The Quiet Revolution by Neil Perkin
In less than 15 days, second killer posts from Neil Perkin (don’t miss his terrific “Agile Planning”) where he explains that attracting and retaining talent is top threats to big organizations’ success
“Let’s face it, the recession has been a wake up call for many businesses. If it hasn’t, it should’ve been. The key challenge for many organisations of-course is to understand how much of the damage that has been wreaked is cyclical (the result of market downturn), and how much is structural (the result of markets that have changed forever). There’s something else too. Another big challenge for big business that is rarely spoken about. A quiet revolution.
When I talked about the need for big business to get a whole lot more agile in its philosophy as well as it’s working practices, I linked to a Paul Graham essay in which he proposes that instead of organisational success being all about economies of scale and discipline as it has been for much of history, it is the increase in speed attainable through small groups that is beginning to trump the advantages of size. Large organisations, he says, will start to do worse now because:
“…for the first time in history they’re no longer getting the best people. An ambitious kid graduating from college now doesn’t want to work for a big company. They want to work for the hot startup that’s rapidly growing into one. If they’re really ambitious, they want to start it.”
If small, smart, agile start-ups have become the most progressive places and offer the best and broadest opportunities, then they will get the best people”.
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