I read a really interesting article this week about the emergence of the sharing economy – also referred to as the peer-to-peer economy.
Three historical economies
Essentially we have progressed as a society through three major phases of economy…
1. The PRIMITIVE economy – where individuals or small businesses traded face-to-face
2. The MASS economy – where ‘safer’ corporate structures were developed to cope with the volume of transactions, and now
3. The SHARING economy – where the movers and shakers are those who can enable transactions from person to person or ‘peer-to-peer’
In the PRIMITIVE economy, the need for trust was high and transactional structure was limited. Transactions were driven by necessity (“I need that from you, and I can offer you this in return”).
As the volume and complexity of commerce increased with the MASS economy, large branded corporations were set up to eliminate the need for ,and risk of, ‘trust’. These structures were underpinned by government regulation and transactions were driven by volume and complexity.
But now, in the SHARING economy, we are moving headlong into an economy where people desire more social connection, more autonomy and more reasonable pricing. It seems that we are becoming less trusting or prepared to risk dealing the the big guys, and are prepared to risk the peer-to-peer relationship facilitated by those using social technology. We love the idea of making use of all available resources, and making or saving a bit of money in the process, as long as we can do it ourselves. Trust once again needs to be high and whilst there are structures in place, they are facilitative rather than directive.
New businesses emerging
This drive can be seen through the rise and rise of organisations like airbnb ‘Making use of spare rooms across the Globe’ and blablacar – ‘Connecting people who need to travel with people who have spare seats’ – bypassing the expensive and regulated corporate travel agencies and hotel chains. And in this economy we have the benefit of social technology and the advantage (risk and trust protection) of personal referral and recommendation sites.
Is leadership taking notice?
The question for me is…..does this shift in consciousness of trust and structure translate into our leadership styles.
Is the PRIMITIVE economy related to a time when we ran mostly sole trader or small family businesses – high trust and relatively low leadership structure or regulation.
Is the MASS economy related to recent times when legislation and rules and theories of leadership abounded (not sure that is a word, but you know what I mean!).
And do we now need to consider moving to a SHARING or PEER-TO-PEER leadership style – to be the powerful facilitator who enables better use of all resources, at a lower cost, enaging the social power and intellectual power of individuals to sort things out between them and achieve win-win outcomes.
Think about your leadership…
Is this already happening? What could or should this look like? What changes would you need to make? Is the trust there?
Worth some reflection perhaps…and probably the focus of next fortnight’s blog!
Michelle