Social Media, Web 2.0 & Org 2.0

Extended Organizations: Finding the Boundaries and Naming the Contents

February 1, 2012

Can you help me out with a messy research-related question? What are the best ways to set boundaries around subsets of an “extended organization”, and then give these subsets names so that they are easy to talk about? The problem seems on the surface looks like a question of semantics (i.e., what to call it). [...]

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Communities of Commerce: Where the Marketplace is also the Meaning Place

January 11, 2012

Networks of people and organizations are usually either “markets” or “communities”. It bothers us that networks fit one or the other model of working together, because we envision something more –something both market and community –  in one network. We are often disappointed when markets don’t exhibit a commitment to any values other than maximizing [...]

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Social Business News: Too Many Wrong Messages On Social Media? Try Leadership, Not Control.

December 5, 2011

In my first contribution to Social Business News, I’m reminding organizations that want to align their social media messages to focus their efforts on leadership. I find it pretty frustrating that so many social media advocates recommend “governance” or “policy” or “control” when an organization finds there are too many voices, not enough voices, or [...]

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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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Take Our Daughters to Tech Events

October 11, 2011

What is the best, purest way to get more girls interested in tech (and more women employed in tech)? Get them deeply interested in what tech can do and what problems tech can help us solve. When girls (and boys) become genuinely interested and genuinely curious, they will pursue careers in tech not because ‘that’s [...]

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Pay Attention to How Social Media Communities Create ‘the Organization’

September 20, 2011

Why do so many social business advocates overlook the organizational value of online communities? Too many people dismiss online communities for not being central to the organizations they serve.  These critics dismiss communities for being merely social, just another way to chat or swap tips. Even when they acknowledge how communities can be critical for [...]

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Help Me Find Consulting Projects for my Business & Technology Students!

August 15, 2011

I am so excited about the class I’m teaching this fall that I’m breaking down the Chinese wall between serious topical blog posts and the practical fun of my work life, to post this Call for Projects for my students. I’m hoping that some of you readers in the New York/ New Jersey/Hoboken area may [...]

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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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Social Organizations from the Inside Out: Start with Your Intranet

July 27, 2011

What’s the best strategy for making your organization more social? Where do you start to transform your systems, so that you can transform your organization? Many social media experts suggest that you work from the outside-in. They encourage organizations to start with one function and one stakeholder group, and ‘get social’ by linking CRM (customer [...]

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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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