The Power of Pull, written by John Hagel III, John Seely Brown, and Lang Davison, all of the Deloitte Center for the Edge, is a seven-chapter book published by Basic Books/Perseus Books Group. The subtitle is: How Smart Moves, Smartly Made, Can Set Big Things in Motion. Roughly the first half of the book discusses the concept of pull: the ability to harness the power of networks, drawing out people and resources as needed to address opportunities, and participating actively in a flow of knowledge rather than simply possessing knowledge. Pull helps access people and resources when required, attract people and resources that are relevant and valuable, and achieve personal potential more effectively by pulling from within the qualities of performance that success demands. The second part of the book explores how pull can be put into practice at the individual, institutional, and societal levels. Chapter 1 discusses what the authors call the "Big Shift" in organizational behavior from a "push" to a "pull" methodology. The ongoing catalysts for the Big Shift are the constant creation of new digital infrastructure; the easier flow of capital, talent, and knowledge; and the institutional innovations that the first two engender.

The Power of Pull, written by John Hagel III, John Seely Brown, and Lang Davison, all of the Deloitte Center for the Edge, is a seven-chapter book published by Basic Books/Perseus Books Group. The subtitle is: How Smart Moves, Smartly Made, Can Set Big Things in Motion. Roughly the first half of the book discusses the concept of pull: the ability to harness the power of networks, drawing out people and resources as needed to address opportunities, and participating actively in a flow of knowledge rather than simply possessing knowledge. Pull helps access people and resources when required, attract people and resources that are relevant and valuable, and achieve personal potential more effectively by pulling from within the qualities of performance that success demands. The second part of the book explores how pull can be put into practice at the individual, institutional, and societal levels. Chapter 2 discusses the first level of the concept of pull: access. Access involves the ability to find, learn about, and connect with resources on an as-needed basis to address unanticipated needs. In the past, access to resources was dependent upon "stocks" of knowledge - information known at a point in time. However, an ever-increasing amount of information makes these "stocks" more difficult to keep current and therefore less valuable. Access now requires a different approach utilizing "flows" of knowledge, or interactions that create knowledge or transfer it across individuals.

The Power of Pull, written by John Hagel III, John Seely Brown, and Lang Davison, all of the Deloitte Center for the Edge, is a seven-chapter book published by Basic Books/Perseus Books Group. The subtitle is: How Smart Moves, Smartly Made, Can Set Big Things in Motion. Roughly the first half of the book discusses the concept of pull: the ability to harness the power of networks, drawing out people and resources as needed to address opportunities, and participating actively in a flow of knowledge rather than simply possessing knowledge. Pull helps access people and resources when required, attract people and resources that are relevant and valuable, and achieve personal potential more effectively by pulling from within the qualities of performance that success demands. The second part of the book explores how pull can be put into practice at the individual, institutional, and societal levels. Chapter 3 discusses the second level of pull: attract. Due to the proliferation of information, accessing specific resources now depends more on serendipity than on searching. To increase the probability and quality of these chance encounters, access to not only digital social networks, but to the informational "edges" - areas of knowledge creation and economic growth where unmet needs and unexploited capabilities are found - of our interests is paramount.

The Power of Pull, written by John Hagel III, John Seely Brown, and Lang Davison, all of the Deloitte Center for the Edge, is a seven-chapter book published by Basic Books/Perseus Books Group. The subtitle is: How Smart Moves, Smartly Made, Can Set Big Things in Motion. Roughly the first half of the book discusses the concept of pull: the ability to harness the power of networks, drawing out people and resources as needed to address opportunities, and participating actively in a flow of knowledge rather than simply possessing knowledge. Pull helps access people and resources when required, attract people and resources that are relevant and valuable, and achieve personal potential more effectively by pulling from within the qualities of performance that success demands. The second part of the book explores how pull can be put into practice at the individual, institutional, and societal levels. Chapter 4 discusses the third and final level of pull: achieve. Achieving allows large numbers of participants to come together, through "creation spaces," to test and refine the practices required to exploiting their potential more efficiently. The authors challenge the concept of the "experience curve," offering their own "collaboration curve" that forms across institutions, yielding more diverse participants; this curve , unlike the experience curve, does not focus on learning, but is designed to drive more rapid performance improvement with learning as a byproduct.

The Power of Pull, written by John Hagel III, John Seely Brown, and Lang Davison, all of the Deloitte Center for the Edge, is a seven-chapter book published by Basic Books/Perseus Books Group. The subtitle is: How Smart Moves, Smartly Made, Can Set Big Things in Motion. Roughly the first half of the book discusses the concept of pull: the ability to harness the power of networks, drawing out people and resources as needed to address opportunities, and participating actively in a flow of knowledge rather than simply possessing knowledge. Pull helps access people and resources when required, attract people and resources that are relevant and valuable, and achieve personal potential more effectively by pulling from within the qualities of performance that success demands. The second part of the book explores how pull can be put into practice at the individual, institutional, and societal levels. Chapter 5 discusses how individuals can put the levels of pull into practice, as well as the elements of change (trajectory, leverage, and pace) needed to galvanize change within an institution. To fully utilize pull, individuals must do three things: make their passion their profession (trajectory), harness their ecosystems (leverage), and maximize their return on attention - the value they get for the time and effort invested in focusing on someone or something (pace).

The Power of Pull, written by John Hagel III, John Seely Brown, and Lang Davison, all of the Deloitte Center for the Edge, is a seven-chapter book published by Basic Books/Perseus Books Group. The subtitle is: How Smart Moves, Smartly Made, Can Set Big Things in Motion. Roughly the first half of the book discusses the concept of pull: the ability to harness the power of networks, drawing out people and resources as needed to address opportunities, and participating actively in a flow of knowledge rather than simply possessing knowledge. Pull helps access people and resources when required, attract people and resources that are relevant and valuable, and achieve personal potential more effectively by pulling from within the qualities of performance that success demands. The second part of the book explores how pull can be put into practice at the individual, institutional, and societal levels. Chapter 6 discusses how institutions can implement the power of pull. Institutions must redefine the trajectory for change, leverage passionate individuals from both inside and outside of the institution, and accelerate the pace of change by removing institutional barriers -- by embracing, for example, the power that social networking websites can have on the job.

The Power of Pull, written by John Hagel III, John Seely Brown, and Lang Davison, all of the Deloitte Center for the Edge, is a seven-chapter book published by Basic Books/Perseus Books Group. The subtitle is: How Smart Moves, Smartly Made, Can Set Big Things in Motion. Roughly the first half of the book discusses the concept of pull: the ability to harness the power of networks, drawing out people and resources as needed to address opportunities, and participating actively in a flow of knowledge rather than simply possessing knowledge. Pull helps access people and resources when required, attract people and resources that are relevant and valuable, and achieve personal potential more effectively by pulling from within the qualities of performance that success demands. The second part of the book explores how pull can be put into practice at the individual, institutional, and societal levels. In the seventh and final chapter, the authors discuss the implementation of pull in the broadest economic and social environments. The authors focus especially on the concept of "shaping strategies" - galvanizing statements about the future of a market, an industry, or a broad social arena, that say how tomorrow will be different from today and how everybody will be better off thereby - and on increasing the flow of participation by people and resources toward a common goal.

Traditional metrics don't capture many of the challenges and opportunities in store for U.S. companies and the national economy. The authors, from Deloitte, present a framework for understanding the forces that have transformed business over the past 40 years - and an index for gauging their impact on performance.

Redefining the terms of competition for a market sector, an industry, or an entire global ecosystem is a tall order. It means attracting thousands of participants, galvanizing their efforts, and retaining their commitment for the long haul. Hagel, Brown, and Davison, of the Deloitte Center for Edge Innovation, provide a blueprint for this daunting task of shaping strategy as technology-driven infrastructures constantly change. The authors discuss three elements that, no matter the industry, are vital in shaping strategy. A shaping view, or rallying cry to potential participants, clarifies the market opportunity, makes sense of fundamental forces, identifies rewards, and highlights the shared nature of risk. Bill Gates, of course, succeeded with his view of desktop computing, and more recently Salesforce.com's Marc Benioff has held out a new model for delivering enterprise software. A shaping platform, like that of Google's AdSense, clearly defines standards and practices that help organize and support the activities of many participants, enabling them to do more with less. Specific shaping acts and assets convince participants that the shaper has the muscle to pull off its initiatives, as Facebook has done by showcasing its relationship with Microsoft. The three elements together allow a shaper to quickly mobilize a critical mass of participants and, thereby, unleash powerful network effects that can yield big rewards during periods of rapid change. Almost any company will benefit from an attempt to shape strategy, say the authors, but they recognize that not every business is ultimately a shaper. By participating in other firms' shaping strategies, they show, a company can still find plenty of opportunities to create value.

Our annual survey of ideas and trends that will make an impact on business: Stan Stalnaker heralds a peer-to-peer economy in which consumers become consumer-producers. Tamara J. Erickson dissects the expectations of Gen Y workers. Dr. Jerome Groopman writes a prescription for avoiding misdiagnoses in decision making. Michael Sheehan warns not to resort to the tools of competition when it's really opposition that threatens your company. John J. Medina conceives of a brain-friendly workplace that applies modern science to daily performance. Dan Ariely studies the minds of "honest" people when they cheat. Paul Root Wolpe and Daniel D. Langleben share truths about technologically sophisticated lie detection. Scott Berinato shines a light on the cybercrime service economy. Mark Kuznicki, Eli Singer, and Jay Goldman showcase Toronto, where a technology-driven event led to real social change. John Seely Brown and Douglas Thomas argue that online games are preparing the twenty-first-century workforce. Jane McGonigal calls alternate reality games the promising new operating systems for real-world business. Miklos Sarvary mines the history of broadcasting for wisdom about competing in the metaverses of the internet. Judith Donath asks how true to yourself you'll be in the virtual world. Jan Chipchase surveys the soon-to-be-charted territory of metadata trails. Lew McCreary points a finger at people who blame technology for their bad behavior. Jaime Lerner sees the city of the future in a turtle's shell. David Vogel catalogs the advantages of socially responsible lobbying. George Pohle lets the numbers prove the mass-market promise of China's second-tier cities. Aamir A. Rehman and S. Nazim Ali discuss the boom in sharia-compliant finance. Michael J. Mauboussin identifies the shrinking domain in which experts are the best problem solvers. Garrett Gruener reveals his list of sustainable and unsustainable trends.

Companies are becoming more dependent on business partners, but coordinating with outsiders takes its toll. Negotiating terms, monitoring performance, and, if needs are not being met, switching from one partner to another require time and money. Such transaction costs, Ronald Coase explained in his 1937 essay "The Nature of the Firm," drove many organizations to bring their activities in-house. But what if Coase placed too much emphasis on these costs? What if friction between companies can be productive? Indeed, as John Hagel and John Seely Brown point out, interactions between organizations can yield benefits beyond the goods or services contracted for. Companies get better at what they do--and improve faster than their competitors--by working with outsiders whose specialized capabilities complement their own. Different enterprises bring different perspectives and competencies. When these enterprises tackle a problem together, they dramatically increase the chances for innovative solutions. Of course, misunderstandings often arise when people with different backgrounds and skill sets try to collaborate. Opposing sides may focus on the distance that separates them rather than the common challenges they face. How can companies harness friction so that it builds capabilities? Start by articulating performance goals that everyone buys into. Then make sure people are using tangible prototypes to wrangle over. Finally, assemble teams with committed people who bring different perspectives to the table. As individual problems are being addressed, take care that the underpinnings of shared meaning and trust are also being woven between the companies. Neither can be dictated--but they can be cultivated. Without them, the performance fabric quickly unravels, and business partnerships disintegrate into rivalrous competition.

As companies try to keep pace with rapid changes in technology and cope with unstable business environments, their research departments have to do more than simply invent new products. They must design the new technological and organizational architectures that make a continuously innovating company possible. In this 1991 article, John Seely Brown, then director of Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), describes the business logic behind this distinctive vision of research's role and the ways Xerox PARC tried to realize that vision. Its researchers developed prototypes of new work practices as well as new technologies and products. They designed new uses for technology to encourage the local innovation that, they found, occurs naturally at all levels of any big company. And they experimented with new techniques for what the author terms "coproducing" technological and organizational innovations with Xerox's customers. Xerox's business is technology, but Seely Brown argues that any company, no matter what its business, must eventually grapple with the issues he raises. The successful company of the future must understand how people really work and must adapt its technology to the work rather than the other way around. It must know how to create an environment that allows for continuous innovation by all employees. McKinsey Award Winner.

Companies have traditionally viewed their information systems as proprietary. They buy or lease their own hardware, write or license their own applications, and hire big staffs to keep everything running. This approach has many flaws--it's cumbersome and expensive and hinders collaboration. But there's been no alternative. Until now. Today, we're seeing the emergence of an entirely new approach to corporate information systems: web services. Rather than own and maintain all of their own hardware and software, companies will soon buy their information technologies as services provided over the Internet. The authors guide executives through this new IT strategy, explaining what the web services architecture is, how it differs from traditional IT architecture, and why it will provide significant cost savings to businesses while creating new opportunities for growth. They lay out a step-by-step approach for adopting the new architecture. The experiences of companies such as Merrill Lynch, General Motors, and Dell Computer, which are already transitioning to the new architecture, offer three guidelines. First, build on your existing systems, connecting them to the web services architecture to gain immediate benefits. Second, start at the edges of your company, focusing on those applications that connect your organization to customers or other companies. Third, work with your partners to develop a shared terminology for your shared applications, coming to agreement, for example, on the precise meanings of XML terms. As the new architecture matures, the distinction between users and suppliers of web services will fade. The location of particular capabilities and applications will become less important than executives' ability to discover and orchestrate these capabilities to deliver greater value to customers.

Everyone knows that the way things are formally organized in most companies (their processes) is not the same as the way things are actually done (their practices). The difference between the two creates tension that can be very difficult for managers to handle. Lean too much toward practice and new ideas may bubble up and evaporate for lack of a structure to harness them. Lean too much toward process and you may get no new ideas at all. The goal, then, is to tap into the creativity at work in every layer of an organization with a combination of process and practice. Take, for example, the community of people who fix Xerox machines. Large machines, it turns out, are not as predictable as Xerox's documentation would suggest. So when following the service manual is not enough, the reps come together--over breakfast, at breaks, at the end of the day--and talk about their own best practices. So far so good. But Xerox goes a step further. It has set up a process similar to an academic peer-review system to gather, vet, and share those best practices across the company. The reps get much-welcome recognition for their creativity, and local best practices are deployed companywide. Dot-com companies are a hotbed of innovative practices. But as they mature, they, like Xerox, may find that they need seasoned managers who can harness those practices through the judicious application of constructive processes.