Driving change starts from within

The transformation that the Surui tribe went through is a prime example demonstrating how technology and culture drive change. It also begs the question, what allowed the tribe to make sense of foreign contact as quickly as it did?

I think the power lies in how the tribe motivated its members to adopt change – and how this motivation drove mobilization, rapid discussion, and collaboration to contribute to a survival strategy while simultaneously not dampening passionate members from branching out to address other aspects of tribal life. This is something that in many cases in business life is dampened by politics – and who is ready to turn political tables upside down when they are no longer effective?

I also find that the change driven by technology provides a very interesting transformation in the indiginous society: their societal values are reflected in the aspects of life that they choose to digitalize first. And that included not just mapping out food production facilities, but also contact points and meeting places with other tribes. Having that meeting point seems critical to collaborative efforts, regardless of whether online or offline – and through the resulting interactions, meeting places become facilitators for change propagation.

/via +Joachim Stroh