A Tale of Two Hope Machines, 7.0

I believe the best way to get from here to there -- where “there” is sound, social media related recommendations UCP and Red Treehouse can use to deliver the social goods -- is to do it methodically. To follow a framework that's logically consistent and proven effective, and that meaningfully addresses the key drivers of organizational success.

BRING ON THE EXPERTS.

Here are a few big thinkers whose frameworks fit the bill, along with a sentence or so about how they frame the challenges all organizations today face:

• John Seely Brown, John Hagel III, and Lang Davison: authors of The Power of Pull. How do you systematically draw out people and resources as needed to address opportunities and challenges? 

• David Weinberger: author of The Cluetrain Manifesto  and  (released in January of this year) Too Big To Know. How do you build networks that make people smarter? 

• The Social Business Bunch ('cept that there is no such bunch, ‘s’far as I know; this is just my shorthand for management consultants with social business* offerings -- a few at the front of the pack being): 

• IBM: IBM. How do you become an agile, transparent, and engaged organization? 

• Dachis Group: the social marketing optimization software solutions leader. How do businesses re-envision their inherent architecture to meet the challenges and take advantage of the opportunities brought by changes in technology, society, and work? 

• Gartner, Inc: the world's leading information technology research and advisory company. How do you use social media to identify, catalyze, empower, and derive value from a community and their mass collaboration? 

IN THE NET THESE PEOPLE TRUST.

It's their belief that those who know how to take advantage of the digital infrastructure have opportunities to create disproportionate impact and do great work.

My daughter and I have a stake in UCP’s and Red Treehouse’s great or not-so-great work to come. I want to be sure both organizations are at least considering -- 'cause I’ve been drinking more or less the same Kool-Aid -- what these experts are serving up. 

I’ll be methodically snooping around for signs that they are, and reporting back in the posts to follow. 

*One definition of a social business: An organization that has put in place the strategies, technologies and processes to systematically engage all the individuals of its ecosystem (employees, customers, partners, suppliers) to maximize the co-created value.