Power of multiple simultaneous signals

My colleague Mikko sent me a link to Marc van der Erve’s interesting presentation [PDF] dated May 11th 2007. It is a result of broader study called A New Dimension of Time [PDF]. To put it really short, he suggests that management’s key task is to support simultaneity within the organizations.

Simultaneity is described as multiple events taking place at the same time with zero interval. The process has always four successive states: Open chaos (Noise), Amplification (Transmission), Synchronization (Perception) and Resynchronization (Interpretation). He gives few examples on this concept from natural sciences and also from management. Here is the one about organization very shortly.

Open Chaos – Inequality / Market Gradient – Non-simultaneity

Amplification – Entrepreneur with idea – Emerging simultaneity, Triggering Event

Synchronization – Simultaneous employee behaviour – Spreading simultaneity, Temporary Code

Resynchronization – Growing organizational structure – Repeated simultaneity

The four states results a unique organizational structure as the process is evolutionary. According to van der Erve the clue is in a unique pattern of simultaneous behaviour. That is the moment when the idea gets shared shared understanding within the organization. That supports growth, as everybody are aiming the same goal.

Analogy to media? Oh yes! We can easily apply the whole concept to media too. There is a lot of noise in today’s media environment. Like this blog, it is just some quiet noise in the vast information stream that is produced 24h per day worldwide. The same goes for millions of other blogs and news sources too, until… until one of them publishes something really interesting that stands up from the ordinary noise. When important enough, other media starts to discuss the same issue at their pages and sites. And what’s most important, they discuss it at the same time. Then it is not anymore question of ordinary noise anymore, but merely loud voice that is heard everywhere. That may eventually create new interpretation of the prevailing truth.

Marc van der Erve claims that leadership is about developing simultaneity. Managers have to create an environment where simultaneous employee behaviour can occur. In media, the power to amplify signals was previously limited to publishers only. Now we all have access to add noise to the network and we all have possibility to amplify the most important signals. In both cases the change is powered by multiple simultaneous signals. That is power of many.

The picture above is taken close to Grand Bazaar in Istanbul (Dec 2007). Yet, nothing to do with subject.