For the second year in a row, and for reasons still unbeknowgst to me (perhaps because I'll say yes), I gave a short presentation at the 3rd EMC Writer's Summit. After chasing my tail on what to talk about, I settled on Enterprise 2.0 Myths (and a few truths). A brief explanation of the summit: EMC gets a group of analysts/writers/bloggers together to discuss various issues around enterprise content management. I had a great time last year: learned a lot and met some interesting folks I'd only seen online. It was an easy decision to go again.
I intend to expand on these ideas in further posts, but to get started, here's a quick and dirty recap of what I presented last Friday.
First, some of these ideas are semi-contradictory. I think, and I could be wrong, that's because there aren't any hard and fast rules for this E20 stuff yet -- beyond perhaps "Be nice," which we all should be doing anyway.
I mean, a twitter stream for shitmydadsays is a TV sitcom with William Shatner (see William Shatner "sing" rocket man. One of my fav Youtube clips ever.). Guy Kawasaki pushes the same tweets multiple times per day, against "the rules" (and is successful at it. In business, you aren't supposed to be too personal, but on Twitter, there are any number of folks who strike a great balance at that -- Cheryl McKinnon of Nuxeo and Laurence Hart (@Piewords) are both good examples.
So, my first myth is a truth:
Truth: There aren't any rules for E2.0; only guidelines.
Beyond "Be nice" and "Be genuine," I don't think there are any true rules for enterprise 2.0.
Myth: ROI?! We don't need no stinkin' ROI.
This is a pet peeve. My favorite: "What's the ROI of a bathroom." The assumption that ROI is self-evident and that anyone who isnt' doing E20ish things for business is a dolt and doomed to failure seems too glib to me. If a company is going to expend the money, and more importantly, employee's time to embark on a social media initiative -- internally or externally -- I think taking the time to think about what the potential benefits (hard or soft) could be is important.
Myth: It's a waste of time.
It's time-consuming, but not a waste of time. I use Twitter to great effect as a expertly-edited stream of articles/columns/thoughts I'm going to be interested in. I've also used Twitter to recruit writers for Infonomics, when editing the magazine, and for bloggers here. Expertise location is a fantastic time-saver. What's the value of finding out someone halfway around the world in your company has just completed research on an issue that you were just about to spend 3 months looking into?
Myth: It's a magical panacea that will cure all that ails you.
Hand in hand with "who needs ROI?," you can just say "Oooooh, we're doing E2.0" and fix your crappy customer service, product, etc. You have to believe it and work at it.
Myth: It's a technology.
The cultural elements of an organization have a greater role to play in E2.0 than the technology. You can't just buy something from Jive/Cisco/IBM/SocialCast/Traction/SamePage whoever and expect to "Enterprise 2.0-enable" your compay.
Truth: It's a technology.
On the other hand, it is a technology. The microblogging/presence/blogging/etc. tools that encompass the Enterprise 2.0 space make the velocity and speed of collaboration (and, at base, improved collaboration is what I think E2.0 boils down to) possible. While you're not going to get to an E2.0 environment with just technology, you do need the technology to be E2.0 (at least I think so. Today.)
Myth: It's a myth.
A year ago, I did think all this E2.0 stuff was a load of BS. Now, while, yes, I do think it's overhyped and that you aren't going to sell Enterprise 2.0 to a company, the concepts make a hell of a lot of sense. It's like knowledge management and collaboration on speed. Improving customer service, making everyone just a little bit more human instead of a "business person," enhancing working together -- all good things enabled to E2.0.
Myth: Let the kids do it.
Another pet peeve (damn, I'm starting to sound like a cranky old git). While, yes, a younger generation does have different expectations; they do still have to actually work. I would imagine that every generation entering the workforce has expectations that newer technologies will be used (or should be used). However, the genuflection to a younger generation that is born digital, meh. I fail to see what not ever having to get up to turn the knob to move from M*A*S*H to Fantasy Island (yes, I know they were on different nights) has to do with being a more effective worker in an actual office.
Myth: If you don't get it, you don't get it.
Back to the arrogance thing and thinking of "doing" E2.0 as a panacea. Just because someone is hesitant or just now dipping a toe into the social media waters, doesn't mean they're going to be left in the dust. True, first mover advantage is large, but this stuff is new too.
Myth: Experts have it figured out.
This stuff is new. Anyone self-proclaimed as a guru . . . not so much. The folks who write on this community and admit that, sometimes, we're still working through this -- those are the folks who will get this figured out. We still haven't figured out how to get rid of paper and effective document capture has been around for 20+ years. This E2.0 stuff is still too new for anyone to be 100% on top of it.
Myth: You need a plan.
OK, maybe this one should be a semi or half myth. You do -- kinda -- need to know what you're doing. But waiting for the "perfect" E2.0 plan? Don't be an idiot.
Truth: Get started.
If you haven't started. Go. Now. Today. There's something in this E2.0/social media/collabaration stuffus for every industry. Start figuring out what that something is for your and your company now.
Truth: The line between work and private life is dotted.
I put this one in after a conversation with Marko Sillanpaa (half of Big Men on Content, excellent blog, check it out.) at dinner last Thursday night (congrats again, Marko, on the coming nuptials). See. Dotted. There's continued confusion the E2.0/social media is Facebook. And Marko did raise some great points about Facebook privacy, most of which I agree with. However, that's NOT Enterprise 2.0. It's a piece of it. And there is the whole, "Do I friend my boss," "Am I gonna get fired for saying something stupid," "Why did my friend but that photo of my [body part] on his wall." These are new social mores that we're all trying to work out. Divorce used to be a sign that you were flawed somehow. Not so much any longer. Times change. I think that allowing a blurring of the personal/work personas will do us all a world of good in the long run.
Again, I do want to revisit these ideas over time. However, I also wanted to toss them out there and see if anyone agrees/disagrees/thinks I'm an idiot/genius.
As always, comments, criticisms, and witticisms welcomed.