness. Liz Greene explains the difference in her book Saturn when she writes: "Group consciousness is not mass consciousness for with the former the contribution is voluntary and the worth of the individual is not lost."

In other words, mass consciousness -- the psychology of hierarchical organizations -- is about creating the herd mentality; it is about individuals sacrificing their individuality for the sake of the group. In peer-produced organizations, we see group consciousness; in other words, we see the value of the group being determined by the uniqueness of each individual member's identity and contribution.

Management in web 2.0 is about helping each individual to become a kook, and to weave together the kookiness of all participants into a single cohesive network.

Yes, I'm joking. But when you think about how Wikipedia works, the poster child for the peer produced organization, the truth of the joke may become may apparent.

It is about creating an ecosystem. Ecosystems thrive on diversity and the voluntary contribution of its participants.

To create these kinds of peer-produced organizations -- the kinds of organizations that will be cost-effective enough to escape the need for external financing as well as the dependence upon established social systems that are set to collapse -- command and control methodologies, methodologies that essentially create the herd mentality and the very idea of conformity and the "mainstream," are not going to work. Instead, the organization must be designed to primarily to serve the individual.

In this way, the very idea of conformity and the mainstream will collapse. Culturally, the winning organizations in 2.0 will be peer-produced systems that encourage kookiness and use the kookiness of its members to create wholly unique offerings for public consumption. In this way, 2.0 will help humans escape the shackles of conformity and the herd mentality, thus leaving each one of us free to heighten our individual consciousness and become the unique hero that each one of us is destined to be.

Other Articles in this Series

The Collapse of Law in Culture 2.0
Culture 2.0 and the Collapse of Corporate Finance
Culture 2.0: Revenge of the Kook