Kanter's Evolve! Explores the e-Culture
Social Enterprise Newsletter, Spring 2001
In 1999, when HBS professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter began her study on the impact of the technological revolution on organizations, the popular business axiom was to "forget everything you know because the Web overturns every accepted business principle." Yet through her research, she found that the brave new world of the Internet was in fact driven by some time-held principles, and that "the problems of leadership, organization, and change are similar to those we have experienced for decades."
In her new book, Evolve! Succeeding in the Digital Culture of Tomorrow (HBS Press), Kanter examines "e-culture." While cyberspace has created many virtual realities, the soul of this new culture lies in the human side — people working together with new technologies to drive communities and organizations that thrive on creativity, communication, and ultimately greater efficiency. In a message based on her business research but particularly applicable to nonprofits, Kanter stresses that organizations are especially productive when they work as communities and when their members have a stake in the mission, are consulted and kept informed, and have opportunities to exceed their assigned responsibilities. Members find meaning and commitment in their work by believing in a larger purpose. Kanter says that these communities don't just happen — it is up to leaders to promote them actively through leading by example, choosing people with collaborative instincts, discouraging territoriality, and coaching people to work together.
Kanter recently presented the concepts of her research in a seminar titled Evolve! Leadership for Change in a New Environment, aimed at managers of nonprofit organizations and government entities. The seminar provided many insights and strategies for leaders and teams through a combination of presentations, discussions, and breakout sessions. "Like all other organizations, nonprofits are now competing in what's becoming a globally connected, death-of-distance world," she says. "One mandate is clear: Nonprofits must cultivate new leaders."