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Social Media, a Vehicle to Organisational Change

May 28, 2009 By 11 Comments

therocketeerAuthor: Alasdair Munn

tcg: The Communication Group

Our shift from the industrial age to the information age has been led through our ability to make better-informed decisions. To achieve a competitive advantage we have had to have instant access to real-time information, harness our collective expertise and intellectual property and ensure we are nimble and efficient when adapting to change. Technology has played a starring role in this transformation, however, we are rapidly realising that the value of technology goes beyond chips, computers or software.

The industrial age was characterised by economies of scale through standardisation, retrospective measurements such as ROI and market penetration through demand creation. The information age has seen a shift, led in part through changing consumer behaviour and expectations. We are increasingly living, working and interacting in real-time.

It is estimated that within a year the amount of digital information in the world will double every 11 hours. This information is largely unstructured and will be produced in a multitude of formats, originating from an ever-increasing number of intelligent devices. To stay informed and nimble we need to change the way we structure our organisations and analyse our data.

Capturing, processing and analysing relevant data so it is seen in context and helps direct and inform decisions is essential. The ability to recognise patterns, to analyse content in motion and present this information so it allows for effective management and decision-making is the new competitive advantage. Managing your content through a permissions based hierarchy so it can inform, grow, have value added to it and be accessed when and where it is needed is an organisation’s new intellectual property.

Social media has an important role to play within this eco-system. The collaborative and real-time essence of social media, be it across open or closed networks fuels the information age. The tools and thinking behind social media, applied in relation to an organisation’s unique business rules and objectives drives this shift.

In this context, social media is not just about brand or reputation management. It is about giving organisations the tools they need to succeed in an age where change is rapid, collaboration essential and expectations are real-time.

Photo by The Rocketeer

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Development Aid’s Bitter Little Pill

May 23, 2009 By 7 Comments

Net Efekt bitter pillAuthor: Alasdair Munn

The West currently lives within a prescriptive mentality. The road to efficiency is paved with check boxes and packaged solutions. Robust and complicated infrastructure props up bad decisions and resources are used like wallpaper to paper over the cracks. Relative excess generally allows people to live well within this framework.

I was struck by two pieces of writing recently. The first was from Dr. Geoffrey Douglas the CEO of the charity HETN (Health Empowerment Through Nutrition). Dr. Douglas in his blog “An Epidemic of Rickets” was commenting on a recent Channel 4 News report on the alarming increase in the prevalence of Rickets in the UK. The news report thought it was shocking that Calciferol; the pharmaceutical treatment for Rickets was in short supply. At no time did the news report mention nutrition and lifestyle. Rickets is increasing in the UK because of a change in diet and attitudes towards exposure to the sun, not because of a shortage of pharmaceutical Calciferol.

The second piece of writing was by TMS Ruge on the website Project Diaspora. In “Celebrity Stunts of Altruism are Killing Livelihoods In Africa”  Teddy argues that the current trend of sending mosquito nets to Africa, while neat and tangible for the giver, is actually doing little to tackle the underlying malaria eco-system.

Neither is saying that pharmaceutical Calciferol or malaria nets do not have a role to play within their relative eco-systems. What they are saying is that effective solutions and understanding come from looking at the entire eco-system, not through a single magic bullet.

When development projects fail in Africa, Africa is blamed for its lack of infrastructure, for its lack of understanding and for not having the right systems in place. By their very definition, developing countries do not have robust infrastructures as defined by the West. They do not have an excess of resources to paper over the cracks. Bad decisions cannot be propped up. A prescriptive mentality cannot work within development projects. Checkboxes, packaged solutions and predetermined paths lack efficiency and relevance in these conditions.

Perhaps the West needs to change its approach? Prescribing solutions based upon their ideals, norms and values has not worked in Africa. Belligerently trying to change the way Africa deals with these prescribed solutions so that she can then develop in a way that is pleasing to the West seems a little crazy to me. Would it not be easier to change the way the West approaches development in Africa? And perhaps a little more effective?

Photo by Net_Efekt

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Where is the beginning?

May 14, 2009 By 2 Comments

feather pen in the sandI love being exposed to new ideas, new approaches and new ways of looking at things. It was brought to my attention this week that what I regarded as the beginning is not necessarily a universal construct.

Although I come across as being driven by process and form, my natural instincts are towards the beautiful and at times chaotic creative. I love brainstorming and free form thinking. I get pleasure from trusting my instincts, especially in situations where I have the experience and confidence that flows from that.

Seeking out creative solutions and thinking on my feet are my natural states.

I have had to discipline myself through applying process and form. I have had to develop processes and methodologies in order to provide a framework for the creative. This is especially true in situations where I am not a subject expert or I do not have first hand experience.

In order to allow the creative to flow I need to feel confident, informed and have the self belief that I will find the right answer. In order to do that I need context.

For me the beginning is gaining an understanding of the audiences. I mean really understanding them, not from a quantitative survey, or closed product focus group, but in terms of who they are, what their learning styles are, their aspirations, influencers, values and desires. I need to talk to them, to explore and seek clarity. I need to understand the industry. Not only from the perspective of the organisation I am working with, but in relation to their competitors, industry experts and real time conversations. I also need to learn about the organisation. Just as the customer knows best what the customer wants, so too the people of an organisation are best placed to pass on its personality, culture, objectives and unique business rules.

Armed with the right information from the best sources, the creativity can begin and the often surprising findings lead the strategic direction for the rest of the project.

Filed Under: Social Media Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Start at the Beginning

May 8, 2009 By Leave a Comment

legoIt is great to have opinions. It is also a good idea to seek out and learn from other peoples perspectives. What is important is to apply what you have learned in a manner that ensures relevance and context.  I used to be an Apple evangelist. I still love Apple and it is my weapon of choice, but I stopped a while ago trying to convert those that use PC. I can see that I was trying to prescribe a technology based upon my own criteria. My own needs, likes, values and learning styles. Really the choice should be based upon:


  • Who you are
  • Your objectives
  • Your needs
  • Your learning styles
  • Your resources
  • Your history etc.

That is not to say Apple evangelists cannot put a case forward for why they like to use Apple products, but it does mean that they need to listen to and accept other peoples decisions and reasons for using a PC. Based on this, if I am asked to recommend a laptop for someone, I need to base my recommendations on their needs verses my own.

I made this mistake in my last blog post “The politics of Followers”. The blog talked about my personal take on the collection of followers on a social network like Twitter. I feel it broke my own rules around discovery, context and relevance.

A personal or organisational social media strategy cannot be pre-determined. It really does need to be built according to the organisations or person’s unique objectives. It needs to understand its audiences and it needs to work within the boundaries of its resources. It is conceivable that an element of an organisations marketing strategy might include manipulating a large twitter following. Perhaps there are instances where they might not gain much from their actual followers, but more from the perception from those outside Twitter that they have a large buy in? Whatever the reason, it is reasonable to assume this is a considered strategy.

It is great to get people’s perceptions on various social networks and to understand how they are using them. Valuable insights and best practices can be learned. The problem arises when people take a prescriptive view of them. Following someone’s strategy to the letter can lead to copycat strategies that go horribly wrong. Context and relevance are key. Start at the beginning, be patient and go through your discovery process.

Photo by Craig Rodway

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The Politics of Followers

May 1, 2009 By 3 Comments

zimdollar2As I sit here at my desk, peering at my beautiful Apple cinema display, keeping an eye on all the tools that allow me to connect with so many people remotely I am struck with a sense of … loss. I know, to some of my social media “connections” I am just a number in a game called online influence.

Equally, I have made some incredible connections online. I have gained enormously from conversations, links and collaboration. These are not just numbers, but relationships. Just like in the “real world” relationships are built through trust, context and the ability to add value through being who you are.

How then can we build relationships online when we deal primarily in numbers? How is a social media strategy different from a mass TV or radio campaign if it consists of sending out periodic links on twitter to 20,000 + “followers”? We can argue that it is targeted. We can debate that this is where the target audience are. We can even try to convince ourselves that the 20,000 + profiles have opted in. I am not so sure.

Absolutely there are individual instances where there might be opt in, where a personality has something to say that hundreds of thousands of people want to hear, but these are exceptional cases. Here there is already trust and a desire to consume their information and content. These personalities have worked hard to get to where they are. They give of themselves and offer value. Their following has grown organically.

As a Zimbabwean I look to the policy of “printing money”. As more and more zeros were added to the Zimbabwean dollar, its actual value, in real terms went down. Now, it has reached the stage where the currency has been abandoned. Zimbabwe has moved onto something new. The Zimbabwean dollar is worthless.

We talk about social media as being about relationships. We argue that you cannot put a price on true connections and real conversations. The numbers game is the old way of doing things. Perhaps this message has not permeated through?

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