Avoiding Enterprise 2.0 Pitfalls #e20s

Next talk/discussion with Rob Howard, Luis Suarez and Frank Schoenefeld.

Frank gives a list of 7 pitfalls of Enterprise 2.0.

1. Don't care at all. Frank says: You are obliged to care.
2. Since Enterprise 2.0 is freeform, emergent and easy to use - just let it happen. Frank says: in a closed system entropy/disorder always increases (2nd law of thermodynamics)
3. It's not about technology... Frank says: It is.
4. It's about culture... Frank says: It is not.
5. You can not measure the ROI of it. Frank says: You can if you want to and have to.
6. Information overload kills. Frank says: It does indeed. Shield yourself.
7. With Enterprise 2.0 we've found the holy grail for everything (in the organization).

Discussion:

• Rob disagrees fundamentally with the thesis that it is about technology. The big successful companies have a business objective and then select tools to be successful. Analytics is important (they should map to a strategy). Rob missed 'resources' in the pitfall list. You need to assign resources to achieve your business goals with technology.
• Rob points to Texas Instruments to give an example that has 'community' in their strategic goals.
• Luis adds 'education' to the list of pitfalls. Train people to use the tools. And 'governance' is a topic as well. Bottom-up, top-down. Not everything goes bottom-up. Make sure you have some guidelines in place (- this is not the same as mandating, says Luis). Luis also disagree with the fact that the tools are the problem. Fear is also a big pitfall. Are you experimenting?
• Rob comments that Enterprise 2.0 is still a young industry. Luis says a recent study showed that in Spain only 3% of the companies used social media.