| 12/09/08 | | Social media demands honesty |
I spent a fair bit of Thursday at the Melcrum Strategic Communications Summit in Sydney, where one of our clients was presenting on the use of narrative in their manager development program, exploring their OCI results and embedding their new corporate values.
One of the other speakers told how their CEO started blogging internally (at the behest of the comms team). Initially, much of the blog content was written by the comms team...and surprise, surprise, no-one took any notice. It wasn't until the CEO started blogging about things like how he spent his weekend (at the Saints game with his son) that staff started reading his blog. The speaker correctly identified that people are not interested in the 'corporate speak' on the blog - it just isn't credible. And that it felt a little dishonest having the content done by the comms team.
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| 15/06/08 | | Internal blogging builds trust in leadership |
In a blog post of 9 June over on The Melcrum Blog, Abi Signorelli describes how leaders in her organisation were blogging internally and how trust in the leadership has increased tremendously as a result. Apparently some of them are even twittering.
We posted previously about the contribution of internal blogging to organisational culture change. Good to see more examples emerging. Are there any others out there?
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| 17/07/07 | | Converting your blog posts to wiki pages |
Today I worked out a neat hack to get our blog posts from Ecto into our wiki without having to reformat.
- Simply view the html of the blog post. In Ecto this mean clicking on the < > toggle at the bottom of the screen.
- Copy the html.
- Paste the html into HTML::WikiConverter and click “Convert HTML to wiki markup” and hey presto the wiki markup version appears.
- Copy the wiki markup version into your wiki.
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| 15/07/07 | | Blogging has a role in culture change |
Arjun Thomas has blogged a summary of a recent McKinsey Global Survey on 'How Businesses are using Web 2.0". The survey continues a theme that businesses are still shy about the use of blogs within the firewall, identifying a preference for tools supporting automation and networking.
In contrast, a report entitled 'The Blogging Revolution: Government in the Age of Web 2.0' describes how blogs are being used by members of Congress, governors, mayors and police and fire departments. It describes how the US Strategic Command (STRATCOM) has established a 'secure, real time blog' to connect generals and warfighters' which recognises that:
“the military has a wonderful axiom called the chain of command ... but the chain of information is not the chain of command.... When al Qaeda can outmaneuver you using Yahoo, we’ve got something wrong here”.
The use of blogs within STRATCOM to combat the strangling of information flows caused by traditional hierarchies is described as 'proving to be nothing less than an enormous cultural change'. And, of course, it is not just the military that are strongly bureaucratised and hierarchical.
Many organisations recognise the need for 'cultural change' to become more agile and resilient in the 21st Century. At the same time, some (many?) organisations continue to see blogging as a risk (as the McKinsey report indicates), perhaps because of the loss of control of information flows that blogging implies. The STRATCOM experience reinforces one of my strongly held beliefs; you can only change culture by changing your behaviour. This creates new stories that are told and re-told in the organisation. if organisations want better information flows and to be more agile and resilient, embracing blogging within the firewall provides a powerful demonstration of changed communication behaviour that can contribute to the desired culture change.
Thanks to Nerida Hart via actKM for the link to the second report.
Technorati Tags: CultureChange
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| 5/05/07 | | Leaders blogging |
I'm starting to see more leaders blogging. While working for a construction company at the moment I discovered that one of their general managers is posting a video to the division's blog every month. This is not a highly produced effort. More like a 6 minute talking head with a hand held handy cam. By all accounts people love it.
Rob Vertessy was, until recently, the Chief Scientist at CSIRO's Land and Water Division and is now the Chief Scientist - Hydrology at the Bureau of Meteorology. While at CSIRO he published a blog which you can take a look at here until someone decides to take it down. Rob had a clear policy for how he used the blog. Anything that was blogged represented an informal view and he wouldn't be held to account for anything that he wrote on the blog. Rob delivered official statements via email. The blog enabled Rob to talk about what he was doing and thinking. I hope he continues the practice at the Bureau of Met. As an aside, Rob was finishing his PhD when I was completing my honours. We both were working on geomorphological topics, Rob on tidal rivers in Northern Territory while I was working on the macro-tidal Ord River in Western Australia. Rob helped me make sense of all the mud I collected.
Technorati Tags: rob vertessy
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| 15/08/06 | | The first Australian government blog |
This might be a bold statement, but I think the Victorian Public Sector Continuous Improvement Network (VPSCIN) blog might be the first Australian government (federal or state) blog outside the firewall. Let me know if you are aware of an earlier examples.
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| 4/06/06 | | A dangerous meme is building in the boardroom about blogging |
“I hate paper and would never recommend my organisation use it because so many people just write absolute drivel using paper.” Sounds ridiculous? Well substitute ‘blog’ for paper and that’s an opinion I’m hearing from senior executives.
Hey, here’s the secret: blogging is only a technology, just like paper is a technology. Both technologies enable people to write and distribute their ideas. If we can set aside the nonsense that all blogging is self-indulgent twaddle, we can then highlight what blogging technology can do that paper cannot. A couple of points I would make to senior executives:
- it’s easier to find things written on a blog
- you can subscribe to a blog and receive your subscription instantaneously
- blogs promote linking among people and therefore encourage new social networks (this seems to be an attractive meme for executives)
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| 24/05/06 | | David Maister's latest article: Strategy Means Saying "No" |
I was flattered to read that David Maister recently quoted me in a recent article on strategy based on a comment I’d made on his blog. I was making a point about how the stories staff hear about senior management will only change if senior management acts in new ways worth retelling. These new stories then change the perceived needs and desires of senior management (see Art Kleiner’s idea on core group dynamics) which in turn affects the decisions made at the coal face. A modified culture emerges. Unfortunately its impossible to predict what exactly will unfold. Consequently its vital that leaders know which stories are being retold (use anecdote circles) and why people think they are significant (most significant change). It’s only by detecting the weak signals and adapting continuously can a productive work environment be maintained in the face of change.
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| 27/02/06 | | Malcolm Gladwell has a blog |
For those who enjoyed The Tipping Point and Blink you will be pleased to hear Malcolm Gladwell has a blog which will expand on aspects of his articles (found here) and other writings for the New Yorker. As he says:
I have come (belatedly) to the conclusion that a blog can be a very valuable supplement to my books and the writing I do for the New Yorker. What I think I’d like to do is to use this forum to elaborate and comment on and correct and amend things that I have already written.
And if you want to remember what you read in Blink and the Tipping Point, Malcolm has summarised the chapters (using Blink as an example) as a reading guide, provided a suggested reading list, and expanded bibliography.
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| 11/02/06 | | coComment - clear conversation in the blogosphere |
Now here is a great tool. Ever wanted to keep track of the comments you make on other people’s blog. Well coComment does just that. Add a bookmarklet to your browser and mark the comments as you make them. CoComment will tell you when someone has responded.
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| 26/11/05 | | Welcome to the blogosphere |
It’s great to see Michael Lissack join the blogosphere with his brand new blog called “He Wears His Own Glasses”.
Michael Lissack lectures on business and public policy at the CEU Business School in Budapest. He is also the director of the Institute for the Study of Coherence and Emergence (http://isce.edu) and a serial entrepreneur. Dr. Lissack is the author of a half dozen books (including the upcoming MBfAke), a noted Wall Street whistleblower, a frequent lecturer on ethics, and a successful real estate agent. He Wears His Own Glasses is Michael's own very direct view of the world.
I enjoyed his latest post on Thanksgiving, Ethics and Donald Trump … Knowing Michael, I’m sure he has a few surprises awaiting us…
Great stuff Michael!
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| 14/11/05 | | What makes a blog post worth commenting on? |
Something Shawn and I have chatted about is what makes a blog post worth commenting on. Having a browse through some of our most commented on blogs over the last year I must say I’m none the wiser…
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A unique presentation style 8 comments
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Don’t prepare – Just show up! 6 comments
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The problems with a dotmocracy 6 comments
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"Lessons learned" creates the wrong mindset 6 comments
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Combining a conference call, IM and a wiki 5 comments
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Metaphors for vrtual collaboration 6 comments
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Storytelling versus storysensemaking 4 comments
Shawn seems to think that blog posts that are ‘potato peeler’ blog posts are the ones which get the comments. In other words, blog postings which are common variety and able to meet many levels of experience can grab a comment. What do you think?
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| 6/11/05 | | Who's leading the stakes in the blogosphere? Women or Men? |
A recent profile on Women business bloggers only listed about 5 women business bloggers. I was sure there must be more, and I was also curious whether women bloggers are the quiet achievers in the blogosphere…So using a tool which can value blogs I thought it would be fun to look at where women stand compared to a couple (*) of leading male bloggers: Tom Peters and Seth Godin. The results seem pretty clear….
|
Blogger |
Blog Value |
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$8,468.10 | |
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$29,920.62 | |
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$84,116.46 | |
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$84,116.46 | |
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$98,794.50 | |
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$175,571.94 | |
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$221,864.22 | |
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$337,030.38 | |
|
$360,741.06 | |
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$576,959.88 | |
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$657,124.56 | |
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$1,454,819.58 | |
|
$2,889,315.72 |
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| 5/11/05 | | Share a story - March of Dimes story |
Whenever someone asks me ‘who is doing something really interesting with blogging?’ I point them to the March of Dimes’ Share Your Story website. Share is a place for parents whose newly born child is having problems to share their experiences and gain support from a community of people going through similar circumstances.
Nancy White and Lee LeFever have written a case study of Share’s development. Some key points which were reinforced for me in this study include:
- careful attention to community nurturing is the centrepiece—for example, not wishing to over influence the discussion yet wanting to protect the group from misinformation by moderators reading each post.
- listening to the group and adapting the moderator model from mostly hands-off to being interactive and a participant.
- creating the conditions where the community managed itself
- everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler (well said Einstein)
- blogging is a natural online way to collect stories
- stories are powerful
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| 21/10/05 | | Are companies in Australia blogging? |
A quick question for everyone. Are you aware of any Australian companies who are blogging inside the firewall? I’m working with a mid-sized professional service firm to introduce blogging and we were wondering whether other Australian companies were doing anything in this space.
Love to hear your thoughts.
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| 12/10/05 | | Corporate blogging - useful paper from Intelliseek and Edeman |
Andrew and I are helping an Australian professional services firm introduce blogging. As part of the business case we’ve been searching for examples of other Australian companies who are blogging but to no avail—any help here would be greatly appreciated. In my search, however, I came across this paper by Edeman (communications firm-I think that means advertising agency) and Intelliseek (market intelligence). It’s an excellent resource for anyone proposing a corporate blogging initiative.
[thanks to NevOn for the link]
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| 9/08/05 | | IBM and Sun build their blogging approach |
B.L. Ochman compares IBM’s and Sun’s blogging policies.
It is interesting to note how IBM developed their approach:
The core principles — written by IBM bloggers over a period of ten days using an internal wiki — are designed to guide IBMers as they figure out what they're going to blog about so they don't end up like certain notable ex-employees of certain notable other companies. … this isn't a policy that IBM is imposing upon us — it is a commitment that we all have entered into together.
Wikis are a fabulous tool for collaborative document building. I now co-create proposals with my clients using a wiki.