1. VALUE AT ALL COSTS THE PERSONAL IMPACT OF SOCIAL COMPUTING
2. PEOPLE AS NOT RESOURCES TO BE EXPLOITED
3. REALIZE THAT THE CROWD IS NOT ALWAYS RIGHT
Those would be my first three statements in a code for the new Enterprise 2.0 practitioner. Why do we need a code? Because the implications of social computing go far beyond a piece of technology. The personal nature of social computing means we have a moral responsibility.
Being at the beginning of Enterprise 2.0 means that we will undoubtedly see several failures in addition to the triumphs. A Code (built through collaboration of course) will help the advancement of Enterprise 2.0 as a discipline.
I was reminded of the awesomeness of the impact we can have during a discussion over coffee with Jevon MacDonald of firestoker.com. Jevon and I shared stories of our experiences in social computing as practitioners and lessons learned. Both of us had experiences which started with an ambitious objectives in the earlier years that produced results very different than what we were hoping to achieve.
The BIG lesson though wasn't about "being overly ambitious / progressive goals with social computing", or even "how to be successful in an Enterprise 2.0 implementation". The BIG lesson was that the beliefs, thoughts, ideas of individuals was more than just data and information. It was a representation of themselves personally. Depending on the topic at hand, the implications are that 'heated comments, critics, rants, and worse' bcome personal attacks. These could have long lasting and severe implications.
I am however, more than ever, a huge proponent of the positive aspects of Enterprise 2.0 having witnessed amazing results in both a cultural sense and a business value perspective. My point isn't to scare people away, it's to remind all of us practitioners that we're dealing with more than just some interesting technology. We're dealing with people. That's just background on the first statement, I'll talk to the other two statements in future blogs but I really would love to hear your thoughts.
Are you a practitioner?
What do you think of such a code?
What lessons have you learned?
What other 'rules' would you add?
6 comments:
Rex:
#3 is very important. Google "wikiality"...it's from the Colbert Report where Steven delights in the fact that facts are malleable and if enough people believe something it is true.
I'm writing a white paper right now on the challenges of Net Generation is one of them...Facebook is a wonderful app, but some people are checking it 20 times per hour.
Regards:
Mike
www.wikinomics.com/blog
Rex,
Perhaps a corollary to your Number 2 would be "2a. RELATIONSHIPS ARE NOT RESOURCES TO BE EXPLOITED."
Dennis
Hi Rex,
I'm new to this, highly interested though.
If Wikinomics / Enterprise 2.0 is to have significant and actual impacts, rather than merely be a collection of debating points, there needs to be some focus on collective action, in line with a vision and a set of objectives.
I have focuses of improving UK education, employment, innovation and health, for example, but still need to work towards how I can actually do that in the most effective way.
Your views appreciated,
Peter.
P.S.
Trust you are asking such interesting questions on the LinkedIn Q&A facility.
Regards, Peter.
P.S.
Trust you are asking such interesting questions on the LinkedIn Q&A facility.
Regards, Peter.
Thanks for the comment Peter. Moving from the theory to the practical is where we will see the fruits of social computing. Getting there however is a challenge a lot of consideration around the concepts of (motivation, opportunity and capability) need to be taken into consideration. In my professional life, we spend a great deal of time on these concepts before launching into any UGC events or application development. The build it and they will come is incorrect and not only that, can cause more "damage" than good.
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