Guilds

I was recently reading about Guilds in the Middle Ages (a book my teenage daughter insisted that I read).  Much to my surprise in the book it talked at length about the diverse nature of these Guilds. For example, Coopers, the people that make barrels, had skills in making staves, hoop production, assembly of the barrels as well as the finishing processes. Often times, various Coopers with different skill sets cooperated to make the process more efficient.

So what does this have to do with technology?

In the technology industry we take it for granted that people with different skill sets work together. For example in software development, architects, product mangers, developers, graphic designers and technical writers often work together to complete an application. In the Alternative Energy field, engineers, materials, production and logistics experts are all part of the delivery process. Are these people part of individual “Guilds” (engineers, developers) or part of a larger “Guild” (software)? Secondly, how do these people find each other?

In the middle ages, Guilds were location based because that was the only way to find other people. Now, with technology that makes it practical to find people of like minds and potentially complementary skills globally, can we not build international guilds?

I would contend that we are entering a new era where we can enable groups of workers to find each other remotely and to work as one entity on projects, or even as a functioning unit for a long time.. The only thing holding back these virtual teams is the ability of the “Guild members” to find and market themselves with little overhead.