The authors define a groundswell as “…a social trend in which people use technologies to get the things they need from each other, rather than from traditional institutions”. mmm that sounds like an important thing to know about if you think you're a traditional institution, or if you think you're breaking new ground, or if you're a consumer wondering why you're starting to feel left out the loop.
What I liked about the book was the examples and case studies. Usually I skip these, however, I foudn these ones riveting reading. Who needs thriller novels when the business world presents us with such chaotic and roller coaster events. Fabulous.
I also found the way the book was constructed and organised to be very helpful, especially when faced with a disconcerting topic. Far from being disorganised, the underlying structure helped get the message through.
Read this book and it will move you on from thinking about "all we need to do is have the odd blog and a fancy web 2.0 website" and get you into strategising about your social media presence. I have always been convinced that social media is not just for the youngesters and this book has all the examples and conceptuals models to help you create some of your own thinking for your business to prove it is for everyone.
The book has, as you would expect, a great website. http://www.forrester.com/Groundswell/index.html It is good to see them practising what they preach. They have a blog and there is also a social media profiling tool you can download and use.
I'm not one for giving 5 stars to a book, but this one deserves it. I might just read it a second time.
Wednesday, 10 September 2008
Thursday, 28 August 2008
New Age of Innovation; Prahalad & Krishnan
If you're interested in large scale change and innovation then you'll find this book fascinating. On the one hand it felt like there was nothing startlingly new to me yet on the other it was neatly put together in a readable way that made sense.
A key premise is the current trend of personalisation and how value is based on the unique experience we all want. The authors refer to this as N=1. Current technology drives this, social networking, web 2.0 etc. How can we co-create value with our users and consumers? What are the challenges with managing who owns the knowledge? All good questions. They also suggest we need to make the most of collaborative networks, electronic and face-to-face, be flexible and ensure scalability. I liked the section on scalability and in my mind there is more in here than what they covered. This is a key element and is also linked to their second premise.
The 2nd key premise is the one that resources need to be global and they use another little formaula: R=G. Here they suggest the issue is that access to resources is more importnat than providing products; namely it is the solutions that matter rather than the kit or pieces. I think I agree with this. Again, scalability comes up.
They mention social movements and how they figure int he process as well as organisational transformation. There was nothing much new in the organisational process other than the context of the infomrational technology infrastructure - well, that is rather new and for some people rather perplexing.
If you've not yet engaged with Web 2.0 and new technology then this is definitely worth a read.
A key premise is the current trend of personalisation and how value is based on the unique experience we all want. The authors refer to this as N=1. Current technology drives this, social networking, web 2.0 etc. How can we co-create value with our users and consumers? What are the challenges with managing who owns the knowledge? All good questions. They also suggest we need to make the most of collaborative networks, electronic and face-to-face, be flexible and ensure scalability. I liked the section on scalability and in my mind there is more in here than what they covered. This is a key element and is also linked to their second premise.
The 2nd key premise is the one that resources need to be global and they use another little formaula: R=G. Here they suggest the issue is that access to resources is more importnat than providing products; namely it is the solutions that matter rather than the kit or pieces. I think I agree with this. Again, scalability comes up.
They mention social movements and how they figure int he process as well as organisational transformation. There was nothing much new in the organisational process other than the context of the infomrational technology infrastructure - well, that is rather new and for some people rather perplexing.
If you've not yet engaged with Web 2.0 and new technology then this is definitely worth a read.
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