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E2.0 conference

Social Business Failure #5: Treat it Like an IT Project

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There are a few fundemental things we must all learn.

  1. How to put on pants.
  2. The sun’ll come out, tomorrow.
  3. Social Technologies are 90% human and 10% IT.

Then why is it we so often default to treating social business initiatives like IT projects?  Here is my take: An IT project has clearly defined requirements.  We know exactly what needs to be done, how to do it and when the project will be complete.  But like economists, rarely are they correct.  The perfect path they think they will go down (according to all plans and indications) is rarely the one that reality shows us.  Why?  People.

Oh, you fickle and emotional beings.  People mess up all the best mathematical formulas.

I have watched many programs – not only social business endeavors – totally change course because people get in the way.  Many IT professionals have become so frustrated at users that I have seen them become irate because they don’t do what the programmers thought they should do.

And there are others who say that people are important, but when it comes down to it, they focus on that which they can control – and them there people ain’t one of them.  So their efforts naturally lean toward that which they can more easily control.  It is human nature.

And that is OK, unless it is to the exclusion of people.  We must remember to make this a people project with an IT element.

There was a Bar Camp at the E2.0 conference.  I led a discussion on where social business projects should live.  Should it be IT or HR or Marketing or…?  It started off slowly, but turned into a VERY lively discussion as each realized we all had different views and different remedies.  There isn’t one path to perfection.  It must be decided by the nature of the organization.  But one thing was clear: forget the people and you will fail.

Have you seen others focus too heavily on the IT side?  What happens?  How can we avoid this from happening?  What happens if the project is led by IT and they become tool focused?  How can you bring the human side into it to dominate?  Some good answers are waiting and I would love to hear from others!

Social Business Failure #3: Ignore Others Who Have Done This Before

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UPDATE: Join the discussion already in progress on G+

Let me be clear, using “social business” necessitates working in a new way.  And unless you do it, chances are you won’t fully understand it.  You MUST participate to “get it.”

You may understand this, but those who you may work for probably won’t.

Too many people think they get it and feel satisfied with their decision to ignore social technologies and working a new way.  During the E2.0 Conference a number of us met with Sandy Carter, VP of Social Business & Collaboration Solutions for IBM.  She told us that some executives have decided to “opt out.”  Clearly they don’t get it, even though they think they do.

This is like my kids who want so badly to drive.  They see how effortlessly my wife and I drive, they think they have judged the situation correctly and can drive as well.  But when they finally get behind the wheel, the game changes.  All the stimulus is overwhelming: the amount of pressure to apply to the gas or brake, where to look when, how quickly to turn the wheel, when to change gears, when to use the turn signal and change the radio volume at the same time as making sure they stay in the correct lane and don’t crash into the vehicle in front of them.  Suddenly, the chance for making a mistake skyrockets.

Even more dangerous than those who opt out of social business are those that think they get it, but don’t, but still want to move forward on their own without help.  Why?  If/When they fail, they may blame it on social technologies and not go back or it will put a sour taste in the mouths of the employees or customers.

Trust me, those who have been in the business for some time have made the mistakes and can help you avoid them.

Yet I still find myself going to organizations who tell me they are going to try to do something without asking if it will work.  For example, one organization said to me, “We are going to have an IT fair and there we will ask people what they think of social technologies.  From that we should find some pretty interesting information.  Then we can move forward.”  Not a horrible idea, but when the IT fair is 4 months away, it has been done before in the same mother organization and I could have told them exactly the feedback they were going to receive, they will have just wasted six precious months of non-delivery to their employees.

The lesson: Don’t try to do social business by yourself. Ask others who have done it before.  They have some experience and knowledge which may be able to help you.  They have seen what works and what does not – how to recognize and avoid the roadblocks and how to recognize opportunities you may not be able to see.

In reality, this advice could go with just about ANY aspect of business. It isn’t unique or new to social business.