Hal Varian on how the Web challenges managers - The McKinsey Quarterly - Hal V... - The Diigo Meta page

• 30 Dec 09
  

  Blaise Vignon

  mckinsey

• 29 Jun 09
  

  Takuya Homma

  ForTheYoung KnowledgeEconomy Free MicroPayment Attention

  • Now what we see is a period where you have Internet components, where you have software, protocols, languages, and capabilities to combine these component parts in ways that create totally new innovations. The great thing about the current period is that component parts are all bits. That means you never run out of them. You can reproduce them, you can duplicate them, you can spread them around the world, and you can have thousands and tens of thousands of innovators combining or recombining the same component parts to create new innovation. So there’s no shortage. There are no inventory delays. It’s a situation where the components are available for everyone, and so we get this tremendous burst of innovation that we’re seeing.
  • So I think now, with what we’re seeing with mobility, we’re going to have a totally different concept of what it means to go to work. The work goes to you, and you’re able to deal with your work at any time and any place, using the infrastructure that’s now become available.
  • 9 more annotations...
  • • But then, the kinds of innovations I think will arise on top of that will be innovations in how work is done. And that’s going to be one of the most exciting aspects, in my opinion.
    • When we’re all networked, we all have access to the same documents, to the same capabilities, to this common infrastructure, and we can improve the way work—intellectual work, knowledge work—flows through the organization. And again, in my opinion, that will lead to a substantial advantage in terms of productivity.
    • Back in the early days of the Web, every document had at the bottom, “Copyright 1997. Do not redistribute.” Now every document has at the bottom, “Copyright 2008. Click here to send to your friends.” So there’s already been a big revolution in how we view intellectual property. So it’s not so much the question of what’s owned or what’s not owned. It’s a question of how can you leverage the assets you have to realize the most value.
    • I think that the availability of these very inexpensive platforms you’re creating, in disseminating content, means that it’s become intensely competitive. The content is as valuable as it ever was, it’s just the competition that’s pushed the prices down to something that approximates zero. So it’s not something that the content producers necessarily embrace, but it’s something they’re forced into by the nature of the technological change.
    • And back in the mid-1990s we asked, “How can we build a business model around the Internet?” And the preferred model at the time was a micropayments system. That never happened, for some reasons, but what did happen instead is we moved into the advertising model, and the advertising’s model been phenomenally successful.
    • We have to look at today’s economy and say, “What is it that’s really scarce in the Internet economy?” And the answer is attention. [Psychologist] Herb Simon recognized this many years ago. He said, “A wealth of information creates a poverty of attention.” So being able to capture someone’s attention at the right time is a very valuable asset. And Google really has built an entire business around this, because we’re capturing your attention when you’re doing a search for something you’re interested in. That’s the ideal time to show you an advertisement for a product that may be related or complimentary to what your search is all about.
    • I keep saying the sexy job in the next ten years will be statisticians. People think I’m joking, but who would’ve guessed that computer engineers would’ve been the sexy job of the 1990s? The ability to take data—to be able to understand it, to process it, to extract value from it, to visualize it, to communicate it—that’s going to be a hugely important skill in the next decades, not only at the professional level but even at the educational level for elementary school kids, for high school kids, for college kids. Because now we really do have essentially free and ubiquitous data. So the complimentary scarce factor is the ability to understand that data and extract value from it.
    • I think statisticians are part of it, but it’s just a part. You also want to be able to visualize the data, communicate the data, and utilize it effectively. But I do think those skills—of being able to access, understand, and communicate the insights you get from data analysis—are going to be extremely important. Managers need to be able to access and understand the data themselves.
    • You always have this problem of being surrounded by “yes men” and people who want to predigest everything for you. In the old organization, you had to have this whole army of people digesting information to be able to feed it to the decision maker at the top. But that’s not the way it works anymore: the information can be available across the ranks, to everyone in the organization. And what you need to ensure is that people have access to the data they need to make their day-to-day decisions. And this can be done much more easily than it could be done in the past. And it really empowers the knowledge workers to work more effectively.
• 16 Apr 09
  

  Adriana Lukas

  mckinsey google trends innovation business management strategy delicious

• 13 Apr 09
  

  CJ Acuff

  might be some really good stuff for the organizational framework portion of the deck for Nigel

• 10 Apr 09
  

  pandriani andriani

  recombinant innov google advert varian

• 11 Feb 09
  

  Joelle Nebbe-Mornod

  • Back in the early days of the Web, every document had at the bottom, “Copyright 1997. Do not redistribute.” Now every document has at the bottom, “Copyright 2008. Click here to send to your friends.” So there’s already been a big revolution in how we view intellectual property. So it’s not so much the question of what’s owned or what’s not owned. It’s a question of how can you leverage the assets you have to realize the most value.

    
    

    
    I think that the availability of these very inexpensive platforms you’re creating, in disseminating content, means that it’s become intensely competitive. The content is as valuable as it ever was, it’s just the competition that’s pushed the prices down to something that approximates zero. So it’s not something that the content producers necessarily embrace, but it’s something they’re forced into by the nature of the technological change.

  • “A wealth of information creates a poverty of attention.” So being able to capture someone’s attention at the right time is a very valuable asset
  • 3 more annotations...
  • • The ability to take data—to be able to understand it, to process it, to extract value from it, to visualize it, to communicate it—that’s going to be a hugely important skill in the next decades, not only at the professional level but even at the educational level
    • And what you need to ensure is that people have access to the data they need to make their day-to-day decisions.
    • One of the really interesting phenomena that’s been going on in the last 20 years is what I call “computer-mediated transactions.” So now, in the middle of almost every transaction from person to person or organization to organization, there’s a computer. And the computer can monitor that transaction, record the information, collect the data, and assure that the transaction is carried out the way it was intended to be carried out. So one of the subtle implications of this is you can now write contracts and make contracts enforceable that simply weren’t enforceable before.
• 06 Feb 09
  

  Sean

  Google Hal Varian data statistics markets McKinsey Quarterly 6p background

  • The ability to take data—to be able to understand it, to process it, to extract value from it, to visualize it, to communicate it—that’s going to be a hugely important skill in the next decades, not only at the professional level but even at the educational level for elementary school kids, for high school kids, for college kids. Because now we really do have essentially free and ubiquitous data. So the complimentary scarce factor is the ability to understand that data and extract value from it.
  • And the computer can monitor that transaction, record the information, collect the data, and assure that the transaction is carried out the way it was intended to be carried out. So one of the subtle implications of this is you can now write contracts and make contracts enforceable that simply weren’t enforceable before.
• 04 Feb 09
  

  Martin @web-strat.net

  innovation google mckinsey management knowledgeworker

  • We’re in the middle of a period that I refer to as a period of “combinatorial innovation.” So if you look historically, you’ll find periods in history where there would be the availability of a different component parts that innovators could combine or recombine to create new inventions. In the 1800s, it was interchangeable parts. In 1920, it was electronics. In the 1970s, it was integrated circuits.

    
    

    
    Now what we see is a period where you have Internet components, where you have software, protocols, languages, and capabilities to combine these component parts in ways that create totally new innovations. The great thing about the current period is that component parts are all bits. That means you never run out of them. You can reproduce them, you can duplicate them, you can spread them around the world, and you can have thousands and tens of thousands of innovators combining or recombining the same component parts to create new innovation. So there’s no shortage. There are no inventory delays. It’s a situation where the components are available for everyone, and so we get this tremendous burst of innovation that we’re seeing.

  • So I think now, with what we’re seeing with mobility, we’re going to have a totally different concept of what it means to go to work. The work goes to you, and you’re able to deal with your work at any time and any place, using the infrastructure that’s now become available.
  • 9 more annotations...
  • • At the base, there’s the innovation infrastructure making better, faster, cheaper networks. There’s the improvement in the human–computer interface because the big challenge in mobile communication has always been dealing with this—quite limited—interface. But then, the kinds of innovations I think will arise on top of that will be innovations in how work is done. And that’s going to be one of the most exciting aspects, in my opinion.
    • If you look at the beginning of the 20th century, we saw the rise of mass production. Henry Ford and the entire team were down on the factory floor raising this, lowering that, speeding up the assembly line, changing the way things were built, and were able to extract far more efficiencies than were available before. I think the same thing is happening now with digital technology. When we’re all networked, we all have access to the same documents, to the same capabilities, to this common infrastructure, and we can improve the way work—intellectual work, knowledge work—flows through the organization. And again, in my opinion, that will lead to a substantial advantage in terms of productivity.
    • Back in the early days of the Web, every document had at the bottom, “Copyright 1997. Do not redistribute.” Now every document has at the bottom, “Copyright 2008. Click here to send to your friends.”
    • So there’s already been a big revolution in how we view intellectual property. So it’s not so much the question of what’s owned or what’s not owned. It’s a question of how can you leverage the assets you have to realize the most value.
    • I think that the availability of these very inexpensive platforms you’re creating, in disseminating content, means that it’s become intensely competitive. The content is as valuable as it ever was, it’s just the competition that’s pushed the prices down to something that approximates zero. So it’s not something that the content producers necessarily embrace, but it’s something they’re forced into by the nature of the technological change.
    • In these models, there is typically a revenue-generating component somewhere in the value chain. And most commonly today we’re seeing it on the advertising side. To look at this from a historical perspective, it’s really not so new. If you look at the 1920s, the technological question in the ’20s was, “How can we build a business model around broadcast radio?” And nobody really had a good idea. And back in the mid-1990s we asked, “How can we build a business model around the Internet?” And the preferred model at the time was a micropayments system. That never happened, for some reasons, but what did happen instead is we moved into the advertising model, and the advertising’s model been phenomenally successful.
    • We have to look at today’s economy and say, “What is it that’s really scarce in the Internet economy?” And the answer is attention. [Psychologist] Herb Simon recognized this many years ago. He said, “A wealth of information creates a poverty of attention.” So being able to capture someone’s attention at the right time is a very valuable asset. And Google really has built an entire business around this, because we’re capturing your attention when you’re doing a search for something you’re interested in. That’s the ideal time to show you an advertisement for a product that may be related or complimentary to what your search is all about.
    • I keep saying the sexy job in the next ten years will be statisticians. People think I’m joking, but who would’ve guessed that computer engineers would’ve been the sexy job of the 1990s?
    • I think statisticians are part of it, but it’s just a part. You also want to be able to visualize the data, communicate the data, and utilize it effectively. But I do think those skills—of being able to access, understand, and communicate the insights you get from data analysis—are going to be extremely important. Managers need to be able to access and understand the data themselves.
• 

  Fernando Gonzalez

  pendientes

• 03 Feb 09
  

  Richard Fahey

  mckinsey google web managers web2.0 work management

• 02 Feb 09
  

  Lynette Webb

  innovation data

• 31 Jan 09
  

  Miguel Membrado

  Google’s chief economist says executives in wired organizations need a sharper understanding of how technology empowers innovation.

  enterprise2.0 google business innovation agility wirearchy

  • Google’s chief economist says executives in wired organizations need a sharper understanding of how technology empowers innovation.
• 

  Nicole Turbé-Suetens

  strategy work management innovation

• 30 Jan 09
  

  Luis Alberola

  mckinsey varian innovation management reference

• 

  Jimmy Breeze

  this is an insanely good article...pretty much encapsulates lots of what I think in a very clear way...devastating combination of foresight and insight from an extremely bright man!
  
  "I keep saying the sexy job in the next ten years will be statisticians. People think I’m joking, but who would’ve guessed that computer engineers would’ve been the sexy job of the 1990s? The ability to take data—to be able to understand it, to process it, to extract value from it, to visualize it, to communicate it—that’s going to be a hugely important skill in the next decades, not only at the professional level but even at the educational level for elementary school kids, for high school kids, for college kids. Because now we really do have essentially free and ubiquitous data. So the complimentary scarce factor is the ability to understand that data and extract value from it."

  technology business google web2.0 strategy economics innovation socialmedia trends interesting essential work management

  • We’re in the middle of a period that I refer to as a period of “combinatorial innovation.”
  • I think now, with what we’re seeing with mobility, we’re going to have a totally different concept of what it means to go to work. The work goes to you, and you’re able to deal with your work at any time and any place, using the infrastructure that’s now become available.
  • 8 more annotations...
  • • At the base, there’s the innovation infrastructure making better, faster, cheaper networks. There’s the improvement in the human–computer interface because the big challenge in mobile communication has always been dealing with this—quite limited—interface. But then, the kinds of innovations I think will arise on top of that will be innovations in how work is done. And that’s going to be one of the most exciting aspects, in my opinion.
    • When we’re all networked, we all have access to the same documents, to the same capabilities, to this common infrastructure, and we can improve the way work—intellectual work, knowledge work—flows through the organization. And again, in my opinion, that will lead to a substantial advantage in terms of productivity.
    • Back in the early days of the Web, every document had at the bottom, “Copyright 1997. Do not redistribute.” Now every document has at the bottom, “Copyright 2008. Click here to send to your friends.” So there’s already been a big revolution in how we view intellectual property.
    • I think that the availability of these very inexpensive platforms you’re creating, in disseminating content, means that it’s become intensely competitive. The content is as valuable as it ever was, it’s just the competition that’s pushed the prices down to something that approximates zero.
    • We have to look at today’s economy and say, “What is it that’s really scarce in the Internet economy?” And the answer is attention. [Psychologist] Herb Simon recognized this many years ago. He said, “A wealth of information creates a poverty of attention.” So being able to capture someone’s attention at the right time is a very valuable asset. And Google really has built an entire business around this, because we’re capturing your attention when you’re doing a search for something you’re interested in.
    • I keep saying the sexy job in the next ten years will be statisticians. People think I’m joking, but who would’ve guessed that computer engineers would’ve been the sexy job of the 1990s? The ability to take data—to be able to understand it, to process it, to extract value from it, to visualize it, to communicate it—that’s going to be a hugely important skill in the next decades, not only at the professional level but even at the educational level for elementary school kids, for high school kids, for college kids. Because now we really do have essentially free and ubiquitous data. So the complimentary scarce factor is the ability to understand that data and extract value from it.
    • I think statisticians are part of it, but it’s just a part. You also want to be able to visualize the data, communicate the data, and utilize it effectively. But I do think those skills—of being able to access, understand, and communicate the insights you get from data analysis—are going to be extremely important. Managers need to be able to access and understand the data themselves.
    • what you need to ensure is that people have access to the data they need to make their day-to-day decisions. And this can be done much more easily than it could be done in the past. And it really empowers the knowledge workers to work more effectively.
• 29 Jan 09
  

  derecognize

  AMS.Career

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