jamie notter@jamienotter

humanizebook.com

what social business means for leadership

Three points being covered in this presentation: (1) What is social business and how is that different from social media; (2) How is social business having an impact on leadership, management, and how we run our organizations; and (3) So what? What do we need to do about any of this, because I think we’ve got a window of opportunity right now that demands action.

“Throughout human history, we have been

dependent on machines to survive...

...fate, it seems, is not without

a sense of irony. -Morpheus

Morpheus (in the movie, The Matrix) is advocating revolution. I’m here to talk about a different kind of revolutionary opportunity, although it does represent a battle between humans and machines. Where the power of what it means to be human can really usher in a new era. Where is this opportunity?

revolution?

Social media?! I admit it: we’re all getting a bit sick of social media now. But that’s because we’re focusing on the tools and the tactics and losing sight about WHY social media is succeeding.

social media

humanBigtock Image

Social media succeeds because it taps into the power of being human. We’re drawn because it allows us to create share and learn. This is deeply human. And with the internet, we can scale it--on our own, without third parties. That means collaboration and problem solving. I don’t care how inane the content might be. When it lets us be human like this, we go there.

social business

But we need to take it beyond marketing. Smart organizations are already integrating social into CRM, HR, product development, and service delivery. But this all runs into one big problem...

Management. Social business is often incompatible with management. Management has not seen significant innovation in decades (photo is of Frederick Taylor, the “father” of “modern” management). We still use basic processes (strategy, HR, etc.) the same way they were practiced in the 1950s.

management

machinesBigtock Image

But it’s not ONLY that we’re stuck in the past. We’re stuck in the machine-oriented mindset of the industrial era. We run organizations like machines, and that’s why they aren’t compatible with social. Management is about control, predictability, consistency, insulation from context, and component parts. Social is about systems, decentralization, open source, customization...human.

managementmachines

social businesshumanVS.

So we’re at a tipping point moment. Mechanical management versus human, social business. Mechanical management has come out on top for the last 100 years. But the power of social has an opportunity to tip the balance. And I’ve got some data to back me up on this.

71% 71 %

Textof CEOs felt social business

will be important to their organization in 3 years

In a recent study by MIT’s Sloan School of Management and DeLoitte, researchers found that 71% of CEOs felt social business will be important to their organization in 3 years. 70% of CIOs felt the same way.

71%70% 71 %

Textof CEOs felt social business

will be important to their organization in 3 years

70%of CIOs

In a recent study by MIT’s Sloan School of Management and DeLoitte, researchers found that 71% of CEOs felt social business will be important to their organization in 3 years. 70% of CIOs felt the same way.

28%14%

28%

Text of CEOs

14%of CIOs

TODAY

Note that TODAY, those numbers are 28% and 14% respectively. My conclusion: leaders globally feel that social business is not totally here yet--but it’s coming.

The second bit of data comes from a survey that Maddie and I did on social leadership. We surveyed 500 people about social media and leadership. This group is on the social media bandwagon. 84% believe that social media gives their company a competitive edge.

41% 43%Agree

Strongly Agree

84%believe social media gives their company a competitive edge

The second bit of data comes from a survey that Maddie and I did on social leadership. We surveyed 500 people about social media and leadership. This group is on the social media bandwagon. 84% believe that social media gives their company a competitive edge.

But interestingly, when it came to leadership, actually using social media wasn’t a priority for this group. We gave them 12 leadership traits to choose from, asking for their top 4, only 21% chose “participates in social media.” So what did they choose?

21%

Participates in Social Media

But interestingly, when it came to leadership, actually using social media wasn’t a priority for this group. We gave them 12 leadership traits to choose from, asking for their top 4, only 21% chose “participates in social media.” So what did they choose?

They chose human-focused leadership, not traditional leadership traits. The red are command-and-control traits, and the blue are humanize traits. This is more evidence of the tipping point--employees are expecting different things from our leaders today.

Culture Process

Behavior

So what do you do about all this? You change your organization. But don’t be scared. Yes, you need to address the three areas of culture, process, and behavior (framework we use in Humanize), but you don’t have to do them all at once.

Culturedecentralization

transparencyinclusionlearning

At the level of organizational culture, it means embracing decentralization, transparency, inclusion, and learning (and I’ve got some good, high-profile examples of decentralization and transparency).

Processsystems thinking

truthcollaboration

experimentation

At the process level it means building in more systems thinking, truth, collaboration, and experimentation (Google’s a great example of designing for experimentation).

Behaviorownership

authenticityrelationship building

personal development

For basic workplace behavior, it means figuring out how to get more ownership, more authenticity, better relationship building and more complete personal development (tip: you want more ownership, then invest more in on-boarding...like the military does).

So where do you start? Just pick a process and change it. It might be good to pick a process that people already hate...like performance reviews. I’ve worked with a client in Australia on just this process. They made huge strides (without being a Google or any of the other high-profile examples).

Valuable Skilled

Growing

I helped them expand performance management to go beyond the “are you doing your job well” question (the “skilled” circle above) and start to include elements that measured cultural fit (valuable) AND allowed employees to define their own success metrics (Growing). Some of this work was a struggle for this client. It’s not how we’re used to doing it. But there’s good news: I’ve got a hero to guide you...

yep

Neo, from the Matrix (of course!). The story of Neo and the matrix is a classic hero myth. Luke Skywalker, Dorothy, and Moses tell the same story. The heroes doubted themselves but took the red pill, left on the journey, found their strength and saved the world. And for social business, the hero is you. It’s every manager and employee. Take that red pill. Embark on the journey of humanizing your organization. Let’s create organizations that we can be proud of.

www.jamienotter.comwww.humanizebook.com

I’ve got resources for you on my blog and at the Humanize book site that will guide you on your journey. Don’t wait. Pick a process and get started.