Was New York City 2.0
Monday: November 5, 2007 7:44 AM
The one thing I learned last week in New York City is that you do not cross the Hudson River unless your horn works. The horn is basically an indicator that I am going to go through that intersection regardless if you are standing there or not. I will also say that every New Yorker we talked to was kind and considerate to us.
I had the opportunity to address a group of technologists on the merits of moving toward Enterprise 2.0 on a personal, organizational, and enterprise level. One of sad stories was where an individual tried to press for the creation of a wiki in order to handle naming conventions within his own organization. His management knocked the idea in favor of the 1970 techniques of traditional data management. I asked him if this manager actually held himself accountable to specific metrics or deliverables or hid behind the veil of corporate speak. In other words, did he or his team produce roadmaps, game plans, or specific metrics that he could be held accountable? The answer was clear in his body language so I didn’t force him to come clean.
Make no mistake about it; the number one enemy of openness will be those that have thrived in controlling the message. While we may focus our attention on the lawyers or executives, the end game will be controlled by middle management. Organizations will either be controlled by the tyrants of communication or they will become open and expose the very value they create. Yes, many will fail and many will fall. I heard story after story of corporate culture getting in the way of progress. For every example I had of success, the group seemed to have two stories against progress. Sad, stupid, and pathetic but what can you expect from organizations can continue to shrink. Overall, the message was heard and I can only hope that some percentage of attendees will make the changes either in their professional development or within their own organizations.
The one thing I learned last week in New York City is that you do not cross the Hudson River unless your horn works. The horn is basically an indicator that I am going to go through that intersection regardless if you are standing there or not. I will also say that every New Yorker we talked to was kind and considerate to us.
I had the opportunity to address a group of technologists on the merits of moving toward Enterprise 2.0 on a personal, organizational, and enterprise level. One of sad stories was where an individual tried to press for the creation of a wiki in order to handle naming conventions within his own organization. His management knocked the idea in favor of the 1970 techniques of traditional data management. I asked him if this manager actually held himself accountable to specific metrics or deliverables or hid behind the veil of corporate speak. In other words, did he or his team produce roadmaps, game plans, or specific metrics that he could be held accountable? The answer was clear in his body language so I didn’t force him to come clean.
Make no mistake about it; the number one enemy of openness will be those that have thrived in controlling the message. While we may focus our attention on the lawyers or executives, the end game will be controlled by middle management. Organizations will either be controlled by the tyrants of communication or they will become open and expose the very value they create. Yes, many will fail and many will fall. I heard story after story of corporate culture getting in the way of progress. For every example I had of success, the group seemed to have two stories against progress. Sad, stupid, and pathetic but what can you expect from organizations can continue to shrink. Overall, the message was heard and I can only hope that some percentage of attendees will make the changes either in their professional development or within their own organizations.
