A Farewell to Disruption in a Post-Platform World
December 8, 2019 10:44 AM Subscribe
Bright Simons is President of mPedigree and a member of CGD’s Study Group on Technology, Comparative Advantage, and Development Prospects.
This note is part of a special series authored by members of CGD’s Study Group on Technology, Comparative Advantage, and Development Prospects. Learn more at cgdev.org/future-of-work
Unionizing and nationalizing and breaking up AWS and making it subject to democratic forces instead of one guy's ego?
posted by Reyturner at 6:26 PM on December 8, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by Reyturner at 6:26 PM on December 8, 2019 [2 favorites]
The premise and the promise of this essay are both intriguing, but I bounced pretty hard off of the prose. I would be curious to hear from someone experienced in tech/business literature whether they'd regard this as well written.
My field has its own jargon and weirdnesses and I respect the necessity of genre conventions, but some of the prose here seems off-the-charts inscrutable. E.g.:
I call these types of multi-stakeholder lattices that, by means of polycentric integrations, can bind together governments as providers of authority; civil society as assurers of accountability and transparency; businesses as enablers with capacity; and consumers, as bringers of legitimacy, through their combined role as beneficiaries and citizens, honeycombs.
Although maybe that wouldn't be so bad if "honeycombs" weren't sitting there at the end all on its own. As it is it puts me in mind of Twain on The Awful German Language.
But I shouldn't snark! There does seem to be some really important stuff here to add to the conversations out there about the role of startups and tech innovation in global development.
posted by col_pogo at 8:36 PM on December 8, 2019 [1 favorite]
My field has its own jargon and weirdnesses and I respect the necessity of genre conventions, but some of the prose here seems off-the-charts inscrutable. E.g.:
I call these types of multi-stakeholder lattices that, by means of polycentric integrations, can bind together governments as providers of authority; civil society as assurers of accountability and transparency; businesses as enablers with capacity; and consumers, as bringers of legitimacy, through their combined role as beneficiaries and citizens, honeycombs.
Although maybe that wouldn't be so bad if "honeycombs" weren't sitting there at the end all on its own. As it is it puts me in mind of Twain on The Awful German Language.
But I shouldn't snark! There does seem to be some really important stuff here to add to the conversations out there about the role of startups and tech innovation in global development.
posted by col_pogo at 8:36 PM on December 8, 2019 [1 favorite]
I agree the prose is atrocious and I think the categories evoked are suspect, in that I am not sure what the extent is of a phrase like "Evolving beyond “smart government” service models to true innovation multistakeholderism" or "Modular prefabricated integrations cutting across government, industry and NGOs, must be delivered as public resources to provide “escape velocity” for start-up driven efforts".
I mean it's possible to discern meaning there, but it's possible to discern meaning in fairy tales, as well. Wicked godmothers, giant beanstalks, true innovation multistakeholderism; in what sense can these things actually be said to exist?
The observation at the core of this piece, that "disruption" is not some beanstalk growing into heaven, is one I agree with. But arguably it never was. I think the piece cogently argues that "disruption" has falsely come to connote a David vs. Goliath story, something like "plucky young upstart DESTROYS lumbering incumbent!". I mean these stories exist, and they're not untrue, but these stories exist only because, unseen to the audience, there's an even bigger Goliath in the background, supporting David.
The way I view it is that the military-industrial complex led by the US government (but including other actors) has worked diligently since at least the '70s to create the conditions that allow them to "disrupt" infrastructure & networks at home & abroad. Now that that objective has largely been accomplished & markets are getting somewhat saturated, what becomes important is that the gains made by "disruption" cannot be undone by "disruption". And so what we see is that the disruption narrative, which was never very convincing, is being abandoned.
posted by dmh at 2:20 AM on December 9, 2019
I mean it's possible to discern meaning there, but it's possible to discern meaning in fairy tales, as well. Wicked godmothers, giant beanstalks, true innovation multistakeholderism; in what sense can these things actually be said to exist?
The observation at the core of this piece, that "disruption" is not some beanstalk growing into heaven, is one I agree with. But arguably it never was. I think the piece cogently argues that "disruption" has falsely come to connote a David vs. Goliath story, something like "plucky young upstart DESTROYS lumbering incumbent!". I mean these stories exist, and they're not untrue, but these stories exist only because, unseen to the audience, there's an even bigger Goliath in the background, supporting David.
The way I view it is that the military-industrial complex led by the US government (but including other actors) has worked diligently since at least the '70s to create the conditions that allow them to "disrupt" infrastructure & networks at home & abroad. Now that that objective has largely been accomplished & markets are getting somewhat saturated, what becomes important is that the gains made by "disruption" cannot be undone by "disruption". And so what we see is that the disruption narrative, which was never very convincing, is being abandoned.
posted by dmh at 2:20 AM on December 9, 2019
dmh, yes.
I have noted in my reviews of literature that highly educated Africans can sometimes lean towards a ponderous writing style. I've noted this in India also.
posted by Mrs Potato at 4:50 AM on December 9, 2019
I have noted in my reviews of literature that highly educated Africans can sometimes lean towards a ponderous writing style. I've noted this in India also.
posted by Mrs Potato at 4:50 AM on December 9, 2019
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posted by Not A Thing at 12:50 PM on December 8, 2019 [1 favorite]