TECHNOLOGY AND THE STRUCTURE OF THE FUTURE

New technologies in the workplace are changing our organizational possibilities far beyond what we have so far been able to grasp. Combinations of groupware, hypertext, Internet and network processing have transformed what is possible for human beings working together. We are on the verge of making a quantum leap in organizational intelligence and that leap will, in turn, create a quantum leap in the intelligence capacity of individuals. Even though technology is the vehicle through which a major change is occurring, we miss something by focusing on that. Technology has made something possible that is an expression of a kind of thinking that is at the heart of the technology. It is a way of thinking that is an essential element in the unfolding of the path of realising the possibility for organizations and individuals to become fully human.

Let's glance back into our history to another point at which a technology dramatically altered the structure of the future. For centuries the authority of the church was inviolate. The extensive power of the church could have been attributed to its control of the interpretation of religion. How was that grip on a specific interpretation maintained? The bible, the sole non-personal source of authority, could only be copied by hand which made it far too expensive to be possessed by anyone other than the church. In addition, few people were able to read so interpreting the bible for themselves would have been impossible even if they could obtain one.

The invention of the printing press and moveable type marked the beginning of the transformation of the power of the church by loosening its grip on the structure of interpretation. When these technologies came into existence, they altered the structure of the future of the church forever. Their occurrence made it inevitable for people to learn to read and own bibles. Individuals could now refer to the source themselves and create their own interpretations which in turn undermined the authority of the church. No longer could any single interpretation dominate. The creation of splinter groups and new formations became inevitable. There was a dramatic increase in questioning, dialogue, and individual reflection causing the structure of authority in the church and all of its adjoining institutions to crumble.