Disclaimer
The opinions expressed herein are my own personal opinions and do not represent anyone else's view in any way, including those of my employer.
© Copyright 2007
The opinions expressed herein are my own personal opinions and do not represent anyone else's view in any way, including those of my employer.
© Copyright 2007
*Stands up* Hi, I’m Sarah and I have a tab problem. My computer is slowly becoming laggier and laggier because I can’t help but have 20-30 tabs open in my Firefox browser. It’s like being a virtual packrat. “No! Don’t close that tab! I want to read that sometime.” If I bookmark it in del.icio.us I can sort of close it but I know that I’ll probably never get back to it to read it. At least I’ll be able to find it again but that’s not quite enough. So here I sit with a browser sucking down over 400k of my processing because of all the links I have open. So instead of just bookmarking them I’m going to blog the links. This way I’ll get back to read them, right?
Maybe there’s a Betty Ford clinic for chronic browser openers. *sigh*
Phew! Now I can actually restart my browser and get some memory back. If only I could restart my head.
Need some motivation to finish a book? Here’s mine
.
It’s about 3′ x 4′ and won’t let me forget that I need to write.
I’m writing a whitepaper on Facebook apps for work (Mediasauce.com) so I have the perfect excuse to poke and prod at many of the more popular Facebook add ons. There I was minding my own business, taking notes on book list apps, quiz apps, photo posting tools etc when I found Pets, a fun app that mimics Dungeons & Dragons type character leveling with cute fluffy bunnies and all of your Facebook friends. I secretly feel rather lame liking this app so much. Partly because it’s such an obvious time-wasting sucker of an app and partly because it’s sponsored by Hot or Not which I feel is about as vain and vapid as the internet can get second only to some navel cam website.
However, as I’ve mentioned before, games have that awesome quality of being intrinsically motivating. The bunny levels up, gets new equipment that you can try on for better armor, more damage etc. Supposedly, there will be a way to pit your bunny in a heated battle against your friends’ bunnies soon. I need to be ready!
Go try out the Pets app and leave a comment here. Do you find it motivating? Are there qualities that keep you clicking or do you think it’s lame? I can’t stop wondering what qualities of such apps could be leveraged for learning and training. What if I was as motivated to learn some new piece of software or to study for an exam/certification? How can we integrate the fun of Pets into more valued learning?
This is amazing! You HAVE to go poke at this web trend map created by the folks over at Information Architects.
What is Web 2.0 in Business?
We all think of MySpace and Flickr when we hear “Web 2.0” and, of course, these apps can be used in business but only on a limited basis. They don’t necessarily increase productivity, efficiency, or help considerably expand a company’s reach or scope. When Web 2.0 is truly embraced in business it facilitates collaboration, breaks down office doors, unifies a mobile workforce, and, most importantly, blows the walls off a business to expand its reach exponentially. More on that later, though, let’s take a look and how businesses are embracing Web 2.0.
Research
In studies released in the last six months by Forrester, and McKinsey we get a pretty clear picture of the current use of Web 2.0. Here’s a boiled down version of each study to give you the groundwork:
In January 2007, McKinsey surveyed over 2800 C-level or higher executives to ask them about their companies’ investments in Web 2.0 technologies.
It’s interesting that these companies labeled web sites as Web 2.0 tools. Perhaps their hesitancy comes from a lack of understanding of the difference between the web they’re used to and what new tools have to offer? Also, businesses who labeled themselves as late adopters were the least satisfied with the impact that their Web 2.0 technologies had on their companies.
Links about this report:
In a study of 119 CIOs of employees with over 500 employees released in March, Forrester found that businesses who are hesitant about integrating Web 2.0 technologies in their companies felt so because they were wary of the lack of polish that most of the technologies currently have. 61% of the CIOs said that if a major vendor such as Microsoft or IBM were to release a suite of products they would be more likely to use them. What’s most peculiar about these findings is that it was the CIOs whose companies were using the technologies who were most adamant that the tools would be better if they were offered by a bigger vendor. In addition, a large part of the companies using Web 2.0 tools cited a “snow ball” effect in their use. In other words, when they began using one tool they saw a clear need for another tool and began integrating it as well.
Links about this report:
In Part II: The analysis. Why are companies Web 2.0 shy? What tools exist that would help business but aren’t being used?
All of the hubbub over Andrew Keen’s new book The Cult of the Amateur: How Today’s Internet is Killing our Culture has had me thinking. First, of course, I think he’s dead wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Have I mentioned that he’s wrong? Don’t take my word for it. Go listen to this great podcast interview with him to get a great synopsis of his arguments and commence your own screaming meemee.
Flashback to the weekend. In my head I’m wrestling the idea of the expert vs. the amateur as knowledge creator as I take my five year-old triplets to see . Here’s the basic story:
**warning: spoiler**
Remy the rat is infatuated with food and specifically with a famous (though deceased) French chef, Gusteau, who spouts “Anyone can cook!” in all of his cooking shows and in his famous cook book. Remy winds up in Paris, led by the ghost of Gusteau and to Gusteau’s famous restaurant now run by a tiny tyrant chef named Skinner who fights tooth and nail to prevent anyone from taking over his kitchen as he plots to sell out Gusteau’s name to a line of frozen dinners. By befriending and puppeteering a trash boy named Linguini, in the restaurant’s kitchen, Remy proves himself to be a naturally gifted chef. Meanwhile, as the restaurant enjoys its success, the evil food critic, Anton Ego (fitting name…you’ll see) whose scathing review of Gusteau’s restaurant may have caused his death, comes back to write another review. Remy and his army of rats man the kitchen after all of the humans have left due to finding out that Linguini can’t really cook and that a rat has really been the one to revitalize the failing restaurant. They serve Ego ratatouille, a “peasant dish” and he is transported to his childhood happiness, gives the restaurant an amazing review, and becomes a supporter of Remy. Meanwhile the restaurant is closed due to health code violations when the rats are discovered and all end up happily running their own restaurant with Ego as the contented owner and no longer a critic.
Somewhere in there is a love story, some fuss about Linguini’s lineage, and some other small side stories but you get the gist.
Here’s the point. Remy the rat is a perfect metaphor for the non-expert Web 2.0 knowledge maker. He has no credentials and must prove himself through his actual knowledge and application of knowledge rather than through credentials. Ego, who represents the established expert and seemingly feeds off of taking other experts down a notch, is transformed by a common product done very well and created by someone who would never be accepted by the establishment. Gusteau, the expert who leaves the ivory tower to encourage the common person, facilitates Remy’s entrance into the accepted creators category. Skinner, the expert of the kitchen, is left out in the dark, unemployed, and shamed due to his inability to accept that a non-expert could create something of worth.
What’s the moral of the story? Even without being an acknowledged expert on a topic, if you work hard to express your ideas in clever ways, you too can be respected for what you know. The fairy tale parts are Ego’s change and Skinner’s downfall. Will folks like Keen ever become secure enough to accept that there are people without his credentials who know something worthwhile? Will the so called “gatekeepers” of knowledge, such as Britannica, ever learn to leverage and value the contributions of common knowledge?
Check out the video that Media Sauce, the company I work for, created for Heinz Ketchup’s commercial contest.
Why do we like games? It’s not necessarily competition, cool graphics, or even escape. I would suggest that, above all, we like games because, unlike real life, there are set goals with set rewards. We know that if we defeat enemy X we’ll get new armor or a new ability or a sack of gold. We know that if we try hard enough we’ll get the recognition of reaching a new level of the game. How is this different from real life? Well imagine if your job as a game. You do the same tasks every day for the same rewards (pay check or keeping your job). Occasionally you may be presented with a new challenge but it’s probably the result of someone else’s failure or a new kind of task. The challenge probably isn’t being offered to you to encourage your growth or to increase your skills. As a game, your job would be a dismal failure, right?
Now imagine if your job was a good game. One structured to challenge you, give you goals with tangible rewards, in a system where you could see whether other folks are achieving their goals and whether they have new skills that will compliment your own efforts. Sounds too good to be true?
A recent post from 3pointD about Seriosity’s study of work and games has me thinking: “Today’s gamers are learning collaboration, self-organization, risk-taking, openness, influence, and how to earn incentives linked to performance and be flexible in the way they communicate.” I couldn’t agree more but I worry that the 18 year old who heads up his own guild in WOW, organizes huge raids, coordinates hundreds of people with a variety of important skills etc isn’t allowed to translate those skills in the work place or in his education. Is it possible to organize a company like a good game? Let’s imagine what that would be like by comparing elements from an RPG and how they would translate into the work place.
Creating a character
What if when you started a new job you were given a comprehensive battery of tests evaluating your aptitudes in a number of skills that are valued by your employer? For each skill there would be a score letting you know how your skill levels match up with certain responsibilities of your job, thereby pinpointing exactly the areas where you should endeavor to improve. These profiles would be available to everyone in the company for team building and project management. Need someone good at event planning? Look at the “company character sheets” and find someone whose planning aptitude is high and put them on the project.
I know, I can already hear the HR people screaming. How could we possible expose an employee’s weaknesses to the rest of the company? What kind of legal problems are we opening ourselves up to when we encourage this kind of transparency? I, for one, would be fine with the folks I work with knowing exactly what I’m good at and making use of those skills. I’d also be happy with them knowing that I’m working hard to improve other skills.
Raids
In an MMORPG you assemble a team of people with complementary skills. You know my looking at their profiles that they have certain abilities and that they’ve achieved specific levels of skill. As a leader, you know that the campaign you’re about to run will require certain skills and you can assemble a team of folks who can accomplish it. Some companies certainly do this but then politics get involved and unqualified people are put into teams and projects get muddled. The transparency of skills required to accomplish effective team building would, no doubt, expose people who aren’t qualified, but it could also motivate them to work hard to acquire new skills.
Leveling Up
You grind; you kill a hundred boring creatures to get that next level. Yes, but meanwhile you’re perfecting your efficiency at a specific skill. The tasks you must complete to (im)prove that mastery are clear and well defined. How is this different from the real world? Very different. You may work in a company where personal growth isn’t really valued, where learning new skills isn’t facilitated in the company so you’re left with floundering in a job you don’t like or trying to learn things on your own and then trying to let the powers-that-be at work know you’re good at something new. Standardized skill acquisition and a way to prove that you’ve learned them would stream line the process of promotions, team placement, and work assignments.
Is this kind of structure the future of business? I think so. As today’s gamer generation becomes tomorrow’s manager and entrepreneur I really hope they’ll translate the skills they’ve learned in games to the work place.
Reactions? Ideas?
Thanks to all the great pull technologies installed in my email, my RSS, and my desktop I’m finally starting to get a steady stream of great content delivered right to me on a regular basis. So here’s the best of what came to me this week. All worth a poke.
Happy Fourth of July!
Sometimes you can’t escape an idea. It comes at you from different directions, different sources, and beats you about the head until you give it some time. Lately, my bothersome idea has been how to make social media really work for internal business. It’s easy to talk about how handy blogs, wikis, instant messaging, forums etc are to business but encouraging their use is a much tougher nut to crack.
Here’s the scenario: A bright person at company X thinks “Hmm, if only we had an internal social network. Our employees would be able to collaborate from a distance, keep track of ideas, communicate easily, and feel like more of a community. I’ll build one! People will love it. They’ll thank me. I’ll be the hero of the day…maybe I’ll even get a raise or a party…” You know the story. So bright employee goes off, spends personal time setting up this amazing portal of internal info and then announces it in a grand way in a company-wide email inviting everyone to come participate and make their lives better.
At first a few people log on and express enthusiasm. Some documents are uploaded, some conversations get started and Mr. Bright Employee is hyped! Then over the next week or so things slow down and finally come to a grinding halt. No one is really making use of the tools. Why?
Suw Charman, in a recent talk at Google (video notes), listed off a few reasons this might happen:
Suw is totally right about these problems but how do we overcome them? After all, social software really isn’t social if no one uses it. Without engagement from a community, an online community is just an empty page. Suw offers some tips so be sure to go watch the video. I’m going to offer some others, though, that are a little different from what she lays out.
1. 1. Think about ALL users
Ask:
Don’t create a tool that suites some better than others. If you have creative, sales, marketing, etc and they all have different styles of thinking, different needs, and different workflows. Don’t implement a social tool until you’ve found one that will suit everyone.
Exigency is the word of the day! The community tool you build must offer something useful that employees can’t get anywhere else. If the info is redundant and already offered somewhere else that employees are already familiar with they’ll choose to stick with what they know rather than adopt a new tool.
Whether it’s a shared calendar, an instant message client, a wiki that provides crucial project info all in one place, your new social software must make folks feel that they’ll be left out if they aren’t involved.
3. Populate it before inviting folks to participate
Logging in to an empty wiki is intimidating. Create some direction for its use by pre-populating it with basic structure and information. Provide helpful directions that help users get up to speed quickly without the pressure of “doing it right.”
There are many other forms of social software to consider but those should give you a start.
4. 4. EVERYONE should be involved
A sure way to kill an internal community site is to ignore it or devalue it. Everyone from the top to the bottom of a company should be encouraged to use it. Excuses should not be tolerated even from CEOs. I’m not suggesting you try to force people to engage, but if CEO X says “This is great for our employees but I don’t have the time” he/she is making an excuse for the whole company not to participate. It goes back to the old “gotta eat your own dog food” saying. If the leaders won’t eat it I’m certainly not going to try it.
5. 5. Motivation is Key
Rewards! Everyone likes pats on the back, kudos…raises? We can’t think of internal communication efficiency as an optional component any more. It’s critical! And those in your company who ensure that it happens should be rewarded for helping the whole company succeed. Whether it’s a casual “shout out” at a company meeting, a reputation points system that marks helpful folks on the site, or a category in employee evaluations, you have to be sure that employees know that the company itself is paying attention to how the resource is used and that it values the participation in real ways.
Does your company use social software? How? Got any success stories? Failure stories? Tips? Leave them in the comments. Let’s get talking!
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