We talked about the governance / structure issues for social software activities inside the firewall. You want a little structure (policies, templates, limited usage) to begin with. Kinda like the stablisers (AKA training wheels)on this kid's bike. And then at some point you might want to take the structures away (or at least reduce them), because they are actually slowing you down. Now the first thing that happens when you take the stabilisers away is that the kid falls off the bike. And when this happens we learn our lesson and put an even bigger set of stabilisers on the bike and NEVER TAKE THEM OFF AGAIN. Don't we?
Well, we don't. We make sure the first time we take the stabilisers off, our kid is biking across nice, soft grass with nothing dangerous nearby. And we watch them fall off. And if each time we try this, the kid gets more stable then we breathe a sigh of relief. A few kids should never learn to cycle properly but they are in the minority.
Now my concern is that as we implement E2.0 tech and reduce the governance (coz we'll have to), a few incidents will occur and we'll swing back into clamp-down mode. This would be a bad thing. Plan for mistakes to be made. And make sure that the grass is nice and soft.
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2 comments:
nice little post there Matt but I think that we can push this analogy just that little bit further. Kids fall off the bike without the stabilisers (training wheels where I grew up) because they get concerned that they are going too fast or believe that the extra support is still there and forget to "stabilise" themselves. The analogy is that people using 2.0 when they make mistakes (and they will), look for the support that is missing and should realise that they have to support themselves. They have to retrain themselves to the new environment, without "old" supports and governance structures. And importantly, that can happen incredibly quickly so long as no-one steps in to stick the old supports back in place (and that they are not too hurt - I like the grass idea).
Well here is where the analogy might break down - because either your training wheels are on or off - they can't be halfway on. The thing with policies is that you can change them gradually.
And you are right, you have to remind people that they have changed - because they get used to them. However people are very adaptive. That's one of the things that makes them bearable.
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