Session Idea: collaboration in hierarchical organisations

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Permalink Reply by Dave Briggs on December 22, 2008 at 3:48pm

Nick this is a great idea for a session. Steph Gray remarked in this presentation that 'interactive websites need interactive organisations' which kinda fits in with the discussion you are suggesting.

I wonder if anyone here has examples of such collaborative working happening in a traditional organisational structure - whether it worked or not!?

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Permalink Reply by Nick Keane on December 22, 2008 at 4:25pm

Dave Briggs said:

Nick this is a great idea for a session. Steph Gray remarked in this presentation that 'interactive websites need interactive organisations' which kinda fits in with the discussion you are suggesting.

I wonder if anyone here has examples of such collaborative working happening in a traditional organisational structure - whether it worked or not!?

There is something about the concurrent need for cultural/business change to take place at the same time as collaborative platforms begin to impact upon the organisation.

Also something about how traditional organisations recognise the need for change...do they need a need a protracted period of recognition that their current practices may not be fit for purpose?

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Permalink Reply by Mike Alderson on December 23, 2008 at 10:08pm

Or is it more about the recognition of competitive forces driving change than the desire for change itself ? You will be only too aware Nick that the need to be seen to emulate perceived 'best practice' and not be left behind in the 'who's doing well' league stimulates as much impetus and change as the desire for change itself. So, who are exemplars in this arena ? Can they be catalysts ?

Nick Keane said:

Dave Briggs said:

Nick this is a great idea for a session. Steph Gray remarked in this presentation that 'interactive websites need interactive organisations' which kinda fits in with the discussion you are suggesting.

I wonder if anyone here has examples of such collaborative working happening in a traditional organisational structure - whether it worked or not!?

There is something about the concurrent need for cultural/business change to take place at the same time as collaborative platforms begin to impact upon the organisation.

Also something about how traditional organisations recognise the need for change...do they need a need a protracted period of recognition that their current practices may not be fit for purpose?

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Permalink Reply by Nick Keane on December 26, 2008 at 5:51pm

Mike Alderson said:

Or is it more about the recognition of competitive forces driving change than the desire for change itself ? You will be only too aware Nick that the need to be seen to emulate perceived 'best practice' and not be left behind in the 'who's doing well' league stimulates as much impetus and change as the desire for change itself. So, who are exemplars in this arena ? Can they be catalysts ?

I was thinking about some of the wider contexts in which institutions do or do not respond to change. And sometimes they have to see that their original plan is not working before they can adapt to change...without getting political I had in mind US Foreign Policy in Iraq and how that changed.

Also I was thinking about a recent posting on Ted.com about a talk by Clay Shirky http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/clay_shirky_on_institutions_vers...
while he gave the talk in 2005 it appears current to what we're talking about.

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Permalink Reply by Simon Field on January 12, 2009 at 11:26pm

A great topic. The December 2008 Harvard Business Review contained an article on collaboration which contained a simple framework. One dimension of that was "Governance", with values hierarchical or flat.

Also, I have often considered that many exaggerate the lack of hierarchy in open source projects - many have tight control and are largely driven and managed by the originating donor. Might these "hierarchical collaborations" actually be more successful, or more tightly focused? Or better suited to public services, or public service organisations?

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Permalink Reply by Nick Keane on January 13, 2009 at 10:15am

Thanks Simon

There must be something in the water at Harvard because Gary Hamel discusses the same issues in The Future of Management "In an autocratic system, there are few mechanisms for bottom-up renewal...as a result change tends to come in belated, convulsive spasms."

Your second point is important, when advocating or even explaining web 2.0 potentials it is possible to overstate the case and some people hear the potential benefits but take less notice of the constraints. To make the collaborative process work requires a level of organisation and control. There has to be a "sweet spot" between the horizontal of collaboration and the vertical of control.

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Permalink Reply by Nick Keane on January 13, 2009 at 11:37pm

This is interesting and shows that something can be done, it is the Dutch Police collaborative site....yes I know it's in Dutch but still...

http://criminaliteitswijzer.ning.com/

Nick

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Permalink Reply by Carl Haggerty on January 15, 2009 at 11:17am

I am interested in this session, i am happy to contribute on how we are working on breaking down some of the barriers and working on the cultural barrier aspects also. Examples include social media forum, review of policy on use of social media and online participation...

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Permalink Reply by Nick Keane on January 15, 2009 at 1:22pm

Thanks Carl

That looks really useful.

Best wishes

Nick

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Permalink Reply by Anne McCrossan on January 16, 2009 at 7:02pm

Hi Nick

I've just joined this forum so hello.

I've been working closely with Seth Godin in the States on this issue. You may have heard of Seth Godin, but in case you haven't, Seth's has the No 1 marketing blog in the world, is No35 on Forbes list of most influential people in the world and his latest book is called 'Tribes' which addresses exactly this, the challenge of building an interactive organization.

My experience is that collaboration in hierarchical organizations can be done and it will happen, it's a road with a few potholes and there are ways to the destination. These are exciting times, and there are many opportunities for those organizations that are willing to consider change towards strategies for social participation.

My company, Visceral Business, sits at the intersection of organizational development and marketing. Helping organizations connect better with their constituents and developing strategies for social participation and interactive development is what we do.

It would be a pleasure to help translate this thinking for UK Gov and I'd be very happy to give a summary of the thinking we're developing on this subject at Barcamp if it's of interest.

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Permalink Reply by Nick Keane on January 18, 2009 at 3:31pm

Thank you Anne and Hi,

That sounds really useful...I am aware of Seth Godin but not of the book Tribes, will look it up.

I agree with your pothole analogy.


Happy to continue this conversation at Barcamp

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Permalink Reply by Anne McCrossan on January 18, 2009 at 3:53pm

Nick, I'm hoping to get a ticket tomorrow.

Fyi I'm part of a closed community with Seth, also on Ning, and we've been hot-housing a few things there. I look forward to discussing our incubations!

Nick Keane said:

Thank you Anne and Hi,
That sounds really useful...I am aware of Seth Godin but not of the book Tribes, will look it up. I agree with your pothole analogy.

Happy to continue this conversation at Barcamp

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