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Do Social Technologies help organization members think more holistically?

December 14, 2011

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 like [...]

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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?

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4 Reasons Why Socializing Your Intranet Makes Organizational Change Easier

August 3, 2011

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 develop [...]

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How Social Media Can Help Us Generate Productive Momentum

July 18, 2011

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 help [...]

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

July 12, 2011

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 to [...]

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

June 22, 2011

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 we [...]

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Does Your Social Media Policy Create a Platform for Racism?

May 17, 2011

I bet you don’t think it does. I bet you think that your social media policy, and your ‘create a blog for our business using other people’s user-generated content’- approach, is impervious to racism masked as business advice, as research findings, or as interesting content. I bet that’s exactly what PsychologyToday.com thought, too. They’ve got [...]

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Systems of Engagement: Technology for Social Organizations

April 13, 2011

“Systems of engagement.” Isn’t that an evocative term? The minute I read it, I knew that the term “systems of engagement” captured something important–but what? I searched the web, I even consulted Quora, but I found no definition of “systems of engagement” that incorporates all that the term evokes for me. So at the end [...]

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Their Need or Your Ability: Why does your organization exist?

March 31, 2011

Why does your organization exist? Was it created to meet the needs of some (external) community, constituency, or market segment? Or, Was it created to employ, utilize and engage your collective abilities? Did your organization emerge because of “who you could be together” or because of what someone else needed some organization to be? A [...]

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Because Women Have “Ideas Worth Spreading” : TED2011 Action Steps

February 27, 2011

The 2011 TED conference begins Tuesday in Long Beach CA. Of the 55 folks who will present “Ideas worth Spreading”, 15 of these speakers will be women. That’s a whopping 27%… no improvement over previous years, and nowhere near gender parity. To celebrate the 15 Women who will take the TED stage, and to encourage [...]

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