transformer

As much as McKinsey might bug me, they have an enviable access to senior execs and do churn out useful surveys. This one on organisational change is similar to their Web 2.0 number in that it kicks off with the bleedin’ obvious:

• Transformations with well defined targets tend to do better than those without.
• Having visible involvement from top people is important.
• Focusing on the positive as well we the negative (go positive deviants!)*

The final point is that organisations need to engage with their people in a bunch of different ways – incl. the use of narrative (in there above performance targets & incentives). I also like it that role modelling comes out at number four. At 7 pages it is way too long - compile it down into a single page that you can stick (framed or otherwise) on your CEO's door.

*Interestingly, it seems that it helps if you have a roughly equal mix of emphasising problems and successes – so think on that appreciative inquiry.

mckinsey on web 2.0

You may recall EwF covering McKinsey's last Web 2.0 report. Well the Jesuits of Management Consulting are at it again with "Building the Web 2.0 Enterprise" (yours for your soul email details). They have a broader survey base than AIIM (but far less depth than the boys from Boston) and I can't comment on the other decent source of Web 2.0 business survey info because Forrester charge a day's wages for two pages of comment ("Our exhaustive research with IT decision-makers indicates that ECMs can be difficult to implement")*.

Anyway the McKinsey report is definitely worth a look-see. It seems that blogs, wikis & RSS are up and web services are down. The top uses are managing knowledge & improving collaboration. And companies where the business drives usage rather than IT seem to be more satisfied (which even the report acknowledges is kinda a "duh" observation but one worth reinforcing it seems). One result is that Asia-Pacific businesses have an unusually high level of satisfaction with Web 2.0 tools. But the survey doesn't tell you why. Lots of tasty hints, not much in the way of satisfying detail.

*At some point I will buy & read "The Groundswell" but I'm unusually time-poor at the moment.