Collaborative Thinking

Doing What You're Passionate About

If you’re lucky, there is some aspect of your professional life that your passionate about – something that sparks your intellectual curiosity, something that compels you to advocate for something or someone – something that actually inspires you.

While I’ve truly enjoyed my last two years working at Cisco, I could never quite shake the sense that my passion, as described here, was best found by being in an inter-disciplinary role that combined different types of research (related to media, technology, sociology, etc.) with the ability to objectively apply that insight to help customers reach their goals, and share those learnings with the broader community at-large interested in those issues.

To that end, on November 5^th, I’m happy and excited to announce that I’ll be returning to Gartner, joining Sue Landry’s team, focusing on topics related to social software and collaboration.  

The journey continues…

Organization Next: Managing the Networked Workspace

The Human Capital Institute is offering a webinar sponsored by Cisco that will air on April 26, 2011; details below:

Organization Next: Managing The Networked Workspace

Social, economic, environmental, and technological forces continuously transform the relationship between organizations and employees. The traditional “workplace” is disappearing, courtesy of globalization, communications, the consumerization of IT, and recent market upheavals. In its place is a “workspace” that is more social, more virtual and more mobile. This new workspace is also more transitory, as employees skeptical of lifetime employment find themselves increasingly joined by contingent staff and outsourcing partners. Also – given the ascent of a new generation of workers raised in this connected, global reality – we can no longer rely on old assumptions on how work best gets done.

The type of agility necessary to achieve breakthrough levels of innovation and growth will rely on people and the ability of the organization to leverage the network of relationships that inter-connect them. Leadership teams must develop collaborative operating models responsive to market and stakeholder needs – including those of its “employees”. Such transformation creates an environment where people are managed not by sight, but by trust and commitment.

If you are involved in business transformation, strategic talent initiatives, organizational development and learning strategies, or any role involved in human capital management and employee engagement, this webcast is for you!

Don’t miss these webcast takeaways:

• How should my organization position and ready itself for change?
• What type of capabilities and collaborative operating models are needed?
• How can the strengths each generation brings be leveraged?
• How can communities and social networking contribute towards a more agile and high-performing organization?
• What role will technology play in this transformation?

 

Of Course You Want Opt-In As The Default, Of Course You Want Everything Public, Said The Nice Social Networking Site Operator... Trust Us.

Google seems to have quite deceptively hidden some information that Buzz is an automatic opt-in regarding "following". Sure, you can turn it off, but it's not intuitive and you are not pro-actively notified. Disclosure - to say the least - is done in an avoidance fashion. 

As I've said before - social networking providers, especially in the consumer space (Facebook, LinkedIn, and now Google), are in a dilemma. They need people to be open in order to create the type of network effects that support their agendas and business models. Only grudgingly will they be transparent when it comes to options available to manage privacy settings. They simply are not the trustworthy advocate for member privacy that they present themselves as when it comes to up-front disclosure, proactive notification and granular levels of consent (refer to Privacy & Social Network Sites: A Case Of Conflicting Agendas). 

No one should be surprised... disappointed, yes.

WARNING: Google Buzz Has A Huge Privacy Flaw

There is a huge privacy flaw in Google's new Twitter/Facebook competitor, Google Buzz.

When you first go into Google Buzz, it automatically sets you up with followers and people to follow.

A Google spokesperson tells us these people are chosen based on whom the users emails and chats with most using Gmail.

That's fine.

The problem is that -- by default -- the people you follow and the people that follow you are made public to anyone who looks at your profile.

In other words, before you change any settings in Google Buzz, someone could go into your profile and see who are the people you email and chat with most.

.....

A Google spokesperson tells us the followers lists are public by default so that people can quickly find new people to follow. Obviously, that's a good thing for Google, which is hoping to get as many people using Google Buzz as soon as possible. It's also meant to be helpful for users. And for those who are unconcerned with telling the world who they email most, it is. But for everyone else, it's terrible.

It gets to a deeper problem with Google Buzz: It's built on email, which is a very different Internet application than a social network.

The good news for Google is that this is a very easy problem to fix. Google must either shut off auto-following, or it must make follower lists private by default as soon as possible.

WARNING: Google Buzz Has A Huge Privacy Flaw

Does the Fourth Amendment cover 'the cloud'? | The Wisdom of Clouds - CNET News

Interesting read:

One of the biggest issues facing individuals and corporations choosing to adopt public cloud computing (or any Internet service, for that matter) is the relative lack of clarity with respect to legal rights over data stored online. I've reported on this early legal landscape a couple of times, looking at decisions to relax expectations of privacy for e-mail stored online and the decision to allow the FBI to confiscate servers belonging to dozens of companies from a co-location facility whose owners were suspected of fraud.

However, while I've argued before that the government has yet to apply the right metaphor to the modern world of networked applications and data, there has been little literature that has actually dissected the problem in detail. Even worse, I've seen almost no analysis of how the United States Constitution's Fourth Amendment, which guards against unreasonable searches and seizures, applies to Internet-housed data.

Does the Fourth Amendment cover 'the cloud'? | The Wisdom of Clouds - CNET News

Top U.S. CEOs Social Media No-Shows - SmartPlanet

Thanks to Cydni Tetro via twitter (@cydtetro).

A study by web site UberCEO.com reveals that an appalling two out of a hundred of 100 America’s top CEOs have Twitter accounts (Warren Buffet and Proctor & Gamble’s Alan Lafley). Thirteen have LinkedIn profiles, but only three of those have 10 or more connections. A mere 19 have Facebook pages. Not one has a blog.
.....

Fortune 100 CEOs and Social Media

View more documents from Sharon Barclay.

Top U.S. CEOs Social Media No-Shows - SmartPlanet

A Lasting Legacy

Very sad news – but what a lasting legacy not only for his family but for the rest of us who were moved by the video and his life story.

'Last Lecture' professor, Randy Pausch, dies at 47 - USATODAY.com

Randy Pausch, the Carnegie Mellon professor who became a YouTube phenomenon with his "Last Lecture," died Friday of complications from pancreatic cancer. He was 47. He died at his home in southern Virginia.

RELATED: Professor Pausch's life, 'Lecture' go from Web to book

VIDEO: See 'Last Lecture' on YouTube

PHOTOS: Randy Paush's life in pictures

AUDIO: Hear a clip from 'Lecture'

'Last Lecture' professor, Randy Pausch, dies at 47 - USATODAY.com

Let the man play...

I’ve been a Packer fan since I was 8 years old (circa 1966). I’ve been through the glory years and the “let me hide and suffer in misery” years. As much as it the current situation might be be difficult or uncomfortable due to poor communication, lack of understanding and (gasp) ego – Brett can still play the game, and play it at a level better than most QBs in the game.

Let the man play…   

FOX Sports on MSN - Jason Whitlock - Hey Ted, I'm here to help

Hi, my name is Jason Whitlock. I'm sure you've heard of me. My reputation in football circles is well established.

I'm the guy who told Bill Belichick to stick with Tom Brady over Drew Bledsoe years ago. When Bill Polian was debating Peyton Manning vs. Ryan Leaf, I was the voice on the phone at 2 a.m. the morning of the draft assuring Polian that Manning was the right choice. I told Parcells to take a long look at an undrafted quarterback from Eastern Illinois.

I know quarterbacks, how they think, what motivates them and whether they're any good.

You're in a jam in Green Bay with Brett Favre. You need me. You need my guidance, my expertise. If you're not careful, you're going to continue to mismanage this situation and go down in history as the dumbest general manager in the history of professional sports.

FOX Sports on MSN - Jason Whitlock - Hey Ted, I'm here to help

Another Analyst Departure

Hmmm .... first Charlene and now Rachel - two well-known analysts leaving on the same day in the same coverage area ... ok - who's next? Bueller...Bueller...

In any case, best of luck to Rachel as well!

While at IDC I've gotten to meet more interesting people than I could mention here and see a huge array of technology and corporate innovation.  It has been a wonderful experience.

Alas, because of my operational experience, I am too antsy to remain on the sidelines as an analyst. I want to dig in a little more, work with companies to get their social media efforts off the ground successfully, and help develop hardened best practices and measurement guidelines.  As an analyst I can report on trends but I can't really understand the ins and outs what companies struggle with on a day to day basis.

The Social Organization: Leaving IDC...Joining Mzinga

She Set The Standard In This Space

Wow ... I wish Charlene the best in whatever she pursues next - at a pace that fits her priorities (work/life balance is a challenge in many professions, including ours). Like most others who follow the social computing/media space - I know we all look forward to her next adventure...

Why I'm leaving Forrester

Forrester has bent over backwards to be accommodating and flexible, but in the end, I have decided that I need to have greater control over how I allocate my time between work and family. As any working parent knows, there’s no such thing as balance – only a series of compromises on both the work and home front. For me and for now, that compromise needs to happen on the work front, so I have elected to leave Forrester on July 18th to have greater control over exactly when and how much time I devote to work and travel.  This was a difficult decision for me to make and I’ll be taking a few weeks off this summer to figure out my next step -- it is my goal to remain involved in this space, in a manner yet to be determined.

Why I'm leaving Forrester

Free Webinar: Deciphering Corporate Social Networks with Burton Group & NewsGator

Sorry for the short notice - still catching up on my work and life backlog! The link below will take you to a registration page...

Deciphering Corporate Social Networks

Burton Group & NewsGator

2 pm ET on June 19, 2008

The number of businesses looking to deploy social networks in their secured business environment continues to rise. There are a variety of business benefits associated with social networks that include: better expertise location, improved collaboration, an edge in recruiting and retention, or capturing knowledge from retiring workers.
Companies want to leverage the benefits of social networks within their enterprise; however there are some unique elements and conditions of social networks in the context of the workplace that should be considered. It’s impossible to ignore the impact on business and IT when implementing social networks in the enterprise. In this webinar Burton Group and NewsGator will leverage our experience in professional social networks to help identify:

• Key concepts of enterprise social networks
• Current trends and future predictions for social networks in business
• Critical differences between consumer and business social networks
• Benefits and challenges of business social networks

Free Webinar: Deciphering Corporate Social Networks with Burton Group & NewsGator