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As We May Work: The Pursuit
of Collective IQ
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Abstract:
For me, Bush's legacy from "As We May Think" connects directly
to the very real and important potential for Boosting the Collective IQ
of the social organisms represented by human organizations. The companies,
institutions -- indeed the countries -- which most seriously and effectively
pursues this potential would clearly have a strong success/survival advantage.
Serious pursuit will involve many changes in the way we may think, coordinated
with many concurrent changes in "as we may work" -- and as we
may collaborate, share, play new roles, exercise new skills, and continuously
sense and respond to new business opportunities and challenges.
The development of new computing technologies over the past fifty years
- in hardware and software - has provided stunningly important changes
in the way we work and in the way we solve problems. In the past fifty
years of history of computing, the one really striking example of discontinuous
innovation was early generation of World Wide Web software - and in particular,
the Mosaic web browser. We actually did get closer to the goal of computers
assisting with collaborative work. As we think about how technology has
changed the way we work, it is useful to contrast "augmentation"
with "automation." The shovel is a tool, and so is a bulldozer.
Neither works on its own, to fully automate the task of digging. But both
tools augment our ability to dig. And the one that provides the greatest
augmentation, not surprisingly, takes the most training and experience
in order to use it really effectively. Also, consider the many specialized
skills, roles, organizations, and capability infrastructures in, say,
running a nuclear power plant versus starting a fire in the forest, or
flying a jumbo jet between continents versus taking an ox cart to market.
As workers change jobs six or seven times in their work careers, and as
the skills required to do a type of job vary over just a few decades of
technological advancements, we increasingly see the need for a more strategic
approach to improving improvement.
In this talk, I will review the importance of a strategic approach to
improving improvement to accelerate the coevolution of human and tool
systems in pursuit of collective IQ.
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Biography
Douglas Engelbart is a landmark figure in the history of computer science, best
known as the inventor of the mouse. Engelbart, Bootstrap Institute founder and
Director, has an unparalleled 30-year track record in predicting, designing, and
implementing the future of organizational computing. From his early vision of
turning organizations into augmented knowledge workshops, he went on to pioneer
what is now known as collaborative hypermedia, knowledge management, community
networking, and organizational transformation. Well-known technological firsts
include the mouse, display editing, windows, cross-file editing, outline processing,
hypermedia, and groupware. Integrated prototypes were in full operation under
the NLS system, as early as 1968. His demonstration of the NLS system at the 1968
Fall Joint Computer Conference is believed by many to be the greatest demo of
all time. Today, we are still trying to realize that vision.
After 20 years directing his own lab at SRI, and 11 years as senior scientist,
first at Tymshare, and then at McDonnell Douglas Corporation, Engelbart founded
the Bootstrap Institute, where he is working closely with industry and government
stakeholders to launch a collaborative implementation of his work.
Engelbart has received numerous awards, including the ACM Turing Award and
the National Medal of Technology. His life's work, with his "big-picture"
vision and persistent pioneering breakthroughs, has made a significant impact
on the past, present, and future of personal, interpersonal, and organizational
computing.
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