Evolution of the Platform Organization: 1 Social Evolution

The way that people organize social structures is a function of many factors, and over time these structures have shifted their form and operating principles based on economics, technology, and other cultural forces. This can be considered as a social evolution, and it is reflected in the ways we talk about human organizations, and specifically about business and management.

We can consider the terms we use as something like maps, and like maps they can be incomplete, or flawed, while still being useful. And, just as city streets and other points of reference can change over time, and therefore decrease the utility of older maps, we have to consider the fact that they may have been quite useful in their day, and some are useful even hundreds of years later.

Let’s take a look at how we have been mapping out the changes going on in our discourse around the changing nature of work.

Looking Back To See The Future

We look at the present through a rear-view mirror. | Marshall McLuhan