THE MESH, by Lisa Gansky

THE MESH


By Lisa Gansky


As its tagline forecasts, this book is very business-oriented. You may consider taking one of the previous readings I reviewed if you find yourself more on the side of the consumer, since here you will more likely find out how to mesh up your business and not your life.

So first of all, WHAT is the MESH? I'm pretty sure that there is no better person than the author Lisa Gansky to explain this concept since she is the mind behind its conception. So if you want to make sure you catch up with the real meaning, get the book and give yourself your own interpretation of it.

More concretely, as the author writes "Mesh businesses share four characteristics: sharing, advanced use of Web and mobile information networks, a focus on physical goods and materials, and engagement with customers through social networks". Whereas a "Mesh Design - referred to products - is: Durable, Flexible, Reparable and Sustainable".

After these quotations, it seems clear that the Mesh concept finds its best use in association with the words "business model". However, one of the core characteristics, the one referring to the focus on physical goods, has already got old fashion since the book was pubblished in 2010. Right now, in 2015, I don't think it would be appropriate to state that the materiality of a resource could be associated to its "meshing" nature, the Mesh has got literally everywhere, ranging from skills and competencies to patents, making physical products just a part of it.

What is still to be said, is that the Mesh, just as the sharing economy (someone says they are synonim and I partially agree), shifts the focus from ownership to access, hence representing one of the biggest economic trends of our century.

On my opinion, the reading is quite pleasant but it somehow lacks a little bit of boldness, moreover some more data should have been provided, statistics are sexy and could represent a good of the reading experience. At some point, I think the author confuses the Mesh with one of its attributes: Sustainability. For instance I could think of saying Walmart is getting more sustainable, but I would definitly avoid referring to Walmart when talking about the Mesh, because for me the Mesh is more than that.

Once again, I do recommend this book! Although I'm not fully satisfied with the reading, I do recognize that it is a major work on the topic, and also one of the first of a long series. Don't miss the Mesh Directory at the end of the book, a section plenty of great meshed up businesses - some of them already out of business - to discover!

Make sure you read this book before:

• starting your own Mesh business;
• writing a paper on the sharing economy;
• criticizing mesh businesses for unfair competition.

Best quotations on my opinion:

"Trust is social, which makes all business social; Mesh businesses are hypersocial".

"But like our minds, the Mesh is much greater than the sum of its parts."

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Thank you for reading my reviews, I would appreciate if you could comment and share my post, keep checking my blog for more reviews or visit my  .


If you are wondering, I do not receive any kind of benefit from any person, institution or company for writing my reviews.

Following this book:

WE-THINK

by Charles Leadbeater

WIKINOMICS

by Don Tapscott and Anthony D. Williams

WHAT'S MINE IS YOURS By Rachel Botsman and Roo Rogers

WHAT'S MINE IS YOURS


By Rachel Botsman and Roo Rogers


This book of about 220 pages is considered to be one of the initiators of the sharing econommy litterature. Written and pubblished for the first time in 2009, many situations described in its pages have now substantially evolved, involving new players and disrupting/innovating "old markets".

What I found curious about this book, is that many of its forecasts already turned to be correct. In fact, in 2015, the sharing economy is gaining overall trust as a collective brand, and people are trusting strangers now more than ever.

Even though the book does not really follow an accademic approach, some statistics are presented when most needed, giving more sense to the deep and why not also "philosophic" discussion of the authors who try to convince the world that collaborative consumption is our future.

The book focus on the raising importance of access-based economy, and it does so by arguing that actually, most of the times, we don't need something but we just need what that something does. As for this, also big multinationals such as XEROX, IBM and Steelcase started to follow this pattern, offering to their customers not a product per-se but its functionality. It appears clear that this approach constitutes a valid and relevant incentive for the producers to avoid built-in obsolesence, delaying as much as possible the disposal of the product and therefore prolonging its usage life.

Personally, I loved the chapter Four Principles of Collaborative Consumption. This framework includes four main points: Critical Mass, Idling Capacity, Belief in the Commons, Trust between Strangers. If you want to understand the functioning of collaborative consumption, this basic vocabulary should be known to you at least as good as your pockets. These principles helped me structuring my entire knowledge on the sharing economy, making some order in my brain.


You may consider reading this book if:

• you wnat to take part to any collaborative consumption activity;
• you need some extra motiavation to start your sharer-life;
• you would like to understand the philosophy behind the sharing economy;
• you are trying to develop your collaborative consumption idea/business
• you are afraid about the lack of regulation in sharing-economy markets

Best quotations on my opinion:

"Not only do the things we own fill up our closets and our lives, but they also fill our minds".

"Every single person who joins or uses Collaborative Consumption creates value for another person, even if this was not the intention."

"The residents of Topanga had so many ideas that they had to decide where to start. The challange the residents experienced was coordination."

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Rachel Botsman is also founder of the platform www.collaborativeconsumption.com, which is something like a wired magazine for the sharing economy, just with more functions for the users. Take a look to the website for new updates on collaborative consumption.
_______________________________________________________________________________

Thank you for reading my reviews, I would appreciate if you could comment and share my post, keep checking my blog for reviews or visit my  .


If you are wondering, I do not receive any kind of benefit from any person, institution or company for writing my reviews.

Following this book:

THE MESH

by Lisa Gansky

WE-THINK

by Charles Leadbeater

WIKINOMICS

by Don Tapscott and Anthony D. Williams