| Our job is to deliver technology; perhaps we should also deliver business philosophy.Two technologies are good models of things to come: a method of storage called a redundant array of independent disks (RAID) and Linux, the "free"operating system.... Why so? RAID represents a new way of improving performance by building a perfect system from imperfect components, while Linux has recruited an army of volunteer contributors to build an enterprise rivalling Microsoft.... Could we think of difficult activities within our organisation that also employ imperfect production coupled with redundancy? For example, do we have to employ an army of expensive experts in, say, market research or could we manage to understand markets by integrating views from cheaper, but less reliable sources? Thinking this way is radical.... Linux makes DIY a reality and works on an enterprise scale.... How long before knowledge consumers become their own producers? In today's information economy the ubiquity of the means of production, the PC and the Internet, makes self-help a reality.... There is a final irony that, at a time when technology has amplified the capability of individuals, our organisations are moving away from diversification and narrowing their capabilities and markets. Rethink processes to utilise both imperfect production and redundancy in capacity.... Scale your capabilities to reflect the explosion of ideas and opportunity technology has enabled... Before Ikea, the supply chain involved skilled individuals responsible for factory assembly and transportation to the home.... With Ikea the unskilled carry the product home and then assemble it.... This is already the promise of DIY service on the Internet, but why should the rising tide of technical opportunity stop at the service centre or in making the furniture van a redundant luxury item? Yochai Benkler's essay on Linux1 exposes how, in large, traditional organisations, the imperfections in selection exact a heavy tax on the enthusiasm and productivity of individuals.
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