Around the time of the dinosaurs, a four inch long creature named Morganucodon oelheri ("Morgie" to his/her friends), scurried between the feet of the dinosaurs. Morgie, a nocturnal, warmblooded, fur-covered animal, holds the distinction -- this week at least -- of being the "first mammal."

Two hundred and ten million years ago, Morgie was scarcely noticed.  Life went on like that for quite a while. Then, as the Smithsonian tells us, "After the extinction of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago, more than 40 new groups of mammals arose from this common ancestor. As climates and habitats changed, some species adapted, but many went extinct. But this tiny mammal passed on its DNA to billions of descendents, including humans."

Morgie survived because he was agile, small, able to hunt at night, and adaptive.

Let's suggest to ourselves that an "eBay for services" will soon arrive on the scene, with small, nocturnal, agile, adaptive micro-firms doing work and passing on DNA in the form of metainformation about the individuals and groups involved.  Will micro-firms survive the increasing consolidation (creation of corporate dinosaurs) and changes (global disasters of various kinds) that we face?

Or will the capital commitments that are made in large corporations continue to be unbeatable?   What's important about these commitments -- these capital lock-ins -- is that they cannot be withdrawn.  Maybe a micro-firm can't attract that kind of capital. 

Maybe the corporate versions of Morgie and the dinosaurs will continue to share the same environment.  This time around, the dinosaurs may be here to stay -- particularly if the dinosaurs are capable of taking the long view.

(Thanks to Sarah Brosnan for the pointer to Morgie.)