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- Herausgeber: Editora Belas-Letras
- Kategorie: Fachliteratur
- Sprache: Englisch
The world is full of stories of entrepreneurs who have started from scratch. Tiago Mattos, a Brazilian futurist, graduated from singularity university – the university established in silicon valley by google and Nasa – will show you that you can start a successful company from scratch with the right mindset and an understanding of how the world has been changing. In fact, it has never been so easy to get something done. It has never been so easy to put together a book, a movie, a song, a high school reunion, a protest march, a political party, a house, a car, a declaration of love or even travelling around the world. It has never been so easy to start a company. It has never been so easy to understand that no one will make the world a perfect place for you. Only you can do it for yourself.
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© 2017 Tiago Mattos
Edited by
Gustavo Guertler
Coordinated by
Fernanda Fedrizzi
English version by
Cici Baxter, Carolina Correa da Silva, and Rafa Lombardino
Cover and graphic design by
Celso Orlandin Jr.
Graphics design by
Gabriel Kolton
Illustrations by
Fernando Volken Togni
Photo of the fourth cover by
Maurício Thomsen
Production of ebook
S2 Books
ISBN: 978-85-8174-470-4
2018
All rights reserved by
Editora Belas Letras Ltda.
To my parents, for teaching me that combining entrepreneurship and positive impact is truly worth it.
To my brothers, for being such role models for entrepreneurial awareness.
To my wife, for inspiring me and allowing me to live a life driven by challenges.
1. THIS IS A STRAIGHTFORWARD BOOK.
A DECISIVE READING. AN INVITATION TO TAKE A
LOOK AT CRUCIAL POINTS IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP.
I WRITE WITH SURGICAL PRECISION. NO BULLSHIT.
I’VE ALWAYS BELIEVED IN SIMPLIFYING THAT WHICH IS COMPLEX, RATHER THAN TAKING SOMETHING SIMPLE AND MAKING IT MORE COMPLICATED.
I WOULDN’T HAVE IT ANY OTHER WAY HERE.
STILL, I MUST CONFESS: DESPITE KEEPING IT IN MIND WHILE WRITING, I’M NOT COMPLETELY SATISFIED WITH THE FINAL RESULT.
AS THE PHILOSOPHER AND MATHEMATICIAN
BLAISE PASCAL ONCE SAID: “IF I HAD MORE TIME, I WOULD HAVE WRITTEN A SHORTER LETTER.”
2. THIS IS A DEMOCRATIC BOOK.
OR, AT LEAST, IT HOPES TO BE.
IT DOESN’T EXCLUDE BUDDING ENTREPRENEURS (THUS THE LONG INTRODUCTION).
NOR DOES IT BORE
EXPERIENCED ENTREPRENEURS (WHO
MAY BE SURPRISED BY THE BLOOMING CONTENT HEREIN – ESPECIALLY IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE BOOK).
3. THIS IS AN UNFINISHED BOOK.
THIS BOOK IS A SNAPSHOT OF MY
ENTREPRENEURIAL VISION AS OF FEBRUARY 2017[1].
FROM HERE ON OUT, EVERYTHING CAN
CHANGE. AND I SINCERELY HOPE IT DOES.
CHANGING YOUR MIND IS A NECESSARY RESOURCE FOR YOU TO EVOLVE.
CHANGING YOUR MIND IS NOT A SIGN OF WEAKNESS. IT’S A SIGN OF GREATNESS.
As I often say, you can identify passionate people by the look in their eyes. I’m a fan of Tiago’s mostly because many of his projects made me think: “Why in God’s name HAVE I NEVER thought of that before?”
I’m a fan of Tiago’s because he has the incredible ability to add subtitles to contemporary times. That’s right. Very few people have the ability to explain the collective mind in such an easy, practical way.
Oh! I’m also a fan of Tiago’s because he not only has ideas—he implements them. But above all, because he discovered very early on the power of “us” and transformed it into a process. Tiago doesn’t establish companies that make products for people. He establishes companies with people who make products.
That’s why, as a fan, I was stoked when Tiago invited me to write this preface (I consider Tiago the Brazilian Seth Godin.) when I stopped to think about how we first met, I realized that, despite the enormous affection and mutual admiration, we’ve never met each other face to face. If it weren’t for this beautiful and vast new world, we wouldn’t have met at all. We identified in each other the will to live for our purposes, far beyond a life based on things.
That being said, I would swap the first sentence of this preface for the penultimate sentence of this preface: “You can identify passionate people by the beat of their heart!”
Got butterflies in your stomach yet?
Happy reading!
Rony Meisler Founder of Reserva.
Under Rony’s leadership, Reserva was named one of the world’s most innovative companies in 2015, according to Fast Company. What I admire the most in this mega entrepreneur is his subversive nature, which is a subject we couldn’t help but address here in “JUST GET IT DONE.”
THE FAMILIAR OF TODAY IS THE ABSURD OF TOMORROW
In a not too distant past, society was divided between the free (those with pale skin) and slaves (those with dark skin.)
For the vast majority of people who lived at that time, dividing citizens based on the color of their skin was something acceptable—either naturally or with resignation. You were either in the manor house or in the slave quarters.
As a society, there was no collective mind that firmly questioned segregation. The few who did it, did so in private, but never in public. Consequently, there were white people who feared being judged, and black people who feared potential retaliation.
This belief was heeded and passed on to future generations, who continued to perpetuate this mindset: Some deserve freedom; others don’t.
Today, society has acquired a level of consciousness that condemns this nonsense. Not coincidentally, racism is a non-bailable crime nowadays. But until Golden Law passed in 1888, such was the reality in Brazil and few had the courage to question and challenge the status quo.
Just like racism, we can also refer to women’s right to vote. Despite a few suffragettes, until 1932 much of society understood it as only natural: men can vote, women cannot.
It wasn’t long ago that children’s education was based on physical punishment. Parents would hit their children. Teachers would apply unthinkable punishments by today’s standards, like asking a child to kneel on rice or smacking their hands with a stick.
Imagining any type of violence or harm done to a child causes immediate outrage nowadays.
It was only recently that society opened up to different sexual orientations. If we stop to think that, just a few decades ago, anything other than heterosexuality was quickly labeled as an illness, we can see how much we have evolved, and greatly so.
To give you an idea, it was only in May 1990 that the World Health Organization removed homosexuality from the International Classification of Diseases (ICD).
And what can we say about the Apartheid? It was only in 1994, when Nelson Mandela was elected, that South Africa was able to reach new horizons in terms of racial equality.
We are talking about very recent changes. Slavery in Brazil was only abolished 126 years ago. The right to vote was only granted to Brazilian women 82 years ago. Changes to the CID and Mandela’s revolution happened less than 30 years ago.
In conclusion: The familiar of today becomes the absurd of tomorrow.
Unlike Claudius Ptolemy—who assured that Earth was the center of the solar system, and whose theory was only challenged fourteen centuries later by Nicolaus Copernicus—we live in a time where new ideas can arise at any given moment. These ideas have the ability to destroy the status quo overnight.
And it’s with this intention that I’d like to make the following question: Are we looking at the way companies, jobs, and work are structured as something that is merely familiar?
Is it possible that we are promoting a model that, in a few years’ time, we will be embarrassed about because of its controlling nature?
Isn’t it time to think about new possibilities?
While we are immersed in certainties, while we don’t consider new alternatives, we will continue to do everything as we have always done it.
This book is an invitation to reflection, an invitation to look at human autonomy in a different way and, consequently, to reconsider entrepreneurship, management, and our professional lives.
This book is an invitation to experience a new work format. It will certainly sound absurd to some people, but I’d rather sound absurd today as opposed to sounding absurd tomorrow.
THE FUTURE OF ENTERPRISES
The digital revolution has brought a new awareness to all levels of society, awakening both employees and employers.
Now we face a domino effect that will lead us to face one of the most radical changes in the history of work dynamics.
In the near future, companies will cease to exist—at least not like we know them today.
We will all be freelancers, independent professionals. You will be able to work in your chosen field, doing what you enjoy. One day, you could be an interior designer; the next day, a musician; a week later, a jiu-jitsu teacher.
It will all depend on your interests, your abilities, and the law of supply and demand.
Today’s regulations (degrees and titles) will be even more fluid in the future, allowing you to literally select thousands of professional activities that you can take part in throughout your life.
Actually, there will no longer be professions (which are static); there will only be activities (which are fluid.)
Companies (which are static) will give room to workgroups (which are fluid) and people will gather around a common purpose. These groups will exist for as long as they remain relevant to all of those involved. They will no longer be bound by contracts or the respective laws.
There will be no bosses or employers. Leadership will be circumstantial and adaptive, never fixed. Hence, there will be no positions (which are static,) just temporary roles (which are fluid.)
Purpose and legacy will act as invisible leaders.
Everyone will be business partners and, therefore, enter into preliminary agreements to set responsibilities, and consequently, wages and participation.
Following the principles of abundance, there will be a very different sense of competitiveness compared to what we have today. We will all take a more collaborative approach, then enjoying your work will come as a natural consequence.
People will have freedom to let go of projects whenever they wish to do so, without legal implications, the need to give anyone notice, or for any other bureaucratic reason.
And this approach will be applied throughout society: the private sector, the public sector, and NGOs.
The new system will be dynamic, creating many more opportunities than there are today, allowing you to experiment with however many activities you wish.
We will all have more opportunities and even more freedom to come and go as we please.
That is the only way each individual will be able to do exactly that which makes them truly happy.
This scenario, which may sound like utopia to some, is closer than it seems. In some places, it’s a reality already.
IN SUM, WE WILL ALL BE ENTREPRENEURS
However, freedom comes with a price. We need to get used to a new type of organization—a much less paternalistic one than what we have today.
The new system will be more horizontal and require everyone to take ownership.
Current employees will have to embrace self-management practices, thus performing tasks without external management.
Directors and managers will have to learn how to work without hierarchy in organizations where everyone sees themselves as empowered individuals.
Entrepreneurs have the responsibility to tear down their current business structures in favor of distributed models. But, mostly, they have the responsibility to share their entrepreneurial awareness—their ability to implement their ideas—with those who don’t have this ability yet.
This is everyone’s mission.
As Nobel Prize winner Muhammad Yunus said, “We are all entrepreneurs , only too few of us get to practice it.”
THE ENTREPRENEURIAL CONCEPT
Being an entrepreneur doesn’t necessarily mean you need to start a business.
An entrepreneur is someone who doesn’t accept reality in a resigned way. They are motivated by the desire to make a positive impact in the world, and help co-build an initiative.
Only entrepreneurs can say what an initiative will be, how it will come to fruition, and why it should continue to exist.
Here’s my simple definition of what an entrepreneur is: An individual who is aware of their empowerment and, for this very same reason, takes the reins of their own lives, creating initiatives that will change our reality for the better.
***
As for empowerment, we are all already empowered. The thing is that, unfortunately, many people are still living in a hierarchical world, where some are worth more than others.
***
As for autonomy, from Kant to Piaget this word is frequently used by great thinkers. The best definition I could find was: “Autonomy is the ability to govern yourself while following a mindful decision-making process, that is, making rational and emotional choices with the knowledge and understanding of your actions and the most immediate consequences. Autonomy also means not being determined by invisible influences, such as fear, social pressures, or conformity.”
Entrepreneurs have the emotional ability to make decisions for themselves.
They live life to the fullest as aware beings who have the ability to make themselves happy.
***
As for creating an initiative, it doesn’t necessarily need to be something professional. It could be an NGO that tackles hunger, an association of parents who wish to educate their children, a philosophy study group—or even less pretentious efforts.
The most important element here is that you take the initiative and make it come true, instead of accepting the world as it is right now. Then, when we reach a more horizontal world order, the mere fact of participating in professional initiatives will already mean that you are co-building them.
In other words, when hierarchy no longer exists and everyone involved is a business partner, contributing to a new project will automatically make you an entrepreneur.
***
As for changing the world for the better, our current reality has diminished people’s capacity to think for themselves and enhanced our selfish tendencies. However, if we bring individuals to an advanced level of awareness, they’ll go back to their altruistic nature.
The true essence of entrepreneurship is kindness.
CHALLENGES
Evidently, we will face many challenges before we get there. The inequalities that exist in our society today make it harder for us to imagine such a short-term transition.
However, as the good optimist that I am, I believe in humanity. We are skilled at solving problems—we have always been, and will always be.
The technological advances we have seen in the last hundred years have allowed us to have a higher quality of life universally, which is an unprecedented phenomenon.
Therefore, if on the one hand we must deal with fear, on the other hand there must always be hope.
As for the future, I know this much is true: it is relentless and it doesn’t reach everyone at the same time.
Still, it eventually will.
THE JGID PRINCIPLE
Throughout my entrepreneurial journey, I realized that the “just get it done” (JGID) system works both ways. One the one hand, it awakens the entrepreneurial spirit in those who haven’t experienced it inherently. That is, the system enhances the feeling of empowerment and autonomy and the ability to put ideas into practice.
On the other hand, it turns highly vertical companies into more horizontal structures.
It’s a win-win scenario: individuals, organizations, and the entire network will be in a better position.
THE SEVEN STEPS OF JGID
When you realize what entrepreneurship is, you naturally become inspired—and this inspiration will awaken a desire within you.
It isn’t an idea; it precedes the idea.
Being confused is only natural.
This desire will stay with you for a long time, and it will work as the engine that puts your daydreaming into motion.
Should I open a brownie store?
What if I opened a café here, in my garage?
What would it be like to have an online thrift store, selling second-hand items people no longer use?
Following a natural entrepreneurial path, you’ll most likely face this conundrum for a long time.
It’s very possible that you’ll have that a-ha moment, when you think you’re reinventing the wheel. You’ll fall in love with this idea and be afraid to tell others about it.
What if someone steals it?
However, as a few days go by, you’ll realize that your idea isn’t as brilliant as you had previously thought.
You’ll have many good ideas that will excite you at first, but won’t survive past the probing stages.
Until, one day, you’ll be convinced that you’ve found the right answer and decide to go ahead with it: in sickness and in health, until death do you part.
***
When that happens, you’ll enter the second entrepreneurial stage.
The first stage is going from “desire” to “idea”. Now, your challenge is to transform your idea into a prototype, or a Minimal Viable Product (MVP).
A prototype/MVP is when you put your idea into practice and put your assumptions to the test. This process can range from something very sophisticated to something very rudimentary.
If you’re an individual who likes to focus on what you learn throughout the process, you will quickly understand what needs changing and create new prototypes while making the necessary adjustments, until your idea turns into a concrete project—and that’s the third entrepreneurial phase.
***
The word “project,” which can be used in different ways, will have a particular definition in this book. A “project” is when your prototype/MVP leaves the drawing board and starts operating in real life.
That’s when your project really starts.
If you’re only thinking about selling T-shirts, you’re still in the “desire” phase.
If you decide to make a collection of printed T-shirts with funny quotes by emblematic athletes, then – wait a second – you have an idea.
If you have a beta version of your first T-shirts, even if you’re not using the actual fabric you’d want, just to see if it’s worth it and check what other people think, you’re still in the prototyping phase.
Now, when you negotiate the materials, figure out the layout for these quotes, make a deal with a T-shirt printer, and promote your collection on Facebook, that’s when you start to enter a systematic cycle, and dinner is ready to be served. That’s when you have an actual project.
***
If there is confusion between the “desire” phase and the idea itself, the following example should clarify it. Many people have recipe books, but most of them have never taken their mixer out of the cabinet, sifted the flour, or broken the eggs. You only have a project when you close PowerPoint and start to get things going – even in an informal way.
Now, at first, you will need to invest a lot of money into it, jump through hoops, and watch as vultures circle around you until you’re finally in the black. That is especially true if you are working on this project as something on the side.
At the same time, there are only a few things capable of bringing more joy to young entrepreneurs than saving that Excel spreadsheet and seeing that you’re no longer in the red.
***
While you’re in debt or barely breaking even, you still have a project. It is only when you start making a profit that your project will turn into a business. This is how we will define these terms in this book. Whenever we mention a “business,” you now know we are referring to projects that have started to show results.
When you continue to cash in every month, you can soon give your two weeks’ notice at work so that you can dedicate yourself to your own business.
That’s when the lines between entrepreneur and enterprise become blurred. Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde will then become one. You will probably work long hour and spend a good portion of your free time creating the foundation for your business.
It’s a visceral period, a full-time involvement moved by passion.
But, as much as you may enjoy this process, you will need to put things in order. You will need a structure to make sure that, eventually, instead of focusing on day-to-day operations, you will start to focus on the strategy.
This is a common challenge: How can I exit the operational side of my business and let it run by itself?
***
Now we are talking about something big. The fifth stage of the entrepreneurial journey is turning your business into a company.
A “company”, in this book, will also refer to a specific concept. You will have a company when the organization can run by itself, without hurting the quality of the final product or demanding that leaders oversee day-to-day operations.
In other words, that’s the moment when, if you die, the business won’t die with you.
Obviously, if you’re still confused about desire and the actual idea, between idea and the actual project, between project and the actual business, don’t be alarmed. It happens a lot.
Many entrepreneurs think they have a company when, in reality, they have a business. While they’re there, taking care of business, things go well. But, if they decide to go on vacation, everything starts to unravel.
***
Lastly, an entrepreneur’s dream scenario takes place when they are able to transform their prototype/project/business/company into an interdependent, distributed organization based on self-management principles.
This is the part of the book where I believe experienced businesspeople can start taking notes and learn something new.
THE TRANSITION
Transforming a company into a distributed network isn’t an easy task.
This is true mainly because of our current metrics of success, which are misleading—at least in my opinion.
It’s like looking at a map upside down: you will likely go in the very opposite direction you were wishing for.
This new paradigm is currently in place in some companies, but it is yet to be implemented by society as a whole. It’ll happen one day, though.
The transition starts with a shift in awareness and a new understanding of the role companies have in the world today.
The understanding that every company should become an accelerator for entrepreneurs is one of the roles a company should embrace.
Companies shouldn’t just be an accelerator for projects (focused on spin-offs,) but an accelerator for entrepreneurs (focused on individuals.)
In this scenario, company leaders take on an extra mission: mentoring the less experienced so that, in the shortest term possible, they can become empowered themselves and see their own weaknesses and limitations and become aware of the chains that are weighing them down.
To quote the poet A. Jodorowsky, “Birds born in a cage think flying is an illness.”
Contemporary entrepreneurs/leaders not only open cages for birds to fly away free, but they also make sure that these birds realize flying is in their nature.
Most importantly, contemporary entrepreneurs don’t feel threatened by this large flock.
POSSIBLE UTOPIA
Today, I am part of a horizontal network that operates an organization that is absolutely self-managed, has circumstantial leadership, is financially sustainable, and has an invisible leadership that shares a common purpose.
It is my privilege to be part of this organization and have reached many realizations throughout my short entrepreneurial journey.
And that is the story I would like to share with you.
‘THE WORLD HAS CHANGED” HAS BECOME A CLICHÉ
The more I attend conferences, forums, symposiums, and lectures, the more I hear this expression.
“The world has changed.”
It may come from experienced or inexperienced speakers, from hosts, or even attendees during Q&A.
“The world has changed.”
Sometimes it’s the title of the event itself.
“The world has changed.”
Have you ever stopped to think how many times we have repeated this line?
And, when I say “we,” I mean you’ve probably done it too.
Take note: This expression has become the mantra of our contemporary lives.
We say it when we talk about new smartphone apps, open relationships, active participation in social media, or your kid thinking all TVs are touchscreen.
“The world has changed” has become a cliché. And it becomes a bigger cliché when we forget to ask a question that is intrinsically related to that statement.
WHAT HAS CHANGED, EXACTLY?
Many people say, “The world has changed,” but only a few dare to say what has changed, exactly.
This is an extremely complex question, which instigates at least three observations that are worth making.
First: The world has not changed. The world is changing. And this phenomenon changes every day.
How are we supposed to analyze what is happening if it’s present continuous, not past perfect?
How can we take a photograph of something that changes between the instant we look through the lens and the moment we take the picture?
Second: we are inside the phenomenon, and have become a relevant part of it.
How can we understand the context if we are the result? It is changing us every given moment, constantly altering our perception of reality.
How can we objectively analyze this?
Third: How are we supposed to make an assessment with little margin of error, when it seems like this phenomenon is only starting?
How are we supposed to know the exact dimension of the sea if we are riding a wave that has barely even broken?
IF THE WORLD HAS CHANGED, OBJECTIVITY DEMANDS A HISTORICAL DETACHMENT
History and past experiences have shown us that, in these cases, we must wait it out.
As the years go by, we will be able to separate what was really important from what was only fleeting, temporary, and ephemeral.
History has shown us that, when we make a simplistic separation, we can mistake correlation for causality.
In other words: we can misjudge an event that seemed to have triggered another event when, in fact, they were only connected without any relation of cause and effect.
UNDERSTANDING CORRELATION AND CAUSALITY BETTER
Using new economy approaches demonstrated in books such as “Freakonomics” and ”The Why Axis” helps us better understand the difference between correlation and causality.
What if I told you that, in a particular city, every time there is a significant increase in ice cream sales, there is a statistically proven proportional increase in the number of people who drowned?
The statistics are real, and may mislead the most inattentive people. If you partake in conspiracy theories, you are probably thinking:
Are people so distracted by ice cream they end up drowning.
Does strawberry ice cream cause indigestion?
Or is there a batch of LSD-laced ice cream being passed around?
Actually, the confusion comes from the fact that these two statistics do not represent a cause and an effect. There’s only correlation.
What do I mean by that? Simple: More ice cream is sold during summer. Also during summer, the amount of people swimming in rivers, pools, lakes, and the sea increases as well, so it’s only natural that the number of drownings increases, too.
Here’s a moral lesson: If we want to understand how the world is changing, its best if we wait patiently and create a historical detachment.
That is the only way we will have a careful analysis of these two variables—correlation and causality – and make sure they don’t get mixed up.
CUT THE CRAP. AFTER ALL, WHAT CHANGED?
OK, OK. You win.
You’re not here to read one more guy say that the world has changed and be satisfied with that.
I certainly wouldn’t be.
Therefore, I will try to further develop this argument by trying to find a simple explanation, instead of a simplistic one.
There is no need to make this more confusing than it already is.
The answer didn’t just pop in my head. It wasn’t an individual epiphany. On the contrary: the answer is based on a pattern detected inside a great collective intelligence.
Maybe it looks just as obvious as the statement that the world has changed. But it isn’t.
A NEW ERA
You can divide the history of humankind in different ways.
Among all of them, I prefer the one that separates our history into three ages: The Agricultural Age, the Industrial Age, and the Digital/Informational Age.
This division is represented, for example, in Alvin Toffler’s classic The Third Wave.
The author divides our time into three great waves: from the beginning of humankind to the Agricultural Revolution, from the Agricultural Revolution to the Industrial Revolution, and from the Industrial Revolution to present times.
However, Toffler is not the only one who talks about it this way.
WHAT DIGITAL REVOLUTION HAS TO SAY ABOUT THIS NEW ERA
Since we are talking about the change of an era, how about we changed our sources of information as well?
How about, instead of referring to business, management, and history books, we looked within the phenomenon itself?
And what if we checked what Wikipedia has to say about all this? When you search “Digital Revolution” in Wikipedia, this is what you will find: “Analogous to the Agricultural Revolution and Industrial Revolution, the Digital Revolution marked the beginning of the Information Age.”
In other words, Wikipedia—one of today’s most interesting internet platforms—also defines the history of humankind under the same paradigms: Agricultural, Industrial, Digital.
A TRANSITION BETWEEN AGES
John Durant, the author of The Paleo Manifesto, also thinks this way.
He divides humankind into five ages: two prehistoric ages (Animal and Paleolithic) and three historic ages (Agricultural, Industrial, and Informational).
Durant is just another individual who has joined this team.
I like the way Durant sees the transition between ages, which he always associated with a great revolution.
From the Animal to the Paleolithic Age, we had the ascension of great minds.
From the Paleolithic to the Agricultural Age, new crop methods emerged, and the aspect of Culture was born.
From the Agricultural to the Industrial Age, large-scale manufacturing methods were mastered.
And from the Industrial to the Informational Age, we now see the proliferation of computers.
IT’S NOT UNIQUE. BUT IT IS.
Alvin Toffler’s theory is not unanimous. Wikipedia’s is not unanimous. John Durant is not unanimous.
And all those thinkers who also agree with this point of view are not unanimous either.
Therefore, this point of view is not the absolute truth.
But the fact that it’s not the absolute truth doesn’t mean that it isn’t true.
It’s an attempt, among different possibilities, to explain what we are currently going through.
This is the lens I suggest you look through from now on.
It’s with this lens that we will use when navigating from here on out.
AND WHAT ABOUT THAT CURVE?
If you look at the chart showing the different revolutions, you’ll see that Y axis—the technological evolution of society—goes up with each new age.
This indicates a technological acceleration, which we’ll explain later in the book.
Spoiler alert: It’s not just the change of an era. There’s a change in the speed with which it happens.
AT THE END OF THE DAY, WHAT DOES THIS ALL MEAN?
It means that we only had three great ages in the history of humankind.
Consequently, there were only two instances when we had to deal with such radical changes.
It means that, in these two moments in our history, we had been educated to operate within a system, but had to teach ourselves how to operate within another system.
The hardware of our current society is completely industrial, while most of us are already using digital software.
THE ASSEMBLY LINE
We all know how an assembly line works; People stand side by side in front of a conveyer belt.
The first worker receives the raw material, slightly modifies it, then passes it on to the second worker, who also does his job, then passes it over to the next worker, and so on.
It goes on, materials are passed from individual to individual, going through change after change until, in the last stage, that which was once a raw material has turned into a final product that is ready for the shelves.
Regardless of whether people or machines are involved and how many changes a product goes through in an assembly line, whether during the initial or final stage, the logic is still the same.
And this is the logic we must be careful with.
INDUSTRIAL MINDSET: LINEAR ACTION
Nowadays, with historical detachment, it’s easy to understand the industrial mindset.
This mindset is linear. Besides the obvious analogy to the assembly line itself, the industrial mindset suggests a linear evolution.
After the first stage, comes the second stage. After the second, comes the third stage, and so on, so forth.
Career development inside factories reflects this assembly line as well. From the factory line, you move on to supervisor; from supervisor to manager, manager to director, and director to business partner.
Linear processes have always fueled the industrial mindset, and they always will.
INDUSTRIAL MINDSET: REPETITIVE ACTION
Each person masters a single task and becomes a specialist in that particular role.
The more time an individual executes a task, the more efficient they become in that particular role, and the faster they will move the product onto the next stage.
With the birth of the Industrial Revolution, 80% of tasks were manual labor and, obviously, speed was an indicator of quantity.
The more profits a factory made, the more workers got a pat on the back from their boss.
In other words, if performing repetitive tasks wasn’t an advent from the Industrial Revolution, it is a legacy that has been clearly reinforced by the way work was seen at that time.
INDUSTRIAL MINDSET: SEGMENTED ACTION
Each task is completed by an individual or a group.
Individuals are separated by departments or sections, responsible for a specific area of expertise.
There is no fluidity among groups, except for those that have a direct connection with the actual assembly line.
If you are responsible for the fourth stage of the process, you will only interact with groups from the third and fifth stages—the ones right before and after your own stage. You never get to interact with any other stages.
The legacy we have now is this rigid departmentalized system we see in companies today.
Specialists in one area remain grouped in one room, isolated, and they interact very little with the different stages of the working process.
There’s an artificial flow, instead of an organic flow.
INDUSTRIAL MINDSET: PREDICTABLE ACTION
Since assembly lines are fractionated, as soon as raw materials arrive at your department, you know exactly how you will receive them.
And, since you’ll be performing very specific tasks, you also know exactly how you need to pass it on to the next stage.
You know that, if you don’t receive the product within a certain standard, you will not be able to complete your part of the process.
You also know that, if you can’t complete your task, there is no way the process can continue.
And, if you stop to think about it, you know what happens in every phase of the assembly line.
Everything is so predictable, both in the stages before and after your own stage.
A SILENT REVOLUTION
As you can imagine, labor demand increased with the rise of the Industrial Revolution.
Factories needed a larger number of workers in order to operate their assembly lines.
How do we make sure individuals who used to work in an agrarian economy can respond to a new mindset?
A mindset that is linear, repetitive, segmented and predictable?
AND SO THIS SYSTEM WAS CONSOLIDATED: A FREE, PUBLIC, MASS EDUCATION SYSTEM
Coincidently, the education system that we know today (traditional, free, public mass education) was born in the same era.
In his book Out of our Minds, Sir Ken Robinson describes how everything started.
It was only after 1860 that European countries, as well as a few states in the United States, started implementing a public education system. Until then, there were only a few countries (such as Prussia, some Germanic states in the north, and the Scandinavian Kingdoms) with acceptable literacy levels.
