What about Me, Person 2.0?

In the shuffle of big terms like Enterprise 2.0, Web 2.0, Strategy 2.0, People 2.0, and so on, the discussion is usually on what the enterprise should do, must do, to reach the next level of productivity and innovation, or succumb to Dr. Darwin. This is driven by what new technology and tools can do, to overcome or at least lower the distance and time barriers, to reach the next frontier. Such discussion appeals to creating more economic value through enterprise investment in people and infrastructure and new ways of doing things.

We often see articles and research studies that address how to:

• organize work
• engage the right collaborators for projects
• outline and observe rules of engagement
• resolve conflicts
• provide training, encouragement and support
• offer right incentives and rewards
• communicate effectively
• evolve processes to make collaboration more effective
• select and provide the right collaboration tools
• and, so on.

That is all well and good. The enterprise must evolve! But, isn’t this just one hand clapping? What about ME, the Person 2.0, the individual and not the collective People 2.0? What do I have to do, as an individual, to not only survive but thrive in this evolving enterprise? What attributes does Person 2.0 have? Does the enterprise leverage Person 2.0 to achieve Enterprise 2.0, or does the person leverage Enterprise 2.0 to become Person 2.0? Is it the chicken and egg problem?

Update on 24 December 2010 by Lokesh Datta

See Related Posts:

• The What and Why of Enterprise 2.0
• The Four Ps of Effective Collaboration
• The 4Ps of Effective Collaboration - Redux
• What Empowerment? Enterprise 2.0 Meets Taylorism!
• A Taxonomy of Collaboration Tools
• Leveraging Social Media for Person 2.0

Comments

[Steve Lamont]

Well said! All these individual solutions for different tasks, projects, departments, business functions, etc. adds up a big stack of "personal" dashboards. Who is designing the single dashboard for a person -- whether enterprise or sole-practitioner -- that organizes my day? Instead, as a typical user of these tools, I have a page full of URLs, sign-on ids, and passwords for sites I must check regularly to track my progress in various arenas.
Someone needs to fix this for the users!

[David Coleman]

First, thanks for the 5 star rating for www.collaborate.com. As for ME, the WIIFM (whats in it for me) principle still survives. Any collaborative solution involves interpersonal interactions to get specific work done. What I don't see happening is how to help the individual cope with the new skills needed to be successful in this environment. They could be interpersonal skills, or maybe knowledge of tools that could make things easier.

However, the value of collaboration is only seen through the context of a process (we have identified 6 processes in any enterprise that have collaborative leverage). It is only through a common context that value can be transferred.

Sorry if I am getting a bit ethereal here, but I have been thinking about this a lot because I will be helping to team teach a new class at Wharton this spring on virtual teams. One of the things I am creating for that class is a quick collaboration assessment that can tell you where you are in terms of collaboration (problems, underlying attitudes and assumptions).

I would be glad to make this available to the readers of allcollaboration.com. I also have a new report out where I researched enterprises in 4 different populations on how Social Networks are being used in the enterprise today. I would also be willing to make this available to your readers. Unfortunately, your "contact us" button is not working so maybe one of you can contact me directly at davidc@collaborate.com to discuss these additions?

David

[Jasper Westaway]

I don't think the question is salient until there are accepted patterns around how Enterprise utilize and foster Person 2.0, because 99% of those organizations are either ambivalent or more likely hostile.