The New World is Here

There's no looking back now. It's here. Already, it is profoundly changing the fabric of our society. It is happening quickly. Before we know it, we will be overwhelmed.

What is it? I call it the Digitocracy -- a merging of digital and democracy. What does that mean? It means that the digital information infrastructure has reached a critical mass and is beginning to affect every area of our lives. The worldwide exchange of knowledge is becoming so intense that the concepts and institutions of the past are falling like flies.

This is more than the dawning of a new age. It is the emergence of a completely new reality. A reality without physical limits, a reality not constrained by time or distance. A new reality of creativity, opportunity, equality and enlightenment.

The basis of this new reality, the underlying, driving force, is our ability to exchange information with each other. A new marketplace has emerged -- the marketplace of ideas. The currency used in this marketplace is not old-fashioned "money". In this new marketplace the legal tender is knowledge. The marketplace of ideas moves at lightning speed. Useful ideas emerge and are quickly picked up and expanded upon. Knowledge is integrated by millions of human minds, and grows quickly in scope and sophistication.

In this new reality, our concepts of work, entertainment, skills, careers, shopping, value, time, and distance are being dramatically altered

What new skills will we need to thrive in this new world?

Well, skills are really not the issue. In fact, to focus on skills is very limiting. We need to stop thinking of ourselves in terms of our skills.

The current issue of Forbes Magazine (May 22, 1995) states:

"Think twice before investing years of your life developing your skills in law, medicine, accounting, travel agentry, financial planning, insurance sales or library science. All these professions are beginning to face serious competition from computer programs. As the software gets better, demand for many professionals, after decades of steady climbing that pushed up incomes, is likely to level off or even fall."

More than any skill, what we need is a new attitude. The barriers are coming down around the world. Knowledge and expertise that used to be the province of a select few are now available to practically anyone. Access to communication power is nearly universal. Long-established institutions are breaking down under the weight of their inefficiency. A lot of people have much invested in these crumbling barriers, however. There's going to be a lot of turmoil.

In the Digitocracy, many things no longer matter. Capital is not that important. Employment history, job titles, experience, income, race, gender, place of residence, physical abilities or disabilities -- these things are simply not that important. We have a great deal of our thinking and resources invested in those things right now. We must learn to transcend our old attitudes and concepts.

In the Digitocracy, what matters most is our ability to be human. To be creative, friendly, polite, to inspire others, to be funny. The Digitocracy is all about connecting. Not connecting with machines, but using machines (more and more transparently) to connect with other human beings. And in order to successfully connect with other people, we need to connect with the human side of our own selves.

The question we should constantly be asking is this: What can I do to add value to the lives of other people. NOT how can I corner the market on such and such, how can I take advantage of this and that.

In the Digitocracy, nothing remains a secret for very long. If you're planning on making a living or creating a fortune by keeping secrets, then your plan is doomed. Many businesses are presently based on this strategy. They find a low-cost supplier from whom they buy products. They mark these product up greatly without adding any value, and sell them to all those people who don't know about the low-cost supplier. The Digitocracy will put an end to this kind of thing.

The implications of the free and constant flow of information are earth shattering.

How does network marketing fit into all of this? Very well, thank you. Network marketing thrives on information. In fact, the exchange of information is the very lifeblood of network marketing. And it does so with a very human touch. Network marketing is designed from the ground up to be a person-to-person business.

We are beginning to suffer from information overload. There is only so much data that we can deal with. It will soon be technically possible to have 1,000 or more television channels. How will we decide what to watch? The current concept of "surfing" with a remote control does not scale up very well. If we were to surf 1,000 channels, looking at each one for 5 seconds, it would take an hour and 23 minutes just to get through them all.

In the new reality, with so much new information coming at us, what we desparately need is information about information. We need agents -- people who know us and who know what is available in a particular industry, for example. And that is exactly the definition of a network marketing distributor. The network marketing distributor knows her customers personally, and she also is knowledgeable about the company's products. She know what information her customers need about which products.

This will be the nature of work in the new reality. Integrating our knowledge. Network marketing is set up to do this, and is way ahead of the game. It doesn't matter whether we communicate by telephone or Internet or satellite or whatever, the concept of network marketing provides the infrastructure that is needed in an environment of exploding product offerings and product information.

Our technology is freeing us to be human. For a long time we have focused on the technology, and have evolved an entire culture around it. Now we must learn to transcend it while still utilizing it to our advantage. There is no better model for this than network marketing. The most successful network marketers I know are the ones who can do this -- use the technology while concentrating on the people.

What is boils down to is this. We need to really care about each other. Not just pretend that we do. Not try to weasel into a position of advantage. We need to be passionate about enriching the lives of other people. Anyone who does that will reap unending rewards.