Yeah right…Get real!
With such a “technarian” approach many Enterprise 2.0 initiatives will turn out to be nothing more than a sheep in wolf’s clothing. They will lack sharp enough teeth to make the change go deep and really stick into the body and mind of the organizations. The initiatives that will succeed - despite the technarian approach - are the ones which are happening in organizations where the existing culture is based on principles such as openness, transparency, trust and participation. These organizations have probably already embraced social technologies and practices.
Here is my two cents.
If change is not sparked and embraced by a critical mass of grassroots and informal leaders in the workforce, then change will not come. If management does not allow the sparks to turn into fire and bring some fuel to keep it burning, then change will not spread and stick. Social tools and platforms will just end up in the pile of old collaborative technologies which never "worked" because they didn't deliver to their promises (because they didn't make people change the way intended to).
Update: as Martin King wrote in a comment to this post it "can be even worse - without behavioural changes the technology is used to exert and reinforce existing practice e.g. command and control."
5 comments:
Can be even worse - without behavioural changes the technology is used to exert and reinforce existing practice e.g. command and control.
To what extent can a platform (e.g. technology)bias behaviour taht takes place on it?
@timkord
Great comment Martin - I added it to the bottom of the post.
The reticence of leaders - aka middle to senior managers - is due in large part to their fear of losing control. A flattening of the organization means they fear for their own places within the business.
They must wake up to the reality that the old status quo of command and control is a defunct and passing 20th century management practice.
They can carve a place in their organization as enablers and facilitators, otherwise their fears will be realized. Passivity and negativity are self-defeating strategies.
You raise some important issues. Indeed the management needs to support the efforts in order to have a successful adaption of E 2.0 tools. Many managers have seen the useless exchanges (of their kids) on Facebook ("ohh... have you seen this cute picture of XYZ.." and "check out this new great video where the dumb guy falls flat on his nose..." ) and other social platforms which make them think about the business value of such solutions.
Whats the solution...? Link the social tools directly to the business applications where your staff can communicate around daily work issues and not about the lunch appointments. Introduce social communication tools from that angle and I am certain the management will stand behind the efforts as they have an instant business value.
Great post, Oscar. It's easy to forget that the tools themselves don't provide the feedback and encouragement to make changes to organizational behavior stick.
It takes continuous involvement on the part of both management and staff for transformative change to take root.
I've seen too many organizations go back to business as usual once the roll-out of the new business system occurs, the software vendors have been paid, and the consultants have left town.
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