Ho‘ohana Aloha

Snippet:

Cheap, fast, simple tools are suddenly everywhere. We get our breaking news from blogs, we make spotty long-distance calls on Skype, we watch video on small computer screens rather than TVs, and more and more of us are carrying around dinky, low-power netbook computers that are just good enough to meet our surfing and emailing needs. The low end has never been riding higher.So what happened? Well, in short, technology happened. The world has sped up, become more connected and a whole lot busier. As a result, what consumers want from the products and services they buy is fundamentally changing. We now favor flexibility over high fidelity, convenience over features, quick and dirty over slow and polished. Having it here and now is more important than having it perfect. These changes run so deep and wide, they’re actually altering what we mean when we describe a product as “high-quality.”

And it’s happening everywhere. As more sectors connect to the digital world, from medicine to the military, they too are seeing the rise of Good Enough tools like the Flip. Suddenly what seemed perfect is anything but, and products that appear mediocre at first glance are often the perfect fit.

The good news is that this trend is ideally suited to the times. As the worst recession in 75 years rolls on, it’s the light and nimble products that are having all the impact—exactly the type of thing that lean startups and small-scale enterprises are best at.

This reinforces what we had said in Take 5 in 2010: A Game-Changing Ho‘ohana:

My overall strategy for 2010 became clear to me early on: Less will be more.

And…

4. Small and Nimble Self-Managing Teams and Tribes
Game-changers require new team formats they can tap into and create mini-movements with, movements which can achieve faster momentum when energies become available. I believe that the winning teams and tribes in 2010 will require 3 key qualities:

1. 1. They will be small. Small is quicker in decision-making. Small is more innovative, adept at handling project pilots and seizing opportunities.
   2. They will be nimble. Nimble can be agile in taking action with a sense of urgency. Nimble is more customer and market responsive.
   3. They will be self-perpetuating, learning to embody the same 30/70 guideline in self-leadership and self-management.

Organizational cultures have been fat and slow. We have all depended on leadership/management structure, ownership and procedural systems much too much. Small, nimble, and self-managing teams can function much better without the foot-dragging bureaucracy that conventional business structure has erected as an obstacle or excuse.

“Big business” you are so over. Small teams and tribes, your day has come.