Blockchain: Looking Beyond the Circus

They're calling it a circus. It's not a circus.

What you see may feel like a circus, but to see the truth, you need to look beyond the hype. Be thoughtful, be thorough and be strategic. Because just beyond the hype is value. Just beyond the hype is a new world. Just beyond the hype is a business advantage, the type of advantage that history will label as a new age in economic history. The transition from the Information Age to the beginning of this new economy, an economy that will impact the world so greatly that the Information Age will pale in comparison, will be turbulent. Turbulence notwithstanding, it will happen. It will deliver on a promise of gold, gold that has been mined from our current economy. This new economy, the Peer Economy, will redefine the world as we know it. The level of advantage and opportunity that is impossible to find in today's business models is what exists beyond the hype.

The level of advantage and opportunity that is impossible to find in today's business models is what exists beyond the hype.

The last Fortune print dated August 22, 2017, had a cover page with the title "Blockchain Mania" splashed over it (yes I'm sure you've seen it.) Holding out hype or irrational exuberance as clickbait is contributing to the useless noise that is swirling around blockchain and cryptocurrencies. All this hysteria makes the uncomfortable more uncomfortable and the comfortable more comfortable. It drives more confusion into the dialogue. Articles such as the Fortune article do nothing but further alienate the uncomfortable.

The current hype cycle is driving those that have not explored or those that don't understand the full opportunity of blockchain to withdrawal. Many are in the psychological space of filing blockchain in the "it doesn't/won't matter to me" file, making themselves feel justified in their not caring about whatever this "blockchain thing" is.

But It Will Matter

I'm here to tell you, your future will be affected by blockchain. If you interact in processes that have "middlemen" as they're known (by the way, you do, we all do), if you participate in processes where some person or company exists between you and the person you wish to share value with; existing to provide trust, legal guarantees, contract enforcement, monetary processing, etc. then you will be impacted by this change. If you work for companies that provide these services, you will be impacted by this change. In short, everyone will be impacted. As was with the Internet, where the exchange of information was affected and transformed in unimaginable ways, as will be with Blockchain where the exchange of value will be affected.

As was with the Internet, where the exchange of information was affected and transformed in unimaginable ways, as will be with Blockchain where the exchange of value will be affected.

So what should you learn and what should you understand to pull yourself out of the hype noise and get your mind around what this all means? Here's a good place to start. You must:

First, don't focus on the technology, but do understand the business capabilities made possible by blockchain,
Second, understand how these business capabilities will drive new business design and innovation,
Third, learn how this will change the economic eco-system and the balance of wealth, power, and control in the flow of our daily lives,
Fourth, come up with your own business idea - based on the aforementioned understandings of the new economic and interaction paradigm - and do your piece to build this new future.

Of course, everyone reading this isn't out to build a new business. If you are, move past the talk about technology and move to how this technology will enable new capabilities that enable new, lower cost, and more peer-oriented business design. If you aren't, understand this new future so you can plan your role in it. If you are a "middleman" either by business ownership or by employment, understand how innovation is looking to design a new version of your part of the economy and plan your role in that future.

It's worth noting that this change will not happen overnight. But by a matter of example, in 2017, we're all standing in a place where the Information Age has dramatically automated away the jobs of many. We blame it on outsourcing, overseas competition, the EU, NAFTA, etc., but the truth is, I have spent the past 25 years "not worrying about how the work I was doing affected the jobs of many", and today it matters. If you're in the early part of your career, work to understand how this shift will affect you. Remember, the Internet has changed our world dramatically in a decade, blockchain will impact our world even more quickly.

Where to Go From Here

As I now spend a significant amount of my time advising companies on how to understand and apply the business capabilities made available by blockchain - I RARELY talk tech with them - and where you go from here is quite simple. Business executives, not technologists, need to take the lead on blockchain initiatives. This revolution is not about technology, but how to design new businesses and new business operating models that are made possible by what blockchain allows you to do.

This revolution is not about technology, but how to design new businesses and new business operating models that are made possible by what blockchain allows you to do.

Business professionals, you need to invest the time to understand how business models are designed in a peer-based, trusted and contractually secure ecosystem. You can accomplish this by reading and researching, or by working with someone that can assist you in cutting through the noise to reach an understanding of how businesses can and are designed in this new economy.

The change is so dramatic, so different from the way you think about your business today, it must be driven from the topmost level of the organization. Also, I'm here to tell you, don't leave it to the technologists. I'm saying this because technology shouldn't be designing your business model. If you wouldn't let a technologist decide in today's economy how to protect your revenue streams, for example, don't let them do it ever.

In summary, blockchain enables new business paradigms and new designs that will change the world. Get involved, understand and own how your business is architected. Architect your business for the future taking full advantage of what the blockchain revolution will make possible.

Reposted from my Medium post. For more history on this subject, check my posts on LinkedIn or Medium.