In The Great Big Opportunity Matt Salisbury talks about subsidiarity — the idea that decisions are better made where they have immediate effect:
There has been a lot of talk about the advent of the “information age.” For the first time since the industrial revolution, we have experienced a real disruptive change in business context. The age of communication is now, but if you pay too much attention to the technology, you’ll miss what’s really happening.
What’s “really happening” is that we now have the chance to work like humans instead of machines. Communication and information’s advance is restoring subsidiarity to our brave new world.
I like his conclusion:
Ultimately, the information age is not about the information. It’s about human dignity and happiness informing how, where, and why we work.