A Loud Shout-out to the Newest Bzzzzzzword :: Social Business Design
This has been a common conversation for me over the last 5 years or so…
Most People: What is it that you do again?
Me: I help companies operate and compete in a knowledge-based economy.
Most People: Huh?
Me: I work with companies on their learning,development, knowledge management, innovation, marketing, HR and other processes to help them do business now – which is much different than how businesses have ever operated in the past.
Most People: [blank stare]
Me: I’m a consultant.
Most People: Oh…I know what they do.
Although the above is exaggerated I’m not naive enough to think that the label ‘Social Business Design’ will cause the conversation to be too 
much different than it is now – but I strongly applaud the team at Dachis Group for coining the term and providing a rallying cry for a whole industry [software suites, authors, consultants, etc.] of folks that will contribute to transforming organizations for a landscape that has no boundaries and relies on relationships, ideas, conversations, knowledge and all things intangible.
Social Business Design may become the next buzzword but I think it’s a simple yet eloquent and descriptive term for the results required to compete in a knowledge-based economy. So much so that we’re incorporating it in our communication about Orbital RPM’s offerings.
And while I lend credit to Dachis Group and Altimeter Group for energizing this arena I also thank and credit the following fields for their work in what I feel provides the foundation for a transformation to operating socially [representative honorees shown in brackets - there are way too many to list]:
- Social Network Analysis [i.e. Rob Cross/Cross Networks Analytics, Valdis Krebs]
- Value Network Analysis [i.e. Verna Allee, Value Networks and team]
- Systems Thinking [i.e. Peter Senge/Pegasus Communications, iSee]
- Industrial/Organizational Psychology [i.e. Kurt Kraiger]
- Organizational Design [i.e. Peter Drucker]
- Scenario Planning [i.e. Art Kleiner]
- Organizational Learning/Knowledge Management [i.e. Etienne Wenger, John Seely Brown, Jay Cross]
- Leadership Development [i.e. Reg Revans, Steve Kerr, Michael Marquadt]
- Workspace Design [i.e. Frank Becker, Charlie Grantham, Jim Ware, Camille Venezia]
- Innovation [Peter Skarzynski, Rowan Gibson, Clayton Christensen]
- Social Marketing [i.e. Charlene Li, Peter Kim]
- Social Software developers/vendors
Combining insights from these [and other] fields brings a comprehensive solution to organizations wanting to become social businesses. The timing is right to combine the best of what’s new [i.e. web 2.0 & social marketing] with age old approaches [i.e. communities & action learning] that will help with this transformation.
This is what we’ve been doing for the last 5 years. Now we have a name for it.
[...] the original: A Loud Shout-out to the Newest Bzzzzzzword :: Social Business Design By admin | category: management consultants | tags: become-more, business-now, [...]
Wonderful energetic post Jacob! Great to see your extensive honors list as there is so much that SBD in its current form can learn from these fields to make it a truly amazing movement. Looking forward to swapping notes with you again in future!
Thank you Marigo! Hope to cross paths in the future as it seems we have very similar philosophies.
Nicely summarized, Jacob.
I’d argue, however, that you’ve omitted the field of Organizational Development (OD) and some of the grandfathers and grandmothers of that arena (although you could probably argue that it is a cross-disciplinary amalgam of systems thinking, ind./org. psychology, organizational learning, organizational design and leadership and management development).
The principles engendered in these disciplines have been in evolution for at least the last 50 years, IMHO.
On a tangential note, I’d love to learn what you think of the concept of ‘wirearchy’ as an emergent organizing principle for the interconnected-and-networked Information Age.
Thank you Jon. Wanted to point out that OD is in the list above [between I/O & Scenario Planning] although if you feel other honorees should be included I’d be happy to put them in as an edit.
Re: wirearchy I had heard the term but don’t know much about it. In my brief search spurred by your comment the elements I read certainly make sense as a goal for social business. What I wonder about is the timeframe and feasibility for an organization to truly make that shift.
That said, it’s certainly something to shoot for – it appears you’re a pioneer in this field so I look forward to your continued insight on it.
Hi again, Jacob. Well, I have been know to be pedantic, so here goes
There’s OD as Organizational Design, and then there’s OD as Organizational Development. Of course the two inform each other.
I think I’d argue that the field of Organizational development encompasses or has spawned some of the the areas of activity you cite above, hence my attempt to be politically correct by noting that (as i see it) OD (Organizational development) is a cross-disciplinary amalgam .. etc.
What I wonder about is the timeframe and feasibility for an organization to truly make that shift.
Very good point.
I (and others) are on record as saying we believe that the full-scale transitions / transformations we believe will happen will take quite a long time.
And, I want to emphasize that I definitively am not calling for an end to hierarchy, but rather a re-interpretation of its uses and dynamics in an interlinked and networked ecosystem of participation.
Good points on OD.
Re: wirearchy I look forward to learning more about it. Apologies for the cynicism in the quote you cited above – it’s good to have a long-term vision such as wirearchy…my comment was left at the end of a long day on a client site and it was tough to imagine it at that point:)
Jacob, great post. (And thanks for the plug.) Hard to believe our unworkshop together was only three and a half years ago!
While I agree with the convergence of viewpoints, I don’t know that Social Business Design will be the term of choice to describe it. In Enterprise 2.0, Andy McAfee is stridently against using “social” with business people because it implies party more than performance. Let’s cook up a new term.
Happy New Year.
jay
Thanks for the note Jay.
The “social” dilemma is an interesting one – I respect Andrew McAfee’s position on it but don’t yet take it as gospel. There are companies such as Jive Software that are so confident in social that it’s baked into their main product and tagline and they’re doing pretty darn well with it.
On the other hand I honestly don’t think “social” encopasses all of the aspects that are changing in business today. I think ‘intangible’ is more accurate but way less sexy.
Ultimately I don’t care much except for our own tagline which is easy to change; the work we’re doing is still marching forward and when a term is finally determined we’ll happily fall in line.