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“What is essential is invisible.”

There’s a lot of talk going on these days about how businesses need to embrace their social nature and intangible elements in order to compete [see Enterprise 2.0, Social Business Design, etc.]. The reason being that very few businesses produce anything tangible and even those that do still rely on a complex web of relationships, ideas, insight, brand, collaboration and leadership in order to do it.

This evolving understanding of the business landscape reminds me of man’s understanding of a different scape >>> space.

Until recently it was believed that our Universe of visible stuff [planets, stars, comets, gas, etc.] would continue expanding for a bit and then begin to recede. But the data didn’t agree. The expansion of the universe was actually found to be accelerating at a rate that means it will continue to expand eternally.

What’s behind this mystery? Dark matter and dark energy. Their presence is required in order to explain the behavior of the objects in space that we can see. The same is true for the networks and intangibles in organizations.

Dark matter is described as being “undetectable by its emitted radiation, but whose presence can be inferred by gravitational effects on visible matter.” Sounds like office politics to me.

Seriously, though, dark matter and dark energy are true forces with which to be reckoned. Estimates are that they make up about 95% of the known universe as the chart here shows.

Scientists were recently able to visualize these forms of matter and energy through what I’m sure is some pretty basic math [not]. What they produced was both eye-opening and jaw-dropping. It shows what was previously invisible and is allowing them to better understand it and its effect on us.

The picture here shows a lonely Hubble [to the lower left] as it peers out into the distance and sees massive clusters of galaxies [the bright spots in the image] surrounded by enormous globs of dark matter.

The ability to see these formations as well as analyze the data that comprise them allows scientists to better understand how the Universe works and how our role in it can be affected.

Until recently most organizations focused just on visible things [products, materials, warehouses, property, etc.] in order to operate and compete. The problem was that only focusing on tangible things left out the major driving forces of business today [i.e. relationships, ideas, knowledge, brand, etc.].

And just as scientists needed to be able to *see* dark matter and dark energy in order to measure and understand it, we too need ways of visualizing the critical elements of organizational performance in order to affect it in the new business landscape. Enter Organizational Network Analysis and Value Network Analysis - two tools designed to see how organizations really operate today.

An Organizational (aka Social) Network Analysis reveals the social fabric of an organizations and, depending on the question asked, can show us who people go to for information, which geographic locations that may be out of the loop, where holes may develop as a result of succession planning, and countless other scenarios.

The image here is the actual output from one of our clients with global operations. Dots=people; lines=information flow. Just knowing that you can see that there is no information flowing from site to site – it all comes through corporate. Not being able to see this as well as analyze the data behind it wouldn’t allows us to create and execute on a strategy to save money, reduce rework, increase innovation, etc.

A Value Network Analysis shows us how work really gets done from more of a process perspective. The key differentiator is that a VNA includes both the tangible [i.e. reports, deliverables, communications] as well as intangible [i.e. credibility, confidence, brand, etc.] elements that are required for success in business today.

The image here is another real example from a global client. There were several departments at headquarters whose collective objective was to support the activities of various global sites but they had never been able to visualize how their activities were affecting the sites. The VNA revealed that despite their best intentions, the sites [the oval on far left; mid-way up vertically] were not receiving the intended support and allowed us to create a strategy that coordinated and focused these activities into a process that reduced workload and better supported stakeholders in the field.

The topics of Social Media, Social Networking, Enterprise 2.0, etc. are all the buzz these days. There’s even a raging debate on whether to include the word ’social’ [my opinion is that 'intangibles' is more inclusive/accurate than social but not nearly as sexy]. Scratch the surface, though, and much of these discussions revolve around technology. I’m the first to admit that there are some pretty slick tech offerings out there to help organizations operate in this new landscape but to implement them correctly there must be a comprehensive understanding of the whole environment.

So just as scientists have leveraged Hubble and some wicked math to learn about how our Universe is structured and therefore how we can play in it, businesses must have a deep understanding of their culture, ecosystem, processes, people, etc. before launching any of these social [intangible] initiatives. So…what does your organization really look like? Can you illustrate the invisible forces that are truly determining your path?

Microsoft’s line of videos about business collaboration are well done and inspire a lot of thought about the possibilities of the new networked business landscape.  What they make me wonder though is which product are they espousing be used for this purpose?

Although it’s flying off the shelves, SharePoint is known to be strong when documents are the central focus – this creates space in the market for SharePoint’s Featured Partners who extend the functionality to support communities of practice, knowledge networks, innovation and more.

As I look at these after-market products as compared to the potential that collaboration and learning communities can bring to an organization I have to wonder how long it will take before one is just gobbled up and integrated right into SharePoint?

One of our projects now is hung up in IT due to our desire to use a SharePoint plug-in ASP provider with Community of Practice functionality – it’ll be nice when all of this comes in one ‘box.’

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.

Orbital RPM’s Founder and President was interviewed and featured in Inc. Magazine’s article on leveraging collaborative technologies within an organization.

…How can you tell which of the many new tools is the best fit for your organization? The key is carefully analyzing the needs of the employees, says Jacob McNulty, president of Orbital RPM, a Denver consulting firm that helps companies improve collaboration. “Too often, firms get caught up looking for the newest feature rather than spending the time to understand the problem they’re trying to solve,” he says. “And, if you don’t get buy-in from your users, that will lead to a waste of time and money.”…

Read the full interview on Inc.com

Web 2.0 Expo

Customers today are quickly becoming accustomed to connecting with their favorite brands, suppliers, vendors and anyone else they interact with commercially as opposed to being just the receiver of messages as they were only a few years ago.

The diversification of marketing strategies has become profound with the explosion of the social networking phenomenon.  Consumers have high expectations to engage with an organization as they provide feedback and are frustrated when they don’t receive a response.  In today’s connected world, delivering a strong marketing message requires listening to the consumers first. 

Orbital RPM designs and implements progressive solutions for customer communities, brand marketing, brand monitoring and competition monitoring.  We execute on a social marketing plan that allows you to not only hear the voice of your customers, but participate in an on-going dialogue with them.

Key components of this solution are the following services:

• Scenario Planning
• Value Network Analysis
• Knowledge Management
• Organizational Design
• Knowledge Infrastructure
• Social Software

Innovation requires a steady stream of ideas within a governed structure that filters, vets, advances and integrates those ideas based on the strategies and goals of the organization.  In practice most innovations succeed in spite of the odds due to the lack of a coordinated idea generation process and an infrastructure to support its throughput.  Serendipity is nice but you don’t want it in your strategic plan.

Orbital RPM’s innovation management solution allows organizations to enhance and oversee an active pipeline of diverse ideas, while establishing standard processes and procedures for executing on the ones most critical to your strategy.  Our comprehensive approach helps determine areas to focus idea generation, equips your workforce with the knowledge and skills to innovate, designs the process to get ideas flowing through collaboration, and defines the execution process.

The result is an organization that enjoys a steady pipeline of ideas proactively targeting customer needs and improving business processes critical to organizational performance.  Be it operational excellence, new product development or process improvement – we incorporate all facets of the business.  Key components of this solution are the following services:

• Scenario Planning
• Social Network Analysis
• Value Network Analysis
• Knowledge Management
• Organizational Design
• Content Delivery
• Coaching
• Social Software
• Innovation Architecture

True development results in lasting changes in mindset and behavior that allow a person to perform more effectively.  Too often traditional leadership development programs rely on an approach that does not produce change while delivering content that does not align with the leadership skills required for the workforce of today and tomorrow.

Orbital RPM’s leadership development solution utilizes the most effective methods for developing leaders and embeds the competencies required for leading in the information age such as managing value networks, mentoring innovation and knowledge transfer.  We leverage action learning as the foundation for our development process and then layer it with a competency profile customized for leading in a networked world.

The result is leaders that have the skills to lead your organization into the knowledge economy along with critical, tangible organizational improvements they have implemented while on their learning journey.

Orbital RPM’s Leadership Development solution is built to integrate with broader Talent Management initiatives such as succession planning, retention or compensation programs.  Key components of this solution are the following services:

• Scenario Planning
• Personal Assessments
• Social Network Analysis
• Value Network Analysis
• Action Learning
• Content Delivery
• Social Software
• Coaching

Learning for the workforce of today and tomorrow requires easy access to necessary information.  Whether that information comes from a co-worker a supplier or training is irrelevant.

Orbital RPM’s Organizational Learning solution gets the right information into the right heads at the right time.  The ability to access and transfer information just-in-time is critical to learning and to an organization’s success in a knowledge economy.  Organization’s perform better when people find what they need.

Providing employees easy access to the knowledge critical to their performance gives them the agility that the self-directed learners of today desire. Including the entire organizational value network in the learning process circulates information to potential and current customers as well as suppliers and prepares them to interact with your organization while allowing you to learn from them. 

Orbital RPM specializes in state-of-the-art learning methods and technologies and we embed them within the daily practices of your entire value network.:

• Social Network Analysis
• Value Network Analysis
• Knowledge Management
• Content Delivery
• Organizational Design
• Incentive Alignment
• Social Software
• Knowledge Infrastructure

New-hires walk in with a fresh view of your organization and an intrinsic motivation to contribute to it immediately.  Replace paperwork and videos with an approach to on-boarding that gets people productive in, and excited about, their new role.

Orbital RPM’s new-hire integration solution helps organizations make orientation an experience that gives new-hires the ability to succeed.  We develop customized on-boarding processes that prepare, energize, integrate and retain the newest members of your team.

Rapid on-boarding requires that new-hires are both educated on critical aspects of their new role as well as quickly integrated into the broader networks within which they will be interacting.  Orbital RPM’s progressive approach to orientation incorporates two main elements;  real-world cross functional assignments that require input from throughout the organizational network  and information distribution over an appropriate timeframe so it arrives when it is needed.

A well planned new-hire integration process has been proven to increase productivity and retention.  By showing an upfront commitment to them and to learning, new-hires will be confident in their decision to join your organization, motivated and equipped to produce their best work immediately, and more likely to stay.  Invest in them early and they’ll stay longer.

Key components of this solution are the following services:

• Social Network Analysis
• Value Network Analysis
• Content Delivery
• Knowledge Management
• Knowledge Infrastructure
• Social Software