I’ve been thinking about how to describe the mission of Dachis Group. While first blush is to describe the use of social media technologies, there is a much loftier mission based on the the cultural sea change we are experiencing. Considering the sweeping changes in our social, economic, environmental and technological forces, it’s clear to everyone that the relationship between organizations, customers and employees is changing. It is not a matter of “if” companies will operate differently, but when and how.

Dachis has been founded to help companies explore and organize for this change, in a manner that actively embraces and manages the change, by design. Its about finding and optimizing work environment experiences and customer conversations, driven by insight. In exploring others who share this view, I came across a great article by Daniel W. Rasmus, the author of “Listening to the Future.”

Mr. Rasmus calls it “Organization Next,” by which “the future of organizations is not just dependent on their own designs and intent, it is profoundly affected by the context in which those organizations find themselves.”

Focusing on key human resources functions, his advice rings true:

1. Identify and recognize changes that are most effective for the organization’s success model
2. Explore uncertainty in order to anticipate change and avoid surprises
3. Design flexible, equitable, ethical and sustainable work experiences for workers

What do you think the organization of the future looks like, where uncertainty and change is the norm? How do we design a company that creates competency to anticipate change, embrace it and turn it into a competitive advantage? The marriage of technology, embracing a virtual, time-shifted workplace, a new work-life balance and a democratization of communications is certainly part of our future.

What else is?

This originally appeared on the xBlog.