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The problem? The growth of the collective intelligence site so far largely has been fueled by early adopters and enthusiasts, according to Rasmussen. About all those who would have joined and shared their knowledge on the social networking site have already done so. If the intelligence agencies want to get further gains from the site, they need to incorporate it into their own formal decision making process, he contended. Until that happens, the social networking aspect of Intellipedia is "just a marginal revolution," he said.

Established in 2005, Intellipedia, now managed by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence,  has approximately 100,000 user accounts. Open to anyone with a government e-mail account, it has social bookmarking tool, a document repository, a home page for each user, and collaboration spaces.

For true change to occur, other agencies must use Intellipedia as their official conduit, at least for some functions, Rasmussen said. Otherwise, it is just creating additional work for contributors.

14 per cent use it at some time to access social networking sites. Usage is significantly higher among younger workers with 32 per cent of 16-24 year olds and 23 per cent of 25-34 year olds reporting frequent or occasional use. 20 per cent said their employer blocked access to social networking sites while 57 per cent said their employer allowed it (23 per cent did not know). 76 per cent of workers who use the Internet at work could see a benefit to their organisation in allowing access to social networking sites believing it showed: - trust in employees (68 per cent);  - gave people a break from day to day work and kept them fresh (48 per cent); and  - allowed them to better network with other employees, customers and suppliers (40 per cent). Among those who use social networking sites, 91 per cent saw a benefit to their organisation from the activity. In general, younger workers were more likely to see these benefits than their older counterparts. 16 per cent overall said an employer’s policy re on-line social networking would influence their decision to join one employer over another. This view was particularly strong among 16 to 24 year olds, with one in four saying it would. 91 per cent say that they use the Internet appropriately at work, with only 1 per cent admitting to frequent inappropriate use.

Users say they know what they want until they get it, and then they want something different.‘

I could talk with the users in their own language; go away and develop a module with real data; and create reports, monitoring screens and other processes based on a synthesis of my knowledge, the stated needs of the client and my knowledge of the technology.  The application would work in novel ways, users would find new ways of working, and modifications would be agreed upon.  Over the course of a year, a powerful application emerged that was very different from anything that either the user or I could have defined.

In many ways, this is a textbook description of how to implement social media tools within the enterprise.  Work iteratively with your users, create opportunities to learn from each other and from the tool using a series of “safe-fail” experiments, stay in beta for as long as it takes to reflect user reality in your tool, and don’t be afraid to step off the straight and narrow path of linear thinking.  To be clear, this is not a recommendation that you abandon all logic in your design and implementation.  Rather, it is a reminder that there can be great beauty and greater rewards in following a more circuitous route.

Integrate the wiki as one of several important tools in an organization's IT collaboration architecture.Understand the wiki "rules of conduct" and ensure they are monitored and enforced.Optimize the use of wikis for collaborative knowledge creation across geographically dispersed employees, and for crossing divisional or functional boundaries, in order to gain insights from people not previously connected.Assign a champion to each wiki and have that champion observe contributions that people make to the wiki; the champion will help foster employees who adopt the important "shaper" role within the wiki.Recognize that the most difficult barrier to cross in sustaining a wiki is convincing people to edit others' work; organizations should ask their champion and managers to help with this.Recognize that a significant value of wikis comes from embedding small software programs into the wiki that structure repetitive behavior. Some include organizing meeting minutes, rolling up project status or scheduling meetings. Ask wiki participants to keep watching for repetitive activity to evolve and enhance wiki technology.Understand wikis are best used in work cultures that encourage collaboration. Without an appropriate fit with the workplace culture, wiki technology will be of limited value in sharing knowledge, ideas and practices.

"PARC: Seeding Innovation" download brochure [pdf, 754 KB] PARC (Palo Alto Research Center, Inc.) works closely with varied enterprises and new ventures to discover breakthrough business and technology concepts that solve real needs, and transform how enterprises deliver value to customers. PARC takes an agile, multidisciplinary approach to open innovation – by bringing together physical, computer, biological, and social scientists who have the vision, expertise, and instinct to convert groundbreaking scientific findings into industrial-strength prototypes. Incorporated in 2002 as an independent research business, PARC is celebrated for such innovations as laser printing, distributed computing and Ethernet, the graphical user interface (GUI), object-oriented programming, and ubiquitous computing. PARC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Xerox Corporation. To inquire about working with PARC, please contact info@parc.com. [client services]

69 percent of respondents report that their companies have gained measurable business benefits, including more innovative products and services, more effective marketing, better access to knowledge, lower cost of doing business, and higher revenues. Companies that made greater use of the technologies, the results show, report even greater benefits.

We found that successful companies not only tightly integrate Web 2.0 technologies with the work flows of their employees but also create a “networked company,” linking themselves with customers and suppliers through the use of Web 2.0 tools. Despite the current recession, respondents overwhelmingly say that they will continue to invest in Web 2.0.

When we asked respondents about the business benefits their companies have gained as a result of using Web 2.0 technologies, they most often report greater ability to share ideas; improved access to knowledge experts; and reduced costs of communications, travel, and operations. Many respondents also say Web 2.0 tools have decreased the time to market for products and have had the effect of improving employee satisfaction.

Ehin developed his new leadership model which he calls "unmanagement" after analyzing research on human nature which shows that human productivity is at its peak in informal, co-evolving relationships, as opposed to within formal systems where people are stifled by bureaucracy and not allowed to work openly with their counterparts and peers.

He has discovered that this sweet spot is the place where the most productive and innovative work of an organization takes place, largely because people tend to want to follow their self-interests and do so through developing informal social networks in the workplace.

This cutting edge management book offers guidance to business leaders searching for ways to increase the innovative dynamics, motivation and performance of their knowledge workers.