Thirty-five years ago, on a bright sunny day during the summer of 1981, my younger sibling Antonio, a computer operator who had just completed his term of service in the United States Air Force, walked into my Encino, California office and, with an open magazine in his hand, said to me in a state of joy and excitement, “Pierre, take a look at this IBM personal computer, this is the future and you need to get one for your business because it will make your life so much simpler. In fact, I am going to buy one myself!”
He then went on to say a lot of things that were meant to convince me that I would be a fool to pass up this opportunity - just as I am now in the process of doing to you.
Typical Reaction
Well, like everybody else around me,
being an imbecile and complete idiot about computer technology in general and
having my head completely buried in the sand, I just couldn’t figure out why he was so excited about getting a personal computer for himself, especially when he didn’t even have a business, and why this was going to be the future.
And with respect to my business having the need for a personal computer, I didn’t think that my business needed such a “toy.” I figured then that, when my business gets to the point where I need to have a computer, I would go ahead and lease or purchase one of these expensive computer workstations, etc., and hire computer experts and programmers to operate and program them, or utilize one of these “computer service providers” out there.
(By the way, for those of you who are too young to realize this, back then there was a proliferation of “computer service providers” who charged a small fortune to small and midsize businesses for things that my 5-year old granddaughter is now able to do on her PC and iPhone.)
In other words, the way I then felt and reacted is the very same way that a lot of today’s so-called Pioneers, Investment Gurus, Organizational Management Gurus, Business Process Management Gurus, Top Leadership Gurus, Think-Out-of-The-Box Executives, Innovators, Visionary Leaders, Change Agents, Game Changers, Scientific Geniuses, Great Thinkers, Esteemed Academics, Brilliant Educators, Revolutionary Leaders, Legendary Policy-Makers, Legendary Civilian and Military Intelligence Executives, Legendary Military Warfare Doctrinaires and Tacticians :::: as well as just plain old regular folks around us and out there in the hinterland :::: feel and react when I mention the need for EVERYONE - from kindergarten level all the way up to Ph.D. level and beyond - to obtain Virtual Organization Leadership Executive Training.
It’s extremely difficult for them to make the connection between Virtual Organization Leadership Executive Training and whatever the hell it is that they are now doing.
On a Collision Course with The New Virtual Organization World
And, regrettably, for 99.5% of you who are now reading this article, there isn’t a damn thing that I can say or do to convince you that: 1) We are all heading toward a world of virtual organizations that I call “The New Virtual Organization World,” whether or not we want to acknowledge or believe it; 2) it’s a world that you cannot even imagine at this present time because it will totally transform our civilization in terms of the way we think, live and breathe; 3) it will radically and fundamentally affect the course of human evolution over the next hundreds, thousands, and perhaps millions of years; and last but not least, 4) it’s not a matter of “if,” but “when” we will ALL get there.
For example, Imagine Yourself being able to travel through time all the way back to the Stone Age. Now that you’re there, just imagine telling our ancestors what life will be like millions of years into the future. Cell Phones, Computers, Supercomputers, Internet, Websites, Email, Facebook, Linkedin, Hacking, Viruses, In Vitro Fertilization, Cosmetic Surgery, Transgender Surgery, Cars, Planes, Automatic Weapons, Nuclear Weapons, Tall Skyscrapers, Satellites, Spaceships, Gay Rights, Democracy.
Now imagine how these cave people would look at you and how insane you would sound to them.
In a real sense, I feel the same way that you’ve just imagined yourself :: around a bunch of cave people who cannot even fathom this future that I speak of; this world of virtual organizations I call “The New Virtual Organization World”; and the impact that it will have on them for hundreds, thousands, and millions of years.
Therefore, regardless of where on the totem pole we now stand, those who fail to understand this paradigm shift in the direction toward virtual organizations will be relegated to second-class, or bottom-feeder, status in The New Virtual Organization World.
The children who are born in The New Virtual Organization World will naturally fit in and take everything for granted; because they can’t possibly imagine that, once upon a time, their ancestors were that primitive and savage, and lived in such a completely different world.
Necessity: The Mother of The New Virtual Organization World
This world of virtual organizations is made possible by the constant and relentless bombardment of supernovas of innovation in technology and all the other sciences; and our need to make sense out of all this knowledge and technology in order to marshal and harness the resulting forces and apply them toward the betterment of all - not just for mankind but for all of creation.
Moreover, there is no “slow, pause, or rewind” button that we can push in order to control the flow of such technologies and information.
Therein lies our dilemma: Today’s “extremely primitive” organizational structures are not designed to absorb and contend with these sorts of technological, philosophical, anthropological, cosmic and evolutionary challenges that we are being confronted with.
The only logical thing to do that we are all left with is to develop and put in place the sort of mechanisms and structures which can allow us all to learn how to properly channel these technologies and information, and deal with the resulting challenges, in The New Virtual Organization World. The result of which has been the founding of the Virtual Organization Management discipline pioneered by its founder since 1997.
By extension, the need for Virtual Organization Leadership Executive Training for each and every single human being in every corner of the globe, starting at kindergarten level.
By the way, when you really stop to think about it, “teaching every single human being starting at kindergarten level” is not such a radical idea after all; although, once upon a time, that was considered a fantastical, fairy tale, impractical, or ludicrous idea.
In fact, there are many places throughout the world today whereby elementary education from kindergarten level and up is neither mandatory, available, practical nor affordable. In quite a number of cases, such basic education is even discouraged or forbidden in certain parts of the world.
Answers to Your Questions
So now that I have gotten the attention of that
one half of one percent (.5%) of you who want to know more, let me answer the very first four (4) questions that I know each and every single one of you has in mind, which are:
- Question # 1. When I look all around me, all I see are tons of small and large buildings, skyscrapers, malls and shopping centers, and millions of people traveling by plane or driving on the freeways and roads going to work every day. I can’t really imagine this world of virtual organizations that you call “The New Virtual Organization World” coming around anytime soon, and what it will even look like. This all sounds so futuristic to me.
So why should I pay any serious or immediate attention to what you are talking about rather than wait to cross that bridge when we get there?
- Question # 2. In terms of what I am doing right now, this very second, how does this Virtual Organization Leadership Executive Training make a difference to me and my organization now?
- Question # 3. Let’s assume that you’ve been able to answer all my questions and convince me that this is the way to go, how will I be able to convince the powers-that-be ::: who are not so bright and innovative, after all ::: that this is the sort of investment that needs to be made now or else suffer the consequences?
- Question # 4. When can we all expect The New Virtual Organization World to arrive?
You will notice that these four (4) questions could apply to any kind of innovation or game changing technology, product or service. In fact, these were just about the same questions that I had when my brother Antonio first brought to me the idea of buying a PC for my business in 1981.
So let me answer each and every single one of these questions for you.
Question #1: So why should I pay any serious or immediate attention to what you are talking about rather than wait to cross that bridge when we get there?
Answer: My fertile imagination can come up with enough reasons to fill up the entire content of today’s Wikipedia. So, here is an answer that I think everyone can relate to:
Imagine that you’ve always lived on a planet where the sun shines 24 hours a day; and that’s the way it has always been as far as any human being has ever known. However, this one observant human being “with just too much time to kill on his hands” began to notice some very subtle changes in the planet’s atmosphere and weather patterns and, upon careful observation and deliberation, came to the conclusion that, sooner or later, the planet will begin to experience darkness during a significant period of the day.
- Option 1. Disregard that information since it is so far-fetched that it strains credulity (99.50 - 99.99% of people would choose that option).
- Option 2. Take that information with a grain of salt and put it on a “low priority” list of things to review and examine when time affords (.50 - .99% of people would choose that option).
- Option 3. Take that information seriously, primarily because it strains credulity, and begin to take immediate steps to prepare for the coming period of darkness, whenever it comes into play (.01% of people would choose that option for the simple reason that they are NOT willing to take any chances and get caught unprepared - with their pants down, so to speak).
In the case of my brother Antonio’s advice that the PC was going to change things forever for small businesses like mine, nothing needs to be said. During the huge savings and loan crisis and economic meltdown which occurred
during the late 80’s, I paid a huge and heavy price for not heeding his advice. I thought about him every day.
That’s when I made the decision that I would never make such a stupid mistake again. I began to pursue innovation (technological or otherwise) with a vengeance and never looked back since.
And when the World Wide Web and first popular graphical browser exploded onto the scene in February 1993, I drowned myself into learning how to build and offer websites to Southern Californians and the rest is, as we say, history.
So, the choice is yours! But Option 3 is really a no-brainer.
Question #2: How does this Virtual Organization Leadership Executive Training make a difference to me and my organization now?
Answer: Besides making the decision to take the initiative to undergo the training, the small financial investment, and the minimal amount of time, effort and dedication it takes to complete the 90-day program, every single thing that you learn during the program on a minute by minute basis will instantly begin to make a difference in your life from both a personal and career standpoint :::: and for your organization in terms of your daily responsibilities and challenges.
This is neither hype nor hyperbole. That’s a fact!
For example, to continue with the earlier PC analogy, had I taken Antonio’s advice, my learning how to use a PC would not have distracted or detracted me from my daily activities. The only thing it would have done would have been to make me much, much more efficient and productive starting from day one.
The small investment of time and effort would have paid handsome dividends in no time at all and saved me a lot of time, money and effort down the road.
The same goes for the Virtual Organization Leadership Executive Training. This is 100% experiential training and NOT some make-believe type of work.
You are dealing with real, live situations, issues and challenges that you will either encounter down the road after you complete the program OR may have already encountered in your own organization but did not quite understand why they were happening or know how to address and resolve them.
In many instances, the answer does not have to be rocket science. You just need to know what to do.
Just think of Bill Gates deciding to just license the operating system to computer manufacturers worldwide. That sounds very simple, right? And yet, it was so revolutionary! Can you imagine what would have happened if Bill Gates had decided instead to build his own computers? This is only a rhetorical question, so don’t bother trying to answer it - but hopefully you get the point I am making.
Today, even I, the founder of the modern virtual organization management discipline, can look back at stupid, idiotic and nonsensical virtual organization management decisions that were made about 10-15 years ago that make me wonder, what in God’s name could have been going through my mind at that point in time?
And since the answers are so simple, why was I unable to see things as clearly as I can today? And yet, I come across hundreds to thousands of people that I see making the very same mistakes, sprouting the same nonsense or idiotic expressions, or unable to see things as clearly as I do now.
But this time around, I no longer ask why, for the simple reason that I already know why each and every single one of them will think, say and do the very same things, and repeat these same mistakes over and over.
I can place bets all day long in Las Vegas about every single person’s performance at the very beginning of the Virtual Organization Leadership Executive Training program - AND WIN EACH AND EVERY SINGLE TIME. It’s easier than shooting fish in a barrel or having a crystal ball.
It doesn’t matter who you are or how smart you think you are. In fact, the smarter you think you are, the more likely you are to repeat these same mistakes and ignore every single opportunity to discover why things are not working out the way you intended.
You will instead blame the poor results on others. You are most likely to believe in your own hype and your ego will get in the way.
After all, you are some superstar with a long trail of business accomplishments in the brick-and-mortar world; and you’ve been on the internet since the 1970’s, back in the days of CompuServe and BBS's when there was no such thing as the World Wide Web. You could also be some Internet Technology Expert or Guru; or some Internet Marketing Guru; or some Social Media Marketing Guru with hundreds of thousand of so-called followers, or millions of group members, on social media and various social networks, respectively.
Or you could be an online professor at a major university who has been teaching online for the past 15-20 years. You may have obtained a degree online over a 4-6 year period and received a number of excellence or achievement awards.
Or, perhaps, you got a Ph.D. in this or that from an Ivy League university and you are some sort of internationally recognized guru and innovation genius, etc. You’ve been featured on all the major news channels as some sort of “subject matter expert” and your advice is highly sought after by others.
Therefore, it becomes very difficult for you to imagine what exactly is it that could be so complicated or difficult about leading a virtual organization or working in a virtual organization environment. In fact, you most likely don’t even know the true definition of a “virtual organization.”
Don’t bother going to Google or Wikipedia to find out the definition of a virtual organization - it’s nothing but crap from people who think they know what a virtual organization is.
I’ve seen and observed organizations lose millions of dollars by making the mistake of hiring one of these so-called “virtual gurus.”
In one specific case, I know of one organization which hired someone who literally cost them not only millions of dollars in cash down the drain, but also billions of dollars in terms of future opportunities. The parent company which was awash in cash at the time decided to just fold the venture, not really knowing why that venture turned out to be a money pit.
But since I had an intimate knowledge of the players involved and was privy to their mindset and an avalanche of really stupid, idiotic moves, I knew full well why their efforts were bound to fail and did not succeed.
Had any single one of the two primary stakeholders who were in charge of that venture participated in this Virtual Organization Leadership Executive Training, if it were then available, that venture today would have been a household name all over the globe, in the same league as LinkedIn or Facebook :::: instead of being just another casualty in the dustbin of startups history.
Just imagine that - a small investment of $15,000 for a 90-Day Virtual Organization Leadership Executive Training for one executive could have saved the parent company millions of dollars in cash and helped generate billions of dollars in future revenues!
And if your organization is a Forbes Global 2000 or other large enterprise
(with a minimum of 25,000 employees worldwide), or a governmental entity, you can obtain an
Internal Providers License from VOMI which allows you to schedule
1000 executives per year for the
90-Day Virtual Organization Leadership Executive Training at an effective price of
$10,000 per executive (An annual savings of USD $5 Million per year).
This offer expires on December 31, 2016.
Do you want me to say more? I guess not, so let us now move on to my answer to question #3.
Question #3: How will I be able to convince the powers-that-be (who are not so bright and innovative, after all) that this is the sort of investment that needs to be made now or else suffer the consequences?
Answer: We’ve all heard of the proverbial saying, "You can lead a horse (or human) to the water, but you can’t force him to drink it." The same thing applies in this case. Just share this article with them and let the chips fall where they may.
The point being, I don’t expect you to lose your job over The New Virtual Organization World.
As well, don’t forget to share this article with every single friend, colleague and associate that you can think of; due to the simple fact that one of them may have someone’s ear who could be very receptive to The New Virtual Organization World.
Maybe it’s time for you to start talking to executives in other organizations and begin to probe their mindset by sharing this article with them and gauging their attitude and responses. When you find the right organization which is receptive to what you have to say ::: and doesn’t have to be treated like a donkey being dragged kicking and screaming to The New Virtual Organization World ::: then you’ll know that you’ve found your place in the right company at the right time.
Question #4: When can we all expect The New Virtual Organization World to arrive?
Answer. The New Virtual Organization World already exists. Its doors are wide open and just waiting for you to arrive. When you get there, is really all up to you and nobody else. It all starts with the
Virtual Organization Leadership Executive Training. After that, the sky is the limit!
Just think of Disneyland. Everything is there waiting for you to arrive. All you need to do is get in your car and drive there. Park your car and get your tickets. And let the fun begins!
The only difference is that, once you get to The New Virtual Organization World, you don’t have to leave, you won’t want to leave, there is no going back, and it will forever be your new home.
About Author: Pierre Coupet, Q of VOM, is the founder of Virtual Organization Management Institute (VOMI), Virtual Organization Management Institute Repository, VOMI Global Think Tank, VOMI Virtual Organization Academy, Virtual Organization Leadership, Virtual Organization Advisors, Virtual Organization Recruiter, Digital Currency Consortium, Digital Currency Ethical Board, Virtual Organization Jobs, Virtual Organization Executives, and Blockchain Executives :: founder of the modern virtual organization management and virtual organization recruitment disciplines pioneered since 1997:: founder of League of Extraordinary Virtual Organization Executives:: and Lead Architect of Futuristic City-State Enclave Based On a Civilized World Financial System. Contact Online.
Stock Photo: courtesy of Pixabay
Copyright 2007-2023. Pierre Coupet. VOMI. Virtual Organization Management Institute. Virtual Organization Leadership. Virtual Organization Advisors. Virtual Organization Executives. Blockchain Executives. VOMI Virtual Organization Academy. Virtual Organization Recruiter. VOMI Global Think Tank. All rights reserved. Cannot be reproduced without permission.
Here in the USA, GSA (Government Services Administration) has been at
the forefront of the promotion and implementation of mobility
and telework within all government agencies. As well, the US
government has had a Cloud First Policy in place which was instituted in 2011 by its very first then-U.S. CIO Vivek Kundra.
