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More and better collaboration has always been the mantra of Enterprise 2.0. Is Enterprise 2.0 a game changer for collaboration?

Collaboration is the participation of independent actors in mutual interactions to deliver a specific result, either chosen or not. The so-called collaboration is the result of the interactions that occur, but collaboration is not the purpose.

"In this on-going collaboration debate, too many people view collaboration as a solution to a problem. It is not. Collaboration is the behaviour that emerges in contexts that invite for collaboration."

Words are an extremely poor representation of our reality and it only gets worse when we write them down, especially in PowerPoint.

Collaboration within the enterprise is difficult because most of the defence mechanisms that exist in normal social contexts cannot be deployed within the enterprise.

Collaboration is the participation of independent actors in mutual interactions to deliver a specific result, either chosen or not. The so-called collaboration is the outcome of the interactions that occur, initiated by the different participants for their own good reasons, but collaboration is not the purpose.

We are living times with a growing focus on NOW. Increasingly, we have access to information anywhere, anytime and increasingly, our interaction behaviour asks for anywhere, anytime, now. That is evolution. However, is it also progress?

The "real" Enterprise 2.0 is not a technology or marketing plan, but the reinvention of the enterprise itself. It's a rethinking of the structure, process, culture and even, in some cases, the very purpose of the enterprise. With technology erasing barriers to participation and communication, we're seeing a change in the nature of how we go about running an organization.

Technological solutions often only address the symptoms of a problem. Clearly understanding the root causes of the problem and identifying the correct remedies for removing these causes are threfore the mandatory, preliminary steps for choosing the right solution.

Recent events in the news have inspired a thought experiment: I asked myself what I would do if I were put in charge of IT as part of the turnaround effort at a big US automaker. To be a bit more specific, I imagined that one of the big 3 American auto companies was taken over tomorrow by enlightened and aggressive new leadership whose only goals are to restore the company to operational and financial excellence. This leadership is enlightened (in my book) because it believes firmly in the power of IT to help businesses achieve their goals and differentiate themselves in the marketplace, and will fund and fully support whatever initiatives I propose (this is a complete fantasy for several reasons, but thought experiments aren't supposed to be constrained by reality.).\nSo what would I propose?

In business, most investment decisions are based upon a Return on Investment (ROI) analysis. This is OK as long as the assessment of the potential outcome can indeed be made in a realistic and objective way. Otherwise it simply becomes a leap of faith or the false excuse for not investing.

In order to make correct decisions, you must understand the context. And in order to understand the context, you better have hands-on experience. It all makes sense. But is it always true?

I've seen a bunch of posts bubble up over the past few days that are really sparking my curiousity about what is really going on with Twitter, so I need to do a little brain dump. Bear with me.

Real solutions and progress emerge when we are able to unify apparently conflicting views on the same reality. Do emergent social software platforms (ESSPs) provide a context for this to happen?

There's an orthodoxy in Enterprise 2.0 circles about how you're supposed to run an implementation. The orthodoxy goes something like this: Start with small-scale pilots, define your business objectives, watch the pilots closely, evaluate their success, make a go/no-go decision. (A good recent articulation of this view is in Chris McGrath's post on 8 Tips for a Successful Social Intranet Pilot.)

Last week I attended the Enterprise 2.0 conference in Boston. It's one of my favorite events, primarily because so many online friends attend from around the world and I enjoy their company. Despite overwhelming good will among participants, the conference exposed gaps between expectations and reality that continue to plague the Enterprise 2.0 world.

More than ever, Enterprise 2.0 is the talk of the town. However, the discussion remains difficult due to a continuing bias towards tools and technology. Therefore, an attempt for a real look at the internals of Enterprise 2.0, the dark forces of collaboration.

Social media is most transformative when used inside the company, says Web 2.0 expert Leon Benjamin - and the implications are far reaching...

12 Rules For Bringing 'Social' To Your Business\n\nRarely do I take a negative viewpoint on new developments, especially in technology. But lately, with the seemingly runaway rise of highly successful social networks like Facebook and Twitter, it's become clear that adding the word "social" to virtually any product or service has become the current marketing trend du jour, often to the detriment of the consumers of those offerings.

The potential of Enterprise 2.0 is real, but it has to be looked for in the spaces where it really can excel. One of these spaces is business-to-business interoperability.