One thing that many organizations seem to be grappling with is the idea that building technology and developing people is somehow an either/or scenario rather than a both/and scenario. As organizations continue (and rightly so) to pursue technological innovation, one danger lies in assuming that since much of what they do is becoming automated or going online, that the human side of the business, including organizational communication and culture, is now passe. However, it’s actually the opposite that is true. As organizations innovate and evolve, it will take a much more concerted effort to cultivate organizational cultures wherein healthy communication, in all its forms, is able to thrive and become a distinct competitive advantage.
Organizations that learn to both embrace their humanness and also drive innovation will emerge as leaders within their respective industries and markets. Those that throw their humanness to the wind and run full bore toward a wholly automated world will find themselves with woefully inadequate communication systems, while those that cling to tradition and eschew technological advances will do so at their own peril. So the key then is for organizations to build healthy cultures centered on the ability to communicate extremely well, and in such a way that they are better able to innovate and evolve. We can see this even today, as many organizations are taking great pains to utilize their innovative technological advances to enable their employees and others to become more connected, not less. The ability to do this — to cultivate healthy cultures based on exceptional formal and informal communication — will prove to be a distinct competitive advantage in the years to come.
