I have started to notice what seems like a trend with my friends in terms of how they are employed.  Many have worked with a company in the past and are now choosing (some have catalysts pushing them) to go independent.  There are varying levels of success, but for the most part all of them are doing fine.

This got me thinking about what will the future of companies really be like?  I think it will continue down the path of having more independents in the market with real-time like team formations.  With the digitization of information (voice, paper, etc.) and virtual connected society (Twitter, Facebook, Second Life) where one works and being in the office is less important when it comes to being productive.  Not to mention, most people like freedom, and this movement would support people having more freedom – letting one choose who to work with, when to work, when to vacation, how long to work, on what to work, etc.  I see the passion people exhibit when being able to call their own shots and manage one’s own relationships and customers.  Sure, I can’t imagine it being a bowl of cherries all the time, but is it really “better” or just a grass is greener illusion?  I hope my independent friends weigh in on this here.

Either way, in the future it seems the trend that will happen is virtual forming of teams to create value for their customers.  Imagine running your own product company, running a local green non-profit, and consulting on the side.  While that seems like a lot to manage, with they way people can interact these days much of that can be done remotely with periodic on site / face to face meetings.  Seems in the future the question isn’t for what company one will work, it’s more that one will work with the company one keeps (think linkedin/personal network).