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As companies grow they invariably increase in complexity, and as things get more complex they become more difficult to control.

This “3/2 law” of employee productivity,

Surely we can do better?

The secret, I think, lies in

I believe that many of these companies are collapsing under their own weight

It’s designed to be controlled by a driver or operator

It needs to be maintained, and when it breaks down, you fix it.

works in the same way for the life

Eventually, things change, or the machine wears out, and you need to build or buy a new machine.

A car is a perfect example of machine design

The problem with this kind of thinking is that the nature of a machine is to remain static, while the nature of a company is to grow

Cities are large, complex, systems, but we don’t really try to control them.

if we start to look at companies as complex systems instead of machines, we can start to design and manage them for productivity instead of continuously hovering on the edge of collapse.

Cities aren't just complex and difficult to control. They are also more productive than their corporate counterparts

The Living Company

Shell studied 40 large, long-lived companies, some of which were still surviving after 400+ years.

these companies had a lot in common with large cities

tolerated

decentralized

The boundaries of the company were less clearly delineated

local groups had more autonomy over their decisions

very active in partnerships and joint ventures

Everyone in the company understood the company’s values

to keep that culture strong

Long-lived companies had their eyes and ears focused on the world around them and were constantly seeking opportunities

were connected by a strong, shared culture.

watching and listening) and metafilter (information leading to decisive action).

we instinctively and intuitively understand that companies are not made of cogs, levers and gears

For top management, it would be wonderful if

And today, thanks to social technologies

today, thanks to social technologies

a set of connections and potential connections, a decentralized organism that has eyes and ears everywhere that people touch the company, whether they are employees, partners, customers or suppliers.

but some basic rules are already emerging

It’s not about design for control so much as

You can’t control a complex system, but you can manage its growth, and there are a lot of things you can do that will position it for success. Here are a few of those emerging practices that signal excellence in design by connection

you need to understand the culture (or cultures) that are already there, so you can look for ways to enhance and strengthen that shared identity.

As you initiate social programs, think of them as if you are designing a city street.

The last thing you want is a whole bunch of large, urban areas with no people in them

A successful street is filled with people.

The smaller the space is initially, the faster it will fill up with people.

So start small

A good way to start is with an organization-wide project or initiative

Again, think of the city street: every business or building has an owner.

make sure that every online space you create has someone positioned to take care of it, to keep it safe and clean.

every person needs a place to live; somewhere they can put their stuff

make sure that every single person has a place where they can put, and see, their stuff: their projects, the links they want to get back to, the documents they have created, their role, qualifications, expertise and so on.

A good city street offers opportunities that are unanticipated but serendipitous

Every time someone visits an online space, there’s a chance to offer them something new.

Complex systems just don’t work that way

Think about how city streets evolve: one small step at a time.

Pay attention to the culture, and watch how people react to the tools you provide.

The typical company has a very short life, from 15 to 50 years. But cities – and some companies – live much longer lifespans: from hundreds to thousands of years. Wouldn’t you like that for your company? I know I would

These are the workers who will be your new supervisors and managers

workers in their 20s and 30s expect to be able to use the latest IT applications in their workplace. They are used to social networking online, and to online learning, often preferring these to classroom instruction

In addition, this also will encourage open communication between companies, employers, HR departments, owners, and managers.” 

Without appropriate technology tools and resources available in their work environment, they may look for help from non-work related services such as Facebook.com. Integrating social media into the development environment eliminates this potential challenge and at the same time increases the potential for success of the development effort and of the new managers. 

Can social networking provide a practical way to help prepare new managers for their duties? Considering the rapid growth of social networking adoption among younger workers, this is a question well worth asking

Creating a curriculum for training new managers and supervisors is a common task that falls to instructional designers

The typical approach for many decades has consisted of a combination of classroom events, each lasting from one to five days (or more). This default design has many problems, including travel expense and time away from the job for the managers. Not infrequently, there are severe mismatches between what is taught and the actual practices supported by the organization’s culture.

There is an increasing number of companies and online service providers who are convinced that social networking can help overcome at least some of the issues common to the classroom-only approach

By combining formal classroom instruction and online reference and performance support with online coaching, mentoring, and informal learning through social networking, a new manager can gain a solid theory foundation, just-in-time help, and culturally correct application pointers.

Informal learning, as an object of attention by researchers, is not a new topic. However, it only appeared on the radar screens of instructional designers less than ten years ago. The emergence of online social media has led to the notion of somehow tapping into the potential of this channel, that carries so much of the real learning that goes on in organizations.

In our current age, we have plenty of channels in which informal learning can take place: everything from microblogs (Twitter), to communities (LinkedIn Groups, discussion forums), to user-created content (wikis, Weblogs, YouTube), to social bookmarking (Delicious), and surely more to come.

But we also have plenty of examples of attempts at use of these channels in which the attempts failed. The virtual landscape is littered with the remains of abandoned wikis, content-less and comment-less Weblogs, and LinkedIn Groups where the spam has driven out the discussion and all but eliminated any possibility of learning.

Existing informal learning groups online include a surprising variety of formats

Jay Cross’ Internet Time Community,

Participants in the Twitter #lrnchat sessions also comprise an ongoing informal learning group

if informal learning is going to take place online, it must be self-sustaining

Focus

Focus

Let’s explore some of the best ones for the “big three” social networking sites for lawyers: Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

Taming Twitter

is a great way to network with other lawyers and potential clients interested in a given practice area.

an enormous number of tools have grown up around Twitter to augment and improve the user’s experience. Here are four ways to augment your use of Twitter, along with tools to get you there.

Once you start following more than a few people on Twitter, it can quickly become chaotic.

Organize your streams into groups

you need a way to organize your Twitter stream.

Third-party applications that allow users to create groups make quick work of imprinting order on the chaos. These applications let you organize your stream by your relationship to the Twitterer (e.g., family, friends, work colleagues) or by subject (e.g., law practice management, New York Yankees). You can even create a small VIP group for the people whose tweets you never want to miss.

Go multimedia.

the ability to send photos and videos change the way you can use Twitter.

TwitPic, which is free and easy to use, is our choice for photo sharing on Twitter.

to allow you to send videos to Twitter

TwitVid

Use Twitter to publicize your blog

Twitter can be an excellent avenue for publicizing your blog. Posting a short, simple tweet that says “New blog post at [insert blog name here]” followed by a link to the blog post is all that’s required. The authors are both bloggers who track our respective blog stats somewhat obsessively, and Twitter is often one of the biggest sources of traffic to our blogs.

There are several third-party applications that automate the process offeeding these short updates, including the blog URL, to Twitter.

Twitterfeed

Carry it in your pocket.

For many busy professionals, the number one objection to Twitter is “I just don't have time for it!”

There are many hyperbusy and productive people who use Twitter. The key is realizing that Twitter isn't something you make time for—it’s something that you fit into time slots that become available.

To capitalize on the small windows of time that become available in life

you must have Twitter available in your pocket. Which means the solution is to get a tool that lets you access it from your smartphone.

The options depend on your model of phone.

Figuring Out Facebook

Facebook (www.facebook.com) is a more complex social media site

it provides a means to extend your brand and demonstrate your ability to produce a deliverable service through relationship building.

Achieving that aim, however, requires using the correct tools on the site to focus the right content on the right people. Here are some tips and tricks to get the most out of Facebook.

Control where the information flows

Unlike Twitter, Facebook will open up your life (and your family and your old college friends) to the world unless you seize control. Consequently, you need to distinguish between people that get to share your life and those that don't. You do this by creating a “list” under the News Feed column on the left-hand side of your Facebook home page. For example, you can create one list for “Friends and Family” and a separate one for “Professional” contacts. Once you've created a list, you can then restrict the list members' access to certain types of information.

Test your restrictions by going to the top of the Privacy Profile page, where you can use the “See how a friend sees your profile” button. Very enlightening.

Monitor your Wall.

Go to Settings, Account Settings and then Notifications, where you tell Facebook to notify you (by e-mail or SMS) about what, when and where things are added to your Wall. Also, make sure that you know when you have been tagged in a photo, just in case you don’t like the view.

Remember Google in your privacy shield

At the Search menu, you can set your Facebook search visibility, which determines what content may be searched internally and, separately, you can choose whether to allow search engines to see your Wall.

Feed your blog post to your profile.

Facebook also allows you to extend the reach of your blog

by feeding your blog posts to your profile page.

You can do the same thing for your Twitter posts.

Try a more business-centric focus if you like.

If you believe your Facebook presence should be more about your law practice as an entity than about you personally, you should use the Business Page feature.

An alternative to a Facebook Business Page is the Facebook Groups option.

Living with LinkedIn

networking community that is targeted specifically to professional users

It offers excellent integrated applications for building your brand name and promoting your expertise, including the ability to create your own communities within the community. Here are the keys to using it successfully.

Develop a great profile.

profile that emphasizes your strengths and minimizes your weaknesses.

Be bold but truthful

Spread your message using the integrated applications.

The applications give you a number of opportunities to demonstrate your interests and your expertise

Get and give recommendations on the site

Actively participate in groups.

Using Your Time Slots to the Best Advantage

Last but not least, remember that social networking never stops. So, to stay in the game from wherever you are, you should go mobile with Facebook and LinkedIn. Based for your phone mode

There you have it—a whole list of great tactics for improving your social networking projects to get the most out of your online business development efforts. As they say, if you only have a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. Use the tips and tools covered here and you’ll see a whole lot more in the social networking world.

we have tracked the rising adoption of Web 2.0 technologies, as well as the ways organizations are using them

are deriving measurable business benefits from their investments in the Web

within their organizations

externally, in their relations with customers

in their dealings with suppliers, partners, and outside experts.

69 percent

measurable business benefits

for example,

the factors driving these improvements

management practices that produce benefits

types of technologies

organizational and cultural characteristics

Web 2.0 technologies improve interactions with employees, customers, and suppliers at some companies more than at others.

factors that contribute most significantly to the successful use of these technologies.

adoption, breadth of employee use, and satisfaction

We then analyzed how these scores correlated with three company characteristics: the competitive environment (using industry type as a proxy), company features (the size and location of operations), and the extent to which the company actively managed Web 2.0.

According to the IBM 2010 Global CEO Study

developing future leaders

fostering collaboration and knowledge sharing.

increasingly interconnected world

. Organizations will need to act upon

enables a wide range of product, process and business model innovations

however,

"It's no longer just social media that's social any more – all media is becoming social thanks to the maturation of creative tools and digital distribution,

This is important to brands because they want to be in passionate environments. Their challenge, however, is how best to integrate within this space."

Evidence of the rise and rise of social media is not hard to find.

This, in turn, has resulted in a new breed of media businesses that see themselves

These companies aggregate and package content drawn from a plethora of sources

"In a world in which people feel disenfranchised when it comes to big issues beyond their control, online communities represent a kind of glue making them feel part of something bigger that's real and authentic,"

For example