If you’re familiar with “The Cluetrain Manifesto,” you know that it was something of a seminal book for the new era of web-savvy business. You’ll also know that it was published 10 years ago, and that the fact I’m only now reading it must mean I’m one seriously un-hip business dude – at least in my business book reading habits.

Of course I have some excellent excuses. They’re the same ones I use to justify the mess that is the interior of my car. Their names are Whitney, Sierra, Harrison and Sophia. Yes, they’re wonderful kids, but they are kids – i.e., high maintenance. Those of you with a similar excuse understand that between the endless, soccer games, tennis matches, etc., I’m lucky to have time to tie my shoes (which is why I wear loafers) – much less keep up with the latest trendy business books. But “Cluetrain” has migrated from the trendy to the almost mainstream in the 10 years since it was published, so I couldn’t put it off any longer.

Although I haven’t yet finished it, I’m already comfortable giving it a solid thumbs-up. Even 10 years on, it’s pretty thought-provoking stuff. One of the thoughts it provoked for me is how one of the defining elements of the Web, the hyperlink, seems to have transcended the world of the Internet and come to typify how organizations and markets are structured (or rather, structure themselves) nowadays. For the non-nerds out there, a hyperlink is, according to Wikipedia, “a reference in a document to an external or internal piece of information. The most common usage is in the Internet to browse through web pages: some text in the current document is highlighted so that when clicked, the browser automatically displays another page or changes the current page to show the referenced content.”

OK, so it’s not the most non-nerdy description in the world, but it works, if for no other reason, because it’s peppered with hyperlinks (i.e., reference, Internet, web pages, document and browser). In other words, when something is hyperlinked, that just means it’s tied in with something else in a way you can very easily connect directly to that something else.

The “Cluetrain” authors talk about hyperlinks in a unique way, offering this interesting observation: “employees are getting hyperlinked.” So why does that matter to you and me? Because, as they also note, “Hyperlinks subvert hierarchy.” Translation: today workplace conversations don’t just happen up and down the lines of the old pyramid-shaped org chart. They go up, down and sideways – and with email, sometimes every direction at once.

The implications are not trivial for those trying to build inclusive organizations, or for individuals who are deaf or hard-of-hearing trying to thrive in such organizations. Managers and co-workers need to understand that even in this brave new world of “hyperlinked” employees boldly conversing up and down lines of authority, throughout teams, and across departments and divisions – even now such communication is not yet natural for everyone. Which means it is still uncomfortable and difficult for some.

Deaf and hearing employees in particular can find themselves separated by more than just the levels of authority or department boundaries that inhibit everyone else. Their co-workers need to understand that, and work harder to recognize and encourage when those efforts are being made. They also need to work that much harder to remind themselves to do the same and actively “hyperlink” with deaf and hard-of-hearing colleagues. Similarly, deaf and hard-of-hearing employees need to help compensate for communication gaps by pushing harder to establish those linkages. They need to de-sensitize themselves to hurried, lukewarm, awkward or even resistant responses to their efforts.

It’s also important to remember that effective hyperlinking among colleagues in the workplace involves more than just communicating purely work-related information back and forth on an as-needed basis. The real connecting that makes hyperlinking happen at work also involves non work-related communication. It’s about relationships. Hearing and deaf employees both need to look for opportunities and mechanisms to help them overcome the lack of “water cooler” talk. Text or IM a good joke, touch someone on the shoulder and smile, email a deaf colleague down the hall about what your co-workers are talking about at the water cooler. And by all means, have lunch together and pass notes back and forth if you have to. Whatever you do, work on those connections, and do it continuously – force it if you have to. It will become more natural over time.

We all know there is tremendous value in a diverse and inclusive organization. What we sometimes forget in the day-to-day hustle and bustle of the office, when we’re running around just being “hyper,” is that it only takes a little focus and effort to make sure that our hyperlinks to co-workers are also inclusive. In most cases, and on both sides of the divide, the challenge is only partly the communication barriers themselves. It’s often simply the natural disinclination to do something new, and unfortunately truly inclusive organizations with hyperlinks that traverse disability, are still mostly new.

That natural hesitance is something we need to work together to overcome. We need to get comfortable with something new. After all, it’s new world in most of organizations now – a hyperlinked world. Don’t let your organization be so hyper that it never gets around to being fully hyperlinked.

Todd D. Wakefield is CEO of NexTalk, Inc. ( http://www.nextalk.com ). He lives in Park City, Utah with his wife of 20 years and four kids.