Lessons from Buchenwald: Social networking in the modern organization

Lessons from Buchenwald:

Social networking in the modern organization.

Walking past the words “JEDEM DAS SEINE” on that cold grey November day I found myself contemplating the lessons learned from a recent MBA class in social networking and applying them to how the prisoners of this now infamous German World War II concentration camp survived. This single stark iron gate on which these words were written witnessed over 250,000 despaired frightened faces enter but less than 200,000 leave. As this was not specifically designated a “termination” camp by the Nazis I found myself wondering what specific factors determined who survived and who did not. I later asked that question to our tour guide, Daniel. After some discussion, I concluded that it all came down to one thing, “social networking”. In other words, the better a prisoner was connected to other prisoners in the camp, the better his chances for survival, little more. His “connectedness” determined for instance, the level and quality of food that he received. “This meant the difference between a piece of vegetable from the communal soup or just water with a little fat on top”, said Daniel. Other benefits included protection from guard beatings, how difficult a work detail that he received or even what part of camp that he was placed. Istvan Katona, a Hungarian prisoner at Buchenwald, owed his life solely to the fact that a fellow Hungarian doctor in the camp found him a job in the camp hospital, a safer place to be. ^1,2

Though I found this lesson starkly somber, it oddly provided insight into the growing importance that social networking plays in organizational success in the present. For both worlds are similar in a key way: the dominant role that relationships play in one’s success versus traditional factors such as working long hours or a specific skill set that one possesses. As we step farther away from the end of the twentieth century we find ourselves ever deeper into an economy where ideas and intellectual capital lead as the key drivers of success. Indeed, at the organizational level, success depends on how quickly one can detect market changes or implement a new idea. The ability to do this is a direct function of how well connected to others the individuals of an organization are. Moreover, because modern organizations are less formally structured, much like Buchenwald, one is increasingly empowered to gain and share knowledge without the barriers of some formal organizational hierarchy. For example, Shai Tertner, CEO of a New York based events firm runs a personal Facebook account connected to his company. He not only has realized the benefits from this account to increase his customer base but also has creatively mined the power of his Facebook network for recruiting. Within one day of posting an open position on his site he had 20 plus capable candidates express interest. ³ The modern organization therefore has a direct interest in cultivating social connectedness since their success may well depend on it. This is a condition quite similar to that experienced by the prisoners of Buchenwald. Since they produced nothing and had little to trade, their survival was almost solely a function of who they knew, how well they knew them and who that person knew ad infinitum. In essence, their survival depended on social networking.

Unlike 1940s Buchenwald however, organizations of today have the advantage of technology and a greater understanding of the science behind social networking to leverage the information in a network. An organization moving into the next 10 years would benefit tremendously by formalizing its processes to cultivate a culture of social network understanding and development. As Clay Shirky remarks in his article in Harvard Business Review, “Our growing understanding of social networks may help us leverage real people’s interactions, for everything from trend spotting by scouring public conversations to identifying internal experts within a department to ensuring that a merger actually results in cooperation among employees, not just a change in logo.” ⁴ Imagine had a Buchenwald prisoner known who among them had the best relationship with the food guard.

The lesson is clear. Like Buchenwald, access to ideas and information and the ability to leverage both through a strong network to others will increasingly dominate other traditional factors of success for the modern organization. Therefore, organizations will become increasingly dependent on the ability of the people within them to cultivate and leverage the power of social networking. Perhaps those words “Jedem Das Seine” – “to each his own” on that gate were strangely prophetic in that it was the exact opposite that was important.

James Downs

Sources:

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buchenwald

2. http://isurvived.org/Survivors_Folder/Stephen_Casey-hungarian.html

3. http://patricerutledge.com/blog/shiraz-nyc/

4. http://hbr.harvardbusiness.org/2004/02/breakthrough-ideas-for-2004/ar/22 (Jay Shirkey; Harvard Business Review: February 2004, Breakthrough Ideas for 2004; #17 Watching the Patterns Emerge)