Harnessing Collective Intelligence: Shifting Power To The Edge

Harnessing Collective Intelligence: Shifting Power To The Edge Mike Gotta Principal Analyst [email_address] mkeg.typepad.com www.burtongroup.com April, 2007

Harnessing Collective Intelligence
What you should know about me…
Involved in collaboration and knowledge management strategies since early 1990’s (Aetna)
Industry analyst since 1996, joined Burton Group in 2005, formerly with Meta Group
Principal Analyst, Collaboration & Content Strategies
Located in north-central Connecticut (home office)
Research focus: real-time collaboration, social software, and the organizational dynamics around teaming, community-building and social networks
Fascinated by how people connect, communicate and find/share information within group & network contexts
Coached Little League ponytail softball for 11 years

Agenda
What I will cover today…
Thesis
Social computing trends are having a disruptive and transformational impact on communication, information sharing and collaboration strategies
Socially-oriented systems create inter-connections across groups and communities that enable workers to leverage the collective intelligence of an organization
Sense-making tools and decision-making systems are more critical than ever before but need to be re-invented for a net-centric environment
Key Points
Social software does not mean “no structure” / “no formality”
Collective intelligence should lead to “purposeful” action

Why Shift Power To The Edge?
Many organizations are defined by “need to know” structures
Top-down hierarchy & command-control culture diminishes “awareness” Formal information policies, process rules & workflow roles obstructs “engagement” 1 2

Why Shift Power To The Edge?
Despite best intentions - enterprises live in a “house of pipes”
Communication flows are noticeably constrained
Information sharing is pushed into “walled gardens”
Collaboration occurs within activity-focused groups
Result:
Unreliable “sense & respond” mechanisms impair organizational agility and resiliency
Unrevealed insight & resources hinders decision-making
Avoiding risk ends up creating risk

The Answer: Collective Intelligence
Moving from a “need to know” to a “right to know” mindset
“ The two truly transforming things, conceivably, might be in information technology and information operation and networking and connecting things in ways that they function totally differently than they had previously .
And if that's possible, what I just said, that possibly the single-most transforming thing in our force will not be a weapon system, but a set of interconnections and a substantially enhanced capability because of that awareness .
It can simply be in connectivity. It can be in interoperability. It can be in taking things that every single of which exists presently and managing them, using them, connecting them , arraying them in a way that has a result that is transformation .”
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, 8/9/2001,Town Hall Meeting, Washington, D.C.
Note: Bold emphasis added

Net-Centricity Transforms Participation Levels
Digital Life is redefining consumer awareness and engagement
Blogs
Blogger, LiveJournal, Typepad, WordPress…
Wikis
Google (JotSpot), Wetpaint, Wikispaces…
Tagging & Social Bookmarks
del.ico.us, Flickr, Ma.gnolia, StumbledUpon…
Social Filtering
coRank, Digg, Reddit, YouTube…
XML Syndication (e.g., RSS)
Bloglines, Google, NewsGator, Yahoo…
Social Networks
Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Xing, YouTube…
del.icio.us

What Does This Mean For The Enterprise?
Management and strategists are re-discovering that people matter - talent, teaming, community, “crowd sourcing”…
Falling communications costs, globalization, and the increasing specialization of knowledge-based work are making collaboration within and among organizations increasingly important
Nearly 80% of senior executives in a 2005 survey said effective coordination across product, functional, and geographic lines was crucial for growth, yet only 25% described their organizations as effective at sharing knowledge across boundaries
Source: McKinsey Quarterly, 2006 Number 3, “Mapping the Value of Employee Collaboration”

Social Systems Promote Collective Intelligence Broadcast-post communication models help inter-connect people with similar attention areas, enabling shared awareness Blogs Bookmarks Feeds Tags Feeds “ Blog This” Notification Services Comments Stream Processing Systems Aggregation, Profiling, Pattern & Scenario Building, Correlation, Management & Augmentation Expertise Location, Communities & Social Networks

Collective Intelligence Is Environmental Network ecologies can be influenced but not managed Ambient Noise Walled Gardens Dis-engagement Command & Control Low Relevancy Low Delegation Low Transparency Low Reciprocity Social Network Diagram Source: http://www.networkweaving.com/blog/

Empowering Process With Social Software Net-Centricity & formal structures are not mutually exclusive People Work & Organizational Structures Know-how Collective Intelligence Transform Cost Reduction & Avoidance Productivity Growth & Innovation Performance Status-Quo

Collective Intelligence & Handling The Unexpected
Disruption: When something happens – what happens?
Probability Consequences Low (Unexpected) High (Anticipated) Enormous Firefighting Triage Crisis Management Catastrophe Problematic

Disruption & “The Moment Of Need”
Crisis Management: Social systems augment applications that help structure collective decision-making
What experts do we have? 1. CXO informed of a health crisis that threatens local operations We’ve effectively handled incidents like this elsewhere 2. “People search” to identify available resources 3. Presence-enabled expertise application locates experienced people available at the moment-of-need 4. IM messaging establishes rapid response team 5. Escalation to a real-time group conferencing application enables collective decision- making in a structured environment to weigh options and define an action plan

Collective Intelligence & Sensing Before Knowing
Detection: What changes by “anticipating” vs. “reacting”?
Probability Consequences Low (Unexpected) High (Anticipated) Enormous Early Warning Tactical Alternatives Strategic Planning Connecting The Dots Problematic

Detection & The “Aha” Moment
Connecting the dots: Social systems and group conferencing applications enable “connected decisions”
Jane Doe Blog This looks Interesting 1. Local analyst updates team wiki on quality control issues In Asia/Pac market 2. European sales manager tags entry “ABC” in a social bookmark system 3. U.S. field tech subscriber to “ABC” tag ‘blogs it”, adding correlation to current service issues 4. Product manager picks up Jane Doe’s post, alerts sent to all parties to attend brainstorming meeting 5. Real-time group conferencing application structures decision-making options for production and helps prioritize next steps and define supply chain action plan A/P Wiki

Harness Collective Intelligence: Points To Ponder
The trends are undeniable and the opportunities compelling
Growth and innovation demands are compelling organizations to explore new ways of leveraging talent across organizational boundaries
Demographic trends are causing management to fundamentally rethink employee work models
Evolution to network-oriented organizational models is forcing strategists to re-think the role of “core” institutions
Convergence between a digital lifestyle and digital work style is causing a collision between how workers and management view socially-oriented technology

Harness Collective Intelligence: Act Now
The trends are undeniable and the opportunities compelling
Understand and address the organizational dynamics blocking evolution towards net-centricity
Agree on a governance framework for information sharing, communication and collaboration
Leverage informal groups, communities and networks – they are the building blocks for collective intelligence
Understand that socially-oriented systems require new design criteria and a focus on adoption patterns
Sense-making tools and decision-making systems are more critical than ever – but need to be re-invented for a net-centric environment

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Harnessing Collective Intelligence: Shifting Power To The Edge

by Mike Gotta

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Harnessing Collective Intelligence: Shifting Power To The Edge Presentation Transcript