We will spend three-fifths of our lives in the workplace, and many of us want that time to be more meaningful and fulfilling. Many corporations are structured to use only a small part of our creative capacities. And yet they are asking for our very best at work and offering us very little security.
At the same time, more companies are relying on electronic communicaitons and groupware to support teams of globally linked knowledge workers. Our workplaces are becoing virtual. How many people with whom you work did you see today in person?
Instead of enhancing relationships and generating knowledge, many electronic conversations, especially over computer networks, are fragmented, impersonal, and unsatisfying.
What would it take to transform our virtual workplaces into communities rich with meaning? What personal and group practices can evoke and support deep reflection and learning? How can we use the linking power of our electronic "global brain" to realize the creative power of our interconnectedness?