A New Egalitarianism. Or, Flat is Cool.

The web continues to thrill me. In Western cultures, liberalism has taken many forms but none so gallantly as the world wide web. One click is as good as another. Click here and Hillary Clinton pops up, click there and some teenager tells us her story. People are people. Around the world, while dour eyes are on the broadcasts of violence and division, other, fresher and younger eyes are on webcasts of sharing and interconnectivity. The world is indeed flat, and flat is cool.

Perhaps we can look to Web 2.0 to see how it has and will transform society. I know that among my friends and professional associates, we are using Facebook, LinkedIn and other sites to amplify our ability to connect with each other and each other's network.

But it is not just about connecting. It is about realizing a world that meets and transcends human needs. In every management university, at some point Maslow's heirarchy of needs is pulled up. You remember it, the 5 levels: physical, security, belonging, ego, self-actualization - right?

What is interesting to me is that you can spin these concepts out and look at the information ecosystems we inhabit and ask simple questions that mirror this model: "What human need is being addressed with this new technology (fill in the blank)."

So perhaps let's think about it this way:

Content as level 1. This is about basic access to documents and files.

Context as level 2. This is about securing knowledge artifacts in a shared environment.

Cooperation as level 3. Belonging, but only to play the role you are handed. Conversation around takes place in work communities around knowledge artifacts.

Contribution as level 4. Ego and esteem, in pursuit of the greater good. Bloggers and those with a need to share their knowledge and expertise. Knowledge artifacts are created by individuals.

Collaboration as level 5. True creativity and problem solving, collectively. Social interpretations, reconstructions, and the "universe of discourse" where knowledge artifacts are created by egoless groups.

I am speaking on this at the e-Gov KM Conference in Washington, D.C. April 28-29, 2008. I will try to post the video from that panel session here.

Ironically, Maslow's heirarchy may help us to become the kind of people who deserve an authentic and flat reply to bureaucracy and nihilism. It is time for a new egalitarianism. I add my voice to the many who call for more voice in support of fostering democratic principles of leadership within organizations and across the web of humanity.