My blog post title is a word play on the the old catch phrase, "You can't teach old dogs new tricks." My implication is that, by applying reverse logic, people today can learn old ways of doing things. And it is this notion that I am applying to a concept called "Collective Wisdom."
I was reading an article about a Chinese Telcom company that is manufacturing a phone that it is competing with Apple and Samsung. They are just launching their newest phone in USA.
The company's name is Huawei, and Richard Yu, the director and CEO of it's consumer business means to take on Apple and Samsung. At the technology trade show taking place in Las Vegas as I type, Yu made it clear in a keynote speech, "We never hide our ambition ... We have a vision to make the world's best smartphone."
What struck me most was another remark embedded in his remarks about how he expected to accomplish this enourmously bold goal. He said, "'Genius' is no longer the domain of a chosen few." He eleborated by saying his company is a different managment style than other companies. NOW, he had my attention! He called it "Collective Wisdom." He went on, "We are not only diligent ... we are also flexible."
I had to know more. What is this "collective wisdom" style Yu is referring to? Turns out that it not a knew concept. In fact, it is very old. How old?
So I did a little research, commonly called "googled," on the phrase and found that the concept of collective wisdom can be associated with works as early as the Torah, Buddah, and Plato. Thomas Jefferson referred to the concept of collective wisdom when he made his statement "A Nation's best defense is an educated citizenry."
The truth is that I really know very little and don't portend the implications of the concept of collective wisdom in business managment and organizational structure. But it struck me enough to call out, through my blog, that this rather notable business leader of a rather large business made a huge claim of how collective wisdom was going to enable his company, Huawei, to overtake two of the biggest conpanies in the world! And there are credible reasons to take him seriously.
In conclusion, if like me you think that is darn impressive, then you may want to make the same note to yourself. "Time to learn an old trick," and get a better understanding of how to apply collective wisdom to my business endeavors.
