If change is happening on the outside faster than on the inside the end is in sight. — Jack GE Welch

It is already shifting the balance of power. It is changing the way power is controlled and exercised. It will change the way companies are organized and the way they do business.

Our companies have all been optimized for a perfect one-way stream, the line of production, and these pesky customers are mucking about in our operations, and we have now a completely different problem to solve. We need to optimize not for the line of production but for the line of interaction, the front line — the edge of the organization — where

Customers have a tendency to resist standardization. The more you try to standardize their service requests, the more you will anger them. Not a good recipe for customer satisfaction or long-term business growth.

A company where most of the policies and procedures that constrain and limit employees are unnecessary, because every worker is fully authorized to act as a representative of the company, to make decisions, and to authorize expenses when necessary. If you can imagine these things, then you are imagining a learning company.

To win in a Red Queen race, organizations will have to detect, respond, and adapt on many fronts simultaneously, something most of today’s organizations are not designed to do. Some companies will find ways to do this. Those that can’t will not survive.

But they weren’t connected to a global network with the potential to amplify their opinions and experiences to hurricane strength. And that little thing we call “linking” makes all the difference.

Focusing on customers doesn’t mean trying to please everyone. It’s about getting a deep sense of who your customers are and what they care about.

And with the rise of blogs, social networks and other peer-to-peer communication channels, every customer can have his own megaphone.