With all the hype created by the Internet, it’s easy to forget that web technology rarely creates something new. It enables people to do the things they’re already doing, but do it more effectively. So in many cases, successfully utilizing web technology doesn’t require technical knowledge alone; it requires a commitment to accomplish a business goal.
In the web world, the winners aren’t those with technology—because everyone has access to the same tools—success is driven by leaders who focus on a business goal and understand how to use technology to achieve it.
Amazon didn’t create an interest in buying books; it allowed the transaction to be more efficient. And people were finding buyers for stuff they no longer wanted before craigslist came along. Jeff Bezos and Craig Newmark didn’t create the need; they had insights into how to use web technology to meet the need more effectively.
Of course, this increased effectiveness can be transformative. Amazon not only trashed the model by which books were sold, produced and inventoried, it created an opportunity for the company to gain unprecedented customer insight and sell more than books. And then trash other companies’ business model. Craigslist evaporated newspapers’ classified advertising revenue, causing them to lose a crucial source of profit and accelerated their decline in the digital era.
One of the most hyped benefits for the latest Web trend—social media—is the competitive advantage being gained by companies that embrace innovation through collaboration.
There is no doubt that social media delivers important business benefits, and it’s important to understand the technology such as wikis and social networking that allow collaboration to take place more effectively.
But we can’t forget that, just as people bought books before Amazon appeared, some companies have always innovated through collaboration, and enjoyed a competitive advantage as a result. And they didn’t do it because of technology; they did it because they had leaders who established a culture of collaboration, and saw past the risks of allowing their employees to engage with each other and focused instead on the benefits.
While preparing a recent webinar on integrating social media into an intranet strategy, I was reminded of one such company I visited in the mid-90s while working as a magazine editor. It was a new entrant into an established vertical, and had succeeded in introducing disruptive technology well ahead of the established players.
The visit finished on a Friday afternoon, so we were invited to participate in their weekly “beer day,” when one department bought beer for the company. I complimented the CEO on allowing his people time to relax, and he responded by saying it was all about facilitating collaboration, observing that their meeting rooms were usually booked on Monday because teams of engineers realized they were working on projects that could benefit from knowledge sharing. No wiki needed, just old school silo-erosion through socializing.
One of the key findings emerging from Prescient’s Intranet 2.0 Global Survey is that some of the main barriers to implementing Intranet 2.0 is securing executive support and complying with corporate policies. For example, leaders who ban Facebook because they think it allows staff to goof off, or Legal Departments that won’t allow blogs because staff may say something inappropriate.
It’s not hard to imagine how these same groups would react to “beer day”: don’t allow it because an engineer might drink too much and say something rude, or the company could incur liability from drinking and driving.
For those who grasp the business benefits for Intranet 2.0 but struggle to figure out how best to introduce them to their company, rather than trying to choose the right technology, maybe they should ask if their CEO would buy the company a beer. If the answer is no, sharpen the argument on business benefits and get ready to focus on cultural change, not technology selection.
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