Multiplayer Work: An Idea Whose Time Has Come?

The very essence of work is changing, as firms transform themselves from traditional hierarchies of product and customer to networks of relationships and capabilities, placing new burdens on accounting and valuation; vertical integration models of the past are being replaced by open platforms and ecosystem; transaction costs continue to be lowered, but across global supply chains; corporations now engage with their customers on the customer's terms, in social networks where hitherto static brands now emerge as dynamic conversations. And the new generation at work thinks, feels and acts differently: they choose who they want to work with and what they want to work on. As processes get replaced by patterns, as exceptions become the rule, there is a lot to be learnt from MMORPG in terms of priorities, motivation, teamwork and outcomes.