I am reading a lot about social business design lately, and what it is all about.
And I am seeing so many people say “the tools are unimportant” or “the tools do not matter” when talking about designing the social business, and stop apologising for this.
This is just not true!
If an organisation thinks that social media tools are not important, then what chance do they ever stand of being a social business?
If it was not for the tools, we would not be having the conversations we are now having, and social business design as a concept would not have been crafted by The Dachis Group and furthered by David Armano.
‘Tools’ like facebook, twitter, linkedin, and youtube for the individual – which have spawned a whole raft of more commercially sensible tools like yammer, jive, confluence and social text are vitally important to social business design.
Why?
It is these tools that have made the discussions about a more social, connected and collaborative business more mainstream. Without these tools, social business design would be all about networking, communication, corporate social responsibility and workplace design. These subjects have been topical, and there have been numerous successful implementations of these tools over the past 20 years int he workplace…and they have made business more social, in their own special way (the watercooler is still the most effective of these tools).
The ‘tools’ we speak of are what have caught the general populations imagination, and what have spurned a more open and more conversational way of doing business…
If the tools were not important – then you would not see the fundamental shift in human behaviour like captured in this article at Metarand on game mechanics.
I think what we need to accept is that the tools ARE important. They are not the answer alone, nor are they what the conversation about social business design should be centred around…but like Carl Moggeridge said here…social business before social media is where the conversation is at.
What I want to know is what tools or techniques can be used to make businesses more ’social’
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I agree Luke… the tools are important, but they are not the answer. This is from a man who quite likes the tools, but I am also very wary of them. They can reduce us to a machine like state. A world of terminals and false interactions. At times, I admit to the worrying trend of ‘distraction’, a permanent state of hyperlink – moving from one cloud to the next. According to research it can take up to almost 30 minutes to a return to a task once you have responded to that growl, IM, email or facebook alert.
At those moments when I feel more machine than man, I try to return to Ireland. Ireland is a place that has marked me forever. It has been the backdrop to my coming of age (a year in Dublin), happy moments with my family (holidays in Kerry), and where I met the girl I hope to spend the rest of my life with (if she’ll have me!).
The door is always open in Ireland, although, this may have more to do with my name than the politeness of Celtic folk; type Martin Cahill into Google and you will see what I mean. I haven’t always liked Ireland though. In fact, I used to hate it when I was younger. A trip to Ireland typically meant cold rain, scary aunts who would plant those sloppy kisses on your cheek, and extended stays in Kate’s (the local pub). My patience (at the age of 8 or 9) was bought with Club Orange, Tayto crisps and coins for the pool table. These days I visit Kate’s for the same reason my Dad did before. The Guinness is great, yes, but more than that – it’s the conversation. Local farmers walk through the door and into the warmth of Kate’s bar. The atmosphere can sometimes be quiet. Subdued even. There is no hurry to engage in wit and banter. Sometimes a period of reflection is the first order.
Kate also maintains a kitchen behind the bar. I don’t know how she does it, but she can go back there and within a few minutes provide a plate of steaming hot stew, potatoes and veg. Most surprising, is the customer did not even ask for it, but they certainly welcome it. Kate then communicates events from the day. What has been said by Farmer Connolley and the latest prices from the mart. She is a knowledge hub. An RSS feed in traditional Irish style. Another customer arrives and the conversation continues. A community of neighbours all ready to highlight changes in the market, economy, and even the weather. The local radio sits in the corner relaying the local news and the death list (those who have recently passed and the time of the mass and burial). Comment is passed, drinks are finished and people are back on their way. Back out to the land. Back to practice.
Kate’s bar – A Social Business … And the only piece of technology in sight – the radio.
The experience was reflected in London some time ago. It was my first visit to the Apple Store. As I walked through the door teenagers were typing and clicking on the new range of Mac laptops and iMacs on display. They were emailing and facebook’ing. To my right was a genius bar. A whole workbench of Mac geeks ready to fix your machine or answer your Mac related questions. I walked up the stairs and entered a creative zone. A place where photographers and movie-makers could learn and share tips in relation to their creative pursuits. Further along was a lecture theatre. A speaker was clicking through the latest features of iWork. Some were listening, others were posting online, networking, thinking.
Apple Store – A Social Business? … Technology is on sale, but the centre-piece is people and knowledge.
To be social ultimately means to breathe. If we adopt technology, it is to make more of our life offline, and ultimately to improve the chances of serendipity. It is not another weapon in the capitalists armory. It is not a function, that if used to best affect, puts you ahead of the rest. The truly social businesses had that one figured years ago.
http://martincahill.wordpress.com/2009/10/01/alternative-business-john-connolley
Martin Cahill
@mcahill
Martin…thanks for this super comment and analogy of a social business! I so adore your synopsis of Ireland, and the comment about the radio being the only technology. In contrast, the Apple store also seem to get this…just on a different scale! We live in interesting times – but so much of what was important in the past is coming to be important again!
I love Martin’s comment too – it’s all about the tools to the extent that they bring community and serendipity back into our lives. Luke I couldn’t help but think when reading Martin’s comment that the growing tribe at Northside Coffee Mornings (http://nscm.posterous.com) is analagous to Kate’s local pub in Ireland that Martin is so fondly remembering. Martin puts it well when he says that we should adopt these technologies to “make more of our life offline, and ultimately to improve the chances of serendipity. ” It also reminds me of my personal example of community and serendipity from using these tools, which I blogged about here:
http://tonyhollingsworth.wordpress.com/2008/11/02/you-should-be-on-twitter-creating-serendipities-and-building-community/
Cheers,
Tony Hollingsworth