Tony Knerr, founder and principal of Anthony Knerr & Associates--a nonprofit strategic planning consulting firm--recently asked me to write a review of Clay Shirky's newest book, Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations. I jumped at the chance because I think the title pretty much sums up the extraordinary cultural shifts we're experiencing, not the least of which is the diminishing importance of formal organizations and institutions, due largely to technologically-driven factors that are forcing us to rethink -- and ultimately redo -- how we create, sustain, and enhance positive changes in community and the world at large.
Knowing that many in the nonprofit world will balk at the title and not pick up the book, I tried to summarize as best as I could the rich content contained within its covers so that, perhaps, it will be an incentive to actually dig deeper into Shirky's extensive work on these issues and others I didn't have the space to include (unfortunately). In any case, it's a "must read," I believe, for any and all nonprofits that seek to not only survive in these new frontiers but, most importantly, thrive.
Posts
I started reading this several months ago at lunch and was very interested in the first few chapters. Time constraints kept me from continuing it until a few days ago. I now have almost finished it and I think there are some great big picture ideas in it about how new communication tools change our behavior, habits, and society. One of the biggest takeaways from it for me was how these tools allow us to accomplish big things *much* quicker than ever before.
ReplyDelete