It started with the Agrarian age where the economy was centered around agriculture and farming.
With the invention of the steam engine, the world was propelled into the industrial age. During this period, the emphasis was around the the ability to mass produce quickly and cheaply with the steam engine and subsequently other form of engine to leverage the productivity of mankind. The notable events include Henry Ford's first mass produced Model T car.
The birth of the computer brought us into the information age where the adage information is power reigns supreme. The information age not only brought with it the power of information but it also transformed thinking from a product based to a service based denominator as it is one of the earlier industry to venture into the outsourcing paradigm. Instead of buying a printer, ink to print reports, in the the service age, it would be buying a printing service that would provide the printer and ink, maintenance service for the printer and at times even the paper and charge on the basis of number of printed pages.
This was soon followed by what is known as the experiential economy championed by economist Joseph Pine and James Gilmore who wrote 'The Experience Economy' in 1999. In it, they chronicled the development of our economy from the agrarian, industrial, service and finally to what they termed as the experience economy using the analogy of how birthdays has meant different things through the ages. In the Agrarian economy, it centered on the flour needed to make the birthday cake. In the industrial age where things are largely mass produced, it was on buying the pre-mixed ingredients to reduce the time needed to bake the cake. As it progresses to the service age, it was likely to be buying a ready made cake and having it delivered as a service to the birthday venue. With the further transformation of the economy, the birthday is likely to entail a celebration at a fast food joint like Macdonald with organized birthday games, food and a magic show to entertain the kids and the cake is thrown in free.
As economic distinctions progresses and becomes less tangible, we begets the question on what shapes the economic offering of our day? Having pondered in it for a while, I postulate the age of intelligence. While the marriage of telecommunications and computers which herald us into the age of information and the 'Death of Distance' as written by Frances Cairncross. Knowledge on tap being available almost anywhere, anytime in the abundance that puts information available on the internet in terms of terabytes upon terabytes and search engines like google and yahoo making finding knowledge easier. Surely information and its smarter descendant knowledge can no longer be a formidable differentiator. If I need to find out which year George Washington was born and with ready access to internet, almost anybody with some basic information age skills can tell you that it is 1732.
Welcome to the age of intelligence whereby the key differentiator is intelligence in itself and no prize for this answer. How is intelligence different from all its predecessors?
Using part of the economic distinction model developed above by Pine & Gilmore, I would use an old world analogy to describe the this new paradigm and thereafter add further dimensions which is central to the understanding of the age of intelligence.
In terms of economic function, we have seen the progression from extract in the agrarian, make in the industrial age, deliver in the services age,stage in the experiential age and perhaps discover in the knowledge age. In the age of intelligence, it is likely to be problem solving. Problem solving differentiates itself from discovery knowledge in the additional dimension of applying the relevant knowledge to solving a problem. In the old adage of knowledge is power on the job, it not longer applies as in the age of intelligence, the differentiating factor would lie not only in the ability to acquire knowledge which is fast eroding in the age of ubitquous internet which makes knowledge readily available on tap but forming solutions through intelligent use of knowledge.
In the agrarian age where the produce is mainly farm based, the time dimension becomes critical as most products are fungible. Into the industrial age where the emphasis is on mass production of durables like cars, consumer white goods etc, the time dimension becomes less important as the produce are more tangible. The transition into the service economy brings back the importance of the time dimension to a higher level of criticality whereby the produce is intangible and cannot be stored. What is not consumed is lost along the time continuum. With memorable experience as the hall mark of the experience economy, the time dimension sort of flip flop back some what but on slightly different scheme in terms of sustainability after consumption. The age of intelligence is a combination of permanence and fungibility. Permanent in the sense that once a solution to a problem is found, it can be readily applied over and over again and fungible because the problem is also likely to change requiring new solution.
Mother nature was the centre of attention in the agrarian time from the condition of the soil to the weather and the natural mix of animal and plant habitat that determines the produce of the day. So the saying of the day is let nature takes it course as man kind is very much at the mercy of nature. As men progress into the industrial age, destiny became more deterministic as the major produce of that period centre on products that are less dependent on mother nature. Perhaps as an antidote to the wave of similarity that mass production of the industrial age generates, the service era majors on the customizability as opposed to 'me too' syndrome of mass production. In order to appeal to the heighten experiential senses of the experience economy, personalization wins the day as emphasis is on being able to create a unique and long lasting experience for the consumer. Learnability becomes the key in the knowledge age but as we turn the corner into the age of intelligence, assimilability of knowledge becomes key as knowledge itself does not transform but once assimilated into its eco system or context, it illuminates.
The role played by buyer and seller also plays an important transformation through the different economic era as highlighted by Pine and Gilmore above. To take this concept further, the role of buyer and seller ended with that of a stager and guest respectively in the experiential economy. In the knowledge economy, the seller is likely to be a patent, copyright or trademark owner playing the role of a licensee and the consumer a licensor as originality of knowledge is key. However, in the age of intelligence, the seller is likely to be a provider and the seller a client like in the service economy. The key differentiator from the service economy is the emphasis on uniqueness rather than quantifiability and repeatability.
We would explore the implication of the age of intelligence in my next installment of writing.
Safe Harbor. Please note that information contained in these pages are of a personal nature and does not necessarily reflect that of any companies, organizations or individuals. In addition, some of these opinions are of a forward looking nature. Lastly the facts and opinions contained in these pages might not have been verified for correctness, so please use with caution. Happy Reading. Peter Lye
