Combinatorial Nature of Digital Technologies and Legos

I came across the brilliant blog site of Futurist Frank
Diana this week.  In one of his most recent articles he discusses the
concept of combinatorial nature.  He states, “We
are seeing exponential convergence across the areas of science, technology,
economics, society, ethics, and politics. The combinatorial nature of
an overwhelming number of building blocks drives an accelerating intersection
across these areas.”  As an expert Lego player, I can appreciate the
concept of building blocks, and the near infinite number of combinations these
blocks can be used to form.  The idea that we have now reached a critical
mass of digital building blocks, and that we will now experience exponential
growth through the combinatorial nature of them is compelling.

The World Economic Forum also describes the
future in similar ways, “We stand on the brink of a technological revolution that will
fundamentally alter the way we live, work, and relate to one another. In its
scale, scope, and complexity, the transformation will be unlike anything
humankind has experienced before… Billions of people are now
connected by mobile devices, with unprecedented processing power, storage
capacity, and access to knowledge.  And these possibilities are being
multiplied by breakthroughs in artificial intelligence, robotics, the Internet
of Things, autonomous vehicles, 3D printing, nanotechnology, biotechnology,
materials science, energy storage, and quantum computing.”

Both of these quotes, and the idea that we have reached a new era
as a result of the combinatorial nature of digital building blocks, begs the
question of what does this mean for for our organizations today?  The
answer can be found in the Lego block.

Legos come in standardized shapes, sizes and integration points
that allow for the rapid build of billions of different combinations.  The
standardization of Lego blocks doesn’t restrict our ability to create new and
unique combinations, rather it enhances it. Organizations must recognize that
the winners of today and tomorrow are not organizations that create their own
bespoke building blocks, but that have the vision to use standardized digital
building blocks to offer unique combinations faster than their opponents.