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Well I’ve been noodling [aka procrastinating] on this post awhile – given my recent interview with Inc. Magazine on selecting collaboration tools, though, I thought it was time…

For many of the organizations that I speak/work with regarding knowledge networks/communities of practice they have [or are planning on implementing] a collaboration software package with many slick bells and whistles but without a clear path and strategy for getting up and running – this often results in an empty knowledge landscape with little showing except for some bells and whistles strewn about.

Even in the CIO world it’s popular to say that collaboration and innovation isn’t about the software but what do you do in addition to buying software? 

The Iceberg in IT

The delimna I frequently witness is what I call the ‘Iceberg in IT’ conundrum.  Someone decided that people needed to collaborate more and told IT to implement a package that enables collaboration.  While a good software package is certainly a required step, I prefer to put it near last instead of first. 

Using the admittedly cliche and ubiquitous iceberg metaphor above, social software is simply the visible thing that enables collaboration to happen.  When IT is told to purchase it when there is no strategy to generate adoption, it will feel cold and barren [sorry - couldn't help it].  In order to truly affect how this can help people do their jobs there is a large amount of work that needs to done behind the scenes…hence the 7Cs of success:

• Capturing:  the notion of collaboration is foreign in many organizations so people often need to be shown what potential is there if they were to collaborate.  We always visit different geographic locations and capture [via video, audio, memory stick, etc.] what people are working on so that we can determine common topics and have some seed material to begin populating the software system.
• Connecting:  even software that’s designed to connect people will do little in that regard if left on its own.  People [especially when at the early phases] need some help connecting with one another – simple things like setting up bridge calls and facilitating conversations serve to build trust and awareness and provide nuggets of content that can be housed in the platform.
• Combining: in a dispersed organization you’re bound to find bits and pieces of similar work living in a great many places.  Helping the users combine that information using the wiki feature of a platform, for example, will show users the efficiency in working together while training them on what in the world a ‘wiki’ is.
• Contextualizing: the most effective collaboration initiatives will integrate members from an organization’s suppliers and customers and related academic institutions.  Translating that into compelling content that will make sense to your users will be critical in getting them to absorb and leverage it.
• Confirming:  similar to above, if you’re getting knowledge from various sources, care must be taken to ensure that what’s being provided is accurate information so that it can be acted upon.
• Circulating:  what good is the best information if no one knows about it?  The role of a community/network coordinator is essential in circulating news about what’s new, recent questions, etc.
• Communicating: having someone dedicated to getting the word out about the success stories in your knowledge network will go a long way in generating interest, excitement and ,of course, additional funds that will be necessary to continue operations.

Having an effective Web 2.0 collaboration platform at the center of this activity certainly will make it much easier to coordinate but the software alone [today's versions anyhow] will never replace the behind-the-scenes efforts required to start and sustain collaboration and innovation.

BusinessWeek just published an article about how groups around the world are preparing for the Knowledge Economy.

Notice the focus on the design of the physical space that they’re proposing and how that will help foster the necessary community that will be required for collaboration, learning and innovation.

Now I’m clearly a little biased in my support for this message – but that bias first came from all of the other sources that turned me on to this trend.

Using the ideas in the article, what can your organization do to prepare for the knowledge economy?  How can your workspace be configured to best support the way work happens?  How can you integrate the collaboration of your customers, suppliers and employees into the learning and innovation that will drive your organization forward?

At Dell Inc., a corporation that has scooped up many awards for its commitment to diversity, leaders understand the importance of fostering an affirming diversity climate. Thurmond Woodward, Dell’s VP of global diversity said, “We don’t want to focus only on representation, because representation without the right culture leads to a revolving door, and that is not what we were looking to do.”

Within the last fifteen years or so, the workplace has become increasingly diverse along dimensions such as race, gender, age, and nationality. Most business leaders recognize that, by introducing greater diversity into their organizations, they have the potential to gain a strong competitive advantage. At the same time, though, they recognize that this demographic shift is accompanied by pretty big challenges. In fact, organizational diversity doesn’t always work—merging people with different backgrounds and worldviews has the potential for both positive and negative outcomes. For example, diverse organizations have been associated with more effective problem-solving abilities and greater innovation, but also intergroup friction, higher turnover rates, and lower productivity.

What makes diversity work

In order to get the benefits of diversity and minimize its potential negative consequences, it’s not enough to simply implement a couple of diversity-related training programs. Becoming a truly successful multicultural organization requires starting at a deeper level. It requires cultivating a climate where people genuinely value diversity, rather than see it as a moral imperative or as a means of accessing wider markets.
After a yearlong assessment of their diversity climate, Dell put forward a variety of initiatives that would contribute to what they call a “cultural evolution.” These initiatives included sponsoring networking groups for different minority groups, career management programs, cross-cultural training for leaders and employees alike, and diversity focused recruiting. Their efforts were well worth the rewards –now, over half of their employees are minorities and they report higher levels of inclusion and identity freedom. Woodward states that, in terms of the bottom line, their climate has improved customer service experiences and powered their globalization effort.
Dell’s example highlights the fact that climate change is a difficult and long process and that, in order for it to be successful, business-leaders need a multipronged approach to diversity. Taylor Cox, a widely known author in organizational psychology and the founding father of the theoretical model of the multicultural organization, offers some suggestions towards this end. He argues that in order to make this transition into an organization that is truly multicultural and values diversity, efforts must be made in the following areas:

1. Leadership

When leaders become advocates for the importance of diversity, when they demonstrate how diversity is related to broader strategic objectives, and when they model the behaviors they wish to see in the organization, they can have profound effects on the diversity climate. This might mean that the CEO presents the results of a company-wide survey related to diversity issues, makes a video to be delivered to each unit in which he outlines his vision for diversity management, and kicks off and closes diversity seminars. Taylor boldly insists that strong leadership is the single most important element in managing diversity –this type of effort is “doomed to failure” if diversity officers and human resources staff are the only ones taking charge of it.

2. Continuous research and measurement of diversity-related matters

The creation of a diversity climate needs to be data driven. That is, organizations need to be able to diagnose the climate for diversity, measure progress, and tweak diversity initiatives accordingly. In my research, I’ve found evidence that, compared to white employees, racial minorities may have a more negative perception of the organizational climate for diversity. If this is the case in your organization, you may seek out the opinions of minority employees through surveys or focus groups, determine the reason for this perceptual gap, implement a solution, and importantly, continually collect data to monitor the situation.

3. Education

Cultivating an affirming diversity climate also requires an ongoing commitment to education on diversity. Note that this is different from a “one-shot” diversity-training program. These training programs can be used to develop specific communication and leadership skills as well as to help employees understand their responsibilities in the cultural change process. The important element here is that these programs are continually offered and available for employees.

4. Follow-Up

This component is linked to the research and measurement described earlier. It emphasizes that some form of accountability needs to be built into this cultural evolution. By holding quarterly meetings to assess the progress of diversity-related goals, providing incentives to managers and employees for these goals, and managing the sharing of knowledge about diversity efforts, accountability can be strengthened.

So these are the areas where attention should be focused, particularly as our economy is in a tailspin. Studies show that in times of economic instability, individuals go into a self-protective mode, isolating themselves and their socio-cultural group, and this may lead to an increase in workplace discrimination. During this recession, it is perhaps most important to be attentive to and nurture your company’s diversity climate to gain that competitive edge.

BusinessWeek just published an article that talks about incorporating people that aren’t formally part of your organization into it’s methods for innovating.  The article profiles a video game company that leveraged a fan-base on Facebook to create a new game – and along the way they slashed development costs and even a hired a few top coders.

This philosophy of ‘crowdsourcing’ will be critical as we get further into the knowledge economy.  I encourage organizations to assess who they count on for success and then develop strategies to incorporate all of those groups into their learning/innovation pipeline.  [Note: a value network analysis is a great tool to help visualize this.]

Who does your organization count on for success [i.e. suppliers, consultants, customers,...]?  How can you incorporate their insight and suggestions into your next big idea?

Talent Management Strategies 2009: Innovation to Impact

MIT Sloan Management Review has rebuilt their site using a Wordpress platform and is integrating two blogs within it – one of them focused on innovation.  This is a self-declared work in progress and they are seeking feedback in order to optimize it for their readers.  Go have a look and let them know what you think.

MIT SMR has produced some great material/thinking on approaches to learning, development, knowledge management, learning communities, new-hire integration, leadership development, workspace design and, of course, innovation.  This latest iteration of theirs displays an internal commitment to eat their own dog food.

Incidentally our entire site is built on Wordpress and we’ve really enjoyed its versatility as a Content Management System [CMS].  I’m looking forward to seeing the results of MIT’s new progressive efforts.