Jay Cross, Société Générale and Connectivity

I’ve just had a cup of coffee with Learning Technologies opening keynoter Jay Cross close to his hotel in Kensington.

The conversation roved, as you might expect, but seemed to keep returning to one point: change is faster in a world that is closely connected.

Why is this?

Well, you’ll have to hear Jay’s keynote for the detail, but the top line is this: in today’s wired world, we are all connected. This makes it difficult to set corporate strategy, because if our fates are interconnected my company’s situation will change with more variables than ever affected it in the past. Second, changes have a way of mulitplying themselves through this network of connections.

Jay’s big example of this: the recent spectacular Société Générale fraud. Here’s his take on it at his blog.

And Jay’s conclusion:

At Learning Technologies in London this Wednesday, we’ll examine how successful companies are using web 2.0 technologies and culture to implement effective, natural learning in this new world. The theory is compelling but immediate action is mandatory.

 I look forward to finding out more.