I’m still reading “What Would Google Do” and am thoroughly enjoying it. Jarvis, the author, notes that we’re living in an era when niche markets are on the rise. If “mass markets are dead and it’s long live the mass of niches”, then what happens to the busness generalists?
Niche implies specialization and focus. I suppose the evolution of specialization is a direct result of basic economics….and the theory of supply and demand. When an industry is born and demand reaches a stage of critical mass, there’s a period when demand outweighs the supply. The imbalance between supply and demand allows for generalization vs. specialization, mass vs. niche. Think about retail in the olden days before the rise of transportation and multiple distribution channels. The general store did the trick for a while yet as supply increasd, the larger general stores morphed into department stores. Eventually, specialty stores and boutiques sprung up. These specialized stores have now evolved to giant big box specialty stores that focus on pets, electronic needs, books etc.. Then along comes the internet giving consumers even more choice and more supply which forces more specialization. In the world of consumer goods, increased competition in a supply chain seems to result in increased specialization. What about in the world of knowledge?
Back to the internet…and the world of Google whose mission is “to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful” As a result of Google, knowledge today is more abundant and accessible than ever before. What are the repercussions for the knowledge providers? Knowledge is no longer scarce, in fact the abundance of knowledge available today is at times downright overwhelming. Seem like Google has caused the role of the business advisor/knowledge provider to evolve. Google is the new generalist, the big department store of knowledge. To survive in this knowledge-rich society, business advisors/knowledge providers need to ramp up their game when it comes to specialization. Hey Jim Collin’s does this mean the foxes of the world will morph into hedgehogs? Or will generalists evolve to become generalists of specific niches?
