Uncategorized

Lead With A Story: Book Review

October 12, 2012

Tweet I’m suspicious of the idea that people who want to be leaders should tell more stories.   While I get the arguments that stories are persuasive because they are emotional, have a predictable arc that makes it easy for people to get engaged with them, are easy to remember, etc. etc. I’ve sometimes wondered whether using [...]

Read the full article →

Unique Layers of Value: Love With Food’s Boost Economy

September 25, 2012

Tweet Every boost economy has layers of value networks– networks through which different kinds of value flow. When you imagine these nets of value stacked one on top of the other, connecting all the participants in the network on multiple dimensions, you see why we call it “thick value“. While there’s no need to identity [...]

Read the full article →

Why Marissa Mayer Should Embrace Feminism — Your Ideas Wanted

July 17, 2012

Tweet Sheez. Just when we’re celebrating that another woman has become CEO of a major corporation– and a tech one at that — we discover that she doesn’t think of herself as a feminist. That means, something’s wrong. Let’s see what we can do to help Marissa Mayer understand what feminism is, why she might [...]

Read the full article →

Why Computer Barbie is an Evil Role Model for Women in Tech

June 14, 2012

Tweet Computer Engineer Barbie has always seemed profoundly wrong.  Not only is she a weird brand extension to begin with– pushing the envelope of what Mattel thinks is sexy —  but  I’ve always wondered how she could even see the keyboard of her laptop, given the overhang of her boobs.    But I digress. Now researchers have helped to [...]

Read the full article →

Do Social Technologies help organization members think more holistically?

December 14, 2011

Tweet While it’s true that I’m an unabashed advocate for social technologies as tools for transforming organizations, there are lots of reasons why we’d want social technologies in our workplaces and ‘together places’. Social technologies help increase engagement and make organizational democracy easier — just to name the top two reasons. But the biggest reason to [...]

Read the full article →

Growing Social: 4 Different Paths to Social Organizations

October 26, 2011

Organizations can ‘grow social’ through 4 different paths, driven by technology, social business, collective values, and ‘product’ resonance. Two of these paths are more likely than the others to create organizations that are authentically social. Can you guess which two, and why?

Read the full article →

4 Reasons Why Socializing Your Intranet Makes Organizational Change Easier

August 3, 2011

Tweet You can make the process of becoming a Social Organization a little easier if you start by socializing your intranet. Why? Because the shared, cohering nature of your intranet makes ‘social’ change efforts more comprehensive, more democratic, less scary, and more reinforcing of collective identity. In my previous post, I argue that we should [...]

Read the full article →

How Social Media Can Help Us Generate Productive Momentum

July 18, 2011

Tweet Social Media systems inside organizations should not be designed just to support tasks.  Social business systems should also be designed to support the emotional elements of interpersonal relationships, since these build momentum by helping us feel more meaningful and valuable as we work together. Often, people assume that digital social systems inside organizations should [...]

Read the full article →

Purpose is the Killer App: Why Organizations Need Social Business Tools

July 12, 2011

Tweet What will it really take to get organizations to adopt social media tools inside the enterprise? Mere numbers won’t compel us, so don’t count on ROI. The shiny object syndrome won’t hold our attention, so back off with the bells and whistles. And, please, don’t work on us with peer pressure. We’re above trying [...]

Read the full article →

5 Ways That Systems of Engagement Bring Out Our Full Social Selves

June 22, 2011

Tweet Technology has a way of sucking the humanity right out of us. Consider how we describe, design and deploy ‘enterprise 2.0′ and work system technologies in our organizations: – When we talk about technology systems, we talk about machines, platforms, inputs and outputs.  We forget about values, emotion, flourishing, meaning and purpose. – When [...]

Read the full article →