E 2.0 Value Metaphors
- by Tom Tonkin
I guess I have been doing this too long. I can easily see the value of Enterprise 2.0 technology for an organization, but find it a challenge at times to convey that same value to others. I also know that I'm not the only one that has that issue. Others, that have that same passion, also suffer from being, perhaps, too close to the market.
I was having this same discussion with a few colleagues when one of them suggested that metaphors might be a good vehicle to communicate the value to those that are not as familiar. One such metaphor was discussed.Apparently,back in the early 50's, there was a great Air Force aviator and military strategist by the name of John Boyd. Without going into a ton of detail (you can search him on the internet), what made Colonel Boyd great was that he never lost a dog fight. As a matter of fact, they called him 'Forty-Second Boyd' since he claimed to be able to beat anyone in any type of aircraft in less than forty seconds, even if his aircraft was inferior to his opponents.His approach as was unique. He observed over time that there was a pattern on how aviators engaged in a dogfight. He called this method OODA. It describes how a person or, in our case, an organization, would react to an event. OODA is an acrostic for Observation, Orientation, Decision and Action. Again, there is a lot more on the internet about this.A pilot would go through this loop several times during a dogfight and Boyd would try to predict this loop and interrupt it by changing the landscape of the actual dogfight. This would give Boyd an advantage and be able to predict what his opponent would do and then counterattack.Boyd went on to say that many companies have a similar reaction loop and that by understanding that loop, organizations would be able to adjust better to market conditions, predict what the competition is doing and reposition themselves to gain competitive advantages.
So, our metaphor would be that Enterprise 2.0 provides companies greater visibility of their business by connecting to employees, customers and partners in a collaborative fashion. This, in turn, helps them navigate through the tough times and provide lines of sight to more innovative ideas. Innovation is that last tool for companies to achieve competitive advantage (maybe a discusion for another post).Perhaps this is more wordy than some other metaphor, but it does allow for an interesting dialogue to start and maybe even a framwork to fullfill the promise of E 2.0.
So, I'm sure there are many more metaphors for the value that E 2.0 brings to organzaitons. Do you have one to share? Please comment below and thanks for stopping by.
