For well over a hundred years, all developed countries were moving steadily toward an employee society of organizations. Now the developed countries, with the United States in the lead, are moving fast toward a Network Society in respect to the relationship between organizations and individuals who work for them, and in respect to the relationships between different organizations.

Most adults in the U.S. labor force do work for an organization. But increasingly they are not employees of that organization. They are contractors, part-timers, temporaries. And relations between organizations are changing just as fast as the relations between organizations and the people who work for them. The most visible example is “outsourcing,” in which a company, a hospital, or a government agency turns over an entire activity to an independent firm that specializes in that kind of work. Even more important may be the trend toward alliances. Individual professionals and executives will have to learn that they must take responsibility for placing themselves. This means above all they must know their strengths and look upon themselves as “products” that have to be marketed.

ACTION POINT: Make a list of the top ten reasons you are attractive as a partner in an alliance.

Managing in a Time of Great Change