Thursday, May 30, 2019

With Gratitude: My Last Post On Linkedin

The New Virtual Organization World

It's a New Principled and Civilized World, It's Virtual, and It's Organized






Today marks my last day of publishing articles and posts on Linkedin.   In so doing, I want to highlight many of the positive things that I benefited from during my involvement on Linkedin;  which explains why Linkedin emerged as the envy of the social network community, and the elite destination for business, academia, government and public policy executives worldwide.

When I initially joined Linkedin 13 years ago (October 5, 2006),  my primary motivation was to introduce social networkers  (specifically business executives)  to the virtual organization management discipline.   I naturally (and wrongly) assumed that  they were sophisticated enough to understand the promise of the virtual organization management discipline and thus would be most receptive to what Virtual Organization Management Institute had to offer.   

After all, with the advent of social networks and their wide acceptance by the general population over a period of 13 years (1993 - 2006),  I saw that trend as the start of a long march on the road toward a world of Virtual Organizations, and that it was not a matter of "if," but "when" we will all get there.

Thus, I saw Linkedin as the ideal breeding (and resting) ground of a good number of relatively sophisticated business executives who could become  "Early Adopters" of the virtual organization management discipline.   Frankly, I thought that was a no-brainer.

Fast forward to 2019:   26 years after the birth of the World Wide Web and 13 years after joining LinkedIn,  we are nowhere close to living in this world of virtual organizations I call:  The New Virtual Organization World.   We are still living in a 99.99%   Brick and Mortar World.    Talking to or using any other means of communication to communicate with 99.9999% of corporate executives anywhere in the world about "Virtual Organizations" is akin to going to planet Mars and trying to communicate with Martians in English.   Good luck with that!

As much as I hate to admit it, The Fault Is Mine!    Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.   It's NOT because these executives are stupid.  It's because I leaped over one period of the evolution process (the "Virtualera) which leads toward this world of virtual organizations.   

Instead of going from a Social Network era ---> Virtual era --->Virtual Organization era,   I was trying to help them make a transition from a Social Network era  --->Virtual Organization era.  No different than completely bypassing  the Personal Computer Revolution era and trying to help people make the transition from an Industrial Society era directly to the World Wide Web era.    

Just imagine the confusion and nightmare of introducing the world to both the Personal Computer and the World Wide Web at the same time.   Back in the 90's, I can personally attest to the nightmare of trying to introduce both the Personal Computer and the Internet to many of my clients who had never touched a personal computer.    (Like an idiot, I tried to do both at the same time and failed miserably at it.   The  end result of my efforts is that, unintentionally, I was very successful at making many potential clients feel like a bunch of idiots.  Whereas my competitors focused on people who were already PC users and had demonstrated a great deal of interest in the internet.)       

The point being,  as a virtual organization purist and founder of the virtual organization management discipline, I was so much in love with the immense and awesome possibilities of virtual organizations and the prospect of  The New Virtual Organization World,  that I made a conscious decision to skip the (crude and very primitive) Virtual era and go straight to the Virtual Organization era. 

No different than the mistake Nikola Tesla  made after introducing to the world the electricity that we all take for granted today.   Instead of gradually introducing his other inventions to his financial backers and the world, he proceeded to work at breakneck speed on the technologies that made possible the modern world that we all live in today. (It is estimated that Nikola Tesla  had obtained over 300 known patents throughout his lifetime.)   Technologies which were way beyond the comprehension of his financial backers who eventually walked out on him.  (I am only giving you the fairy tale version of why his backers walked out on him.  There is much more to it than that.)   

Therefore, anytime you think of radio, television, telephone, cell phone, directed energy weapons, etc.,  Nikola Tesla is the one that made it all possible.  It would not at all be an exaggeration if he were called "the founder of the modern world."   

Thus the reason why, starting January 2016, I launched over half a dozen Virtual era initiatives that are designed to address my overzealousness.  One of our most important virtual era initiatives is our new Official Global Ambassador program at VOMI Global Think Tank. These global ambassadors are 100% Brick and Mortar Executives with absolutely no knowledge of the difference between "virtual" and "virtual organization." They operate strictly in a virtual environment. No attempt to offer "virtual" or "virtual organization" training is made to them for the simple reason that it would be much worse than trying to herd a bunch of cats. 
In fact, with respect to most potential Official Global Ambassador candidates, call it a miracle or the Second Coming of Christ if you are able to get them to follow the "most basic instructions on how to proceed"  that are included within the official global ambassador invitation.  Call it the world's greatest achievement if they manage to show up on time for the initial videoconference.  I am talking about mostly high level executives from some of the largest companies and most prestigious international organizations in the world.  Asking them to follow basic videoconference protocols such as scheduling a point-and-click On Demand Videoconference and observing a minimum amount of decorum during the conference (i.e., no dog licking their face, singing birds, hair flying all over the place, people walking and talking in the background, street traffic noise, children crying, etc.) and the need to turn on their camera is a nightmare on Elm Street. 
These are the very same people who will not hesitate to quickly request a 15-minute phone call or teleconference for a quick introduction as well as to find out what my needs are and to offer me some free consulting advice and coaching on how to market and scale my "Virtual Organization" business.  One VP of a global Australian company who was being considered for the Official Global Ambassador opportunity even told me that he managed a global virtual team and was a Virtual Expert at Leading In Absentia (don't laugh, it's the truth). 
The point that I am making is that,  for anyone who is accustomed to a very disciplined and highly professional life in a Virtual Organization environment, the Virtual crowd out there is, at best, a very Wild Bunch and, in reality, nothing but a Horror Show and Nightmare On Elm Street.  Thus the reason why I sought to bypass them in the past. 

As well, getting them to read and understand a Very Simple Article which describes in detail the function of an Official Global Ambassador and "What's In It for Them" is the equivalent of asking a pre-schooler  to solve a trigonometric equation.   Not even one individual has ever responded to me in the affirmative when asked if  he/she knew what the position and compensation entailed as described in the aforementioned article.   In the current Twitter era that we live in, asking anyone to read a long document which contains one or more links to other articles and documents is just too much to ask. 

Just filling out the Official Global Ambassador Application is a chore.  The part about providing just two (2) personal references will either include the candidate's name in both locations;  or will include my name as one of the two (2)  personal references (I am not kidding or trying to get a laugh, that's the "honest to God truth"); or will elicit the following  question:  "What do you want me to put in the part about personal references?"

These are the very same people who would apply for a permanent, full-time salaried position and not hesitate to provide me with up to half a dozen personal references (most of which are fake) along with their resume without us asking for references at the onset.    Anybody in the recruitment business will know exactly what I mean by that.

But from a personal and professional standpoint, I would be totally ashamed and embarrassed at such conduct.  I have 100's of people who would be delighted to provide me a personal reference for such a prestigious position.   If I felt uncomfortable about providing any personal references, I would not bother to fill out the application at all and would just gracefully withdraw my name from consideration.  (After all, you don't want to burn bridges in the corporate world.) 

Moreover, if I had any reservations about an organization, I would never bother to say "I accept your invitation" in the first place,  let alone fill out an application or schedule a videoconference.  Nor would I want to have my name listed on that organization's website in any way, shape or form regardless as to whether or not they wanted me to provide any personal references.

For the most part, these individuals are current social network contacts who had previously contacted me at one point or another during the past 13-15 years regarding being a part of their network and had expressed a cursory to strong interest in learning more about  articles I had written on the subjects of  "How to Virtual Organize" Social Networks,  "Content Monetization Strategy" for Social Networks,   Virtual Organizations and/or Virtual Organization Management Institute. 

This Official Global Ambassador program is designed to build a bridge between the Virtual world and the Virtual Organization world. Unlike the former VOMI Global Think Tank and Advisory Board, this position is much, much more than just a "window dressing" advisory position for "virtual organization impostors" who want to associate their name with the most prestigious name and organization in "The New Virtual Organization World" without making one iota of effort. Thus the reason why I no longer allow the names of Official Global Ambassadors to be publicly listed on a dedicated page on the VOMI Global Think Tank website.   They are only provided with an actual link to their own brief bio page on the site.

That's a very direct way of saying that VOMI et al does NOT derive any benefit from having the name of an Official Global Ambassador on our website and that THEY are the ones who get to benefit from such association.   The prestige lies in being associated with VOMI Global Think Tank instead of the other way around.   As well, the compensation that we offer "to those who are the real dealis totally unheard of anywhere in the world and cannot even be compared to that received, if any, by your typical fake, phony, or window dressing advisors  who only lend their name and so-called prestige on somebody else's website in order to give that organization a little boost of credibility so it can attract investors and talented professionals.

As well, over the past 22 years,  in addition to being the founder of VOMI and the virtual organization management discipline,  I have personally written hundreds of articles and thousands of postings pertaining to virtual organization management, virtual organizations, virtual organization recruitment, virtual organization internships, virtual organization fellowships, The New Virtual Organization World, principled leadership, principled geopolitical leadership, and Human Evolution.  Therefore, VOMI et al has absolutely NO need for any personal or corporate endorsement from  any "Brick and Mortar" executive or organization in order to gain any sort of credibility in the  Virtual Organization space.

What Are These Positive Things That We Learned on Linkedin?

Although on the surface it seems that I was ranting and raving and disgusted about my experience on LinkedIn over the past 13 years, nothing could be further from the truth.    In fact, it is the exact opposite.   I greatly benefited from the experience of dealing with a microcosm of the world's leading business professionals and executives on LinkedIn.

It forced me to go back to the drawing board and review my previous assumptions about the reality of life for business professionals on social networks and what makes them tick.  It helped me to  revise my projections of where on the "Virtual Organization" timeline they are in real time instead of  looking at things through rose-colored glasses. 

They have helped me to revise the 2-year "virtual organization management" curriculum at VOMI and caused us to focus instead on soon-to-graduate secondary school students as well as independent students.  They helped us to form a new entity (VOMI Virtual Organization Academy) which offers a 100% experiential 90-Day Virtual Organization Leadership Executive Training, Assessment and Certification program that is strictly designed for mid-level management to senior corporate executives;  and helped us to go back to our Executive Recruitment  roots by forming a new entity (Virtual Organization Recruiter) which focuses strictly on the recruitment of Virtual and Virtual Organization Executives (the only virtual organization recruitment firm in the world).

And once we realized that, if we left it all strictly in the hands of the corporate world and governments in order to implement these virtual and virtual organization initiatives,  the current pace of evolution from the Social Network era to a Virtual era was bound to take, at a minimum,  another  20-25 years;   and add to that number another 20-25 years in order to make the transition from a Virtual era to the Virtual Organization era.    By which time,  I would have already crossed over into the spirit world (heaven or hell, take your pick).   

Thus, I decided that it was high time that we, ourselves, at VOMI et al grab the bull by the horns and begin in earnest  the implementation of these virtual and virtual organization initiatives;  a gargantuan effort at coordinating the building of these Virtual Organizations and  their infrastructure.   

Thus the reason why we created the following consortia:    1) The New Virtual Organization World  Consortium2) Virtual Campus Dormitory Consortium;  and  3) Virtual Residential Community  Consortium.   

And to accommodate a minuscule number of CEOs (titans of industry and Innovation-Focused Founders)  who may have a great deal of interest in wanting to know more about The New Virtual Organization World but are not yet ready to jump in with both feet,  we formed a very small and elite fraternity and sorority of a maximum of 20 members worldwide - League of Extraordinary Virtual Organization Executives -  who will have direct access to me for one full day on a monthly basis,  meeting face-to-face as part of a very informal group in a relaxed, collegial and quasi-entertainment environment.

And there is more.   What we learned from trying to recruit "brick and mortar" executives on LinkedIn (as well as on other social networks and internet job boards) meant that we had to create our very own Virtual Organization Jobs  board, the only career site in the world that strictly caters to "virtual organization executives." 

Nothing New For Me To Learn, Time To Move On

As you can clearly see, after 26 years of social networking, including 13 years on LinkedIn,  there is really nothing new left for me to learn on LinkedIn or any other social network about the demand for virtual organizations.   Leaving things in the hands of  the Corporate World, Academia and Government is an exercise in futility and, at a very minimum, would set back our efforts by another 40-50 years.  That is definitely NOT an option.

This means that, at the present,  our hands are not only full but also time is of the essence.  Henceforth, any amount of involvement on Social Networks is deemed to be counterproductive and counterintuitive. 

I will, however, continue to maintain the LinkedIn account.   Should any of my existing contacts, or any visitors of my social profile, want to either contact me directly; get involved in whichever capacity I have already outlined; or just want to be kept abreast of any new developments as they occur in real time,  I invite all of you to  Click Here for immediate attention.   I will keep your name on the list of people who have a genuine interest in what we are doing.    As well, I invite you to bookmark the VOMI Blog site in order to stay updated on the latest articles about The New Virtual Organization World.

Otherwise, I will NOT be logging in to my account on a consistent basis, therefore, any messages that you leave for me on the LinkedIn messaging system may take a good 6 months to a year for me to finally view and respond to.   As well,  do not bother to send me a Linkedin connection request  since it is highly likely that I may not be able to respond at all to any of them, thus leaving you with the wrong impression that your connection request may have been rejected - which can never the case since I have always made it a point to never reject an invitation.  

Let Us Manifest!


About Author:  Pierre Coupet, Q of VOM and Founder of VOMI (Virtual Organization Management Institute), VOMI Virtual Organization AcademyVOMI Global Think TankVirtual Organization Recruiter and Virtual Organization Jobs :: Founder of the modern Virtual Organization Management and Virtual Organization Recruitment disciplines pioneered since 1997 :: Founder of League of Extraordinary Virtual Organization Executives :: Architect of The New Virtual Organization World and the "Futuristic City-State Enclave Based on a Civilized World Financial System" :: Curator of the following Collections:   The New Virtual Organization World | Memorable Quotes of Pierre Coupet  |   Official Global Ambassador  |  Official Global Ambassador AGENT

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Copyright 2007-2019.  Pierre Coupet.  VOMI. Virtual Organization Management Institute. VOMI Virtual Organization Academy.  Virtual Organization Leadership. Virtual Organization Recruiter. VOMI Global Think Tank.  All rights reserved.  Cannot be  reproduced without permission.