Social Media as a Tool for Organizational Transformation

The New Social Learning: A Guide to Transforming Organizations Through Social Media by Marcia Conner

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This book was enlightening because it changed my whole perspective on social media. What I have embraced as an inexpensive, organic, network driven form of marketing can actually transform organizations as a learning tool. This is the thesis of The New Social Learning. As an organization, your goal should be to move from the "push of information to the pull of learning." By using the tools provided by social media, an organization can transform itself into a learning organization, which makes it more adaptable, flexible, sustainable, and global. Merely beating the competition is an outdated concept; we need to be a stronger contributors and better learners. Our world is too interconnected and too small for any other course of action.

The book is an ideal place to start for the CEO or senior executives who want to understand how powerful social media can be as a learning tool. There are no prerequisites required, either. The authors discuss the concept of learning, and how they based their thesis on the theory of knowledge termed social constructivism. Distilled to a phrase, social constructivism is that "reality is constructed by people based on their interpretations and knowledge of it." So when you engage with people, you build your insight into the topic at hand. Someone else has an interpretation which adds to your vision, and your understanding of the topic grows. A similar process happens with the next person you talk to. In this manner, your comprehension grows through social interaction.

From this foundation the authors use case studies and examples from some of the world's largest corporations to discuss online communities, microsharing, collective intelligence, and immersive environments. There is something for the big and small organization, the technically savvy and technologically backward organization. The authors parting words are good advice for any aspiring entrepreneur lassoing the power of social media as a learning tool. Start from where you are, and do what you can. There is a getting started guide on the website: http://thenewsociallearning.com.


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The Groundswell of Social Media

Groundswell by Charlene Li

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


When this book first came out in 2008, it was portending a megatrend. It was definitely a glimpse into the future. The authors got it so right that even 3 years later, the book remains relevant. I would recommend it to anyone wanting to learn or understand the social media "groundswell", which is becoming more fully integrated into the mainstream and less of a phenomenon with each passing day.

The book provides a great overview, supplemented with some pertinent case studies, showing how social media is impacting businesses, and will continue to do so. I think it would be especially beneficial to the executive who wants to know what social media can do for his organization. It will help you establish a foundation for learning.

SH



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Unemployed Forever? Not On My Brand!

Hello my branded friends!
I discovered an article from the New York Times a few weeks old that uncovers a disturbing trend.  In this buyers market for employers, corporations no longer want to consider you for hire unless you are employed or only recently unemployed! We all know that holes in our resumes make us look less attractive to HR professionals, but periods of unemployment can be unique to an individual.  You may be able to explain periods of unemployment satisfactorily to a recruiter or corporate HR professional, but it looks like you may never get the chance.

In my opinion, this is a very short sighted view by corporate America.  What is the advantage of dismissing a whole class of potential employees? It seems to me to be a shortcut for corporations to weed through plies of resumes, when there are on average 5 applicants for every opening.

So what can we do to shore up our brand in these circumstances?

1.  Get something on your resume:  Volunteering is always good; just be sure your efforts coincide with what you are putting on your resume.  For example, I really wanted to volunteer for Kiva, and applied for a position as a loan reviewer, which I did not get.  Although I did apply for the position, and spent a few hours writing essays, I do not add that to my resume.  Remember that my brand must be authentic. It must reflect who you actually are.

2. Network like a madperson!  You need to be on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, with completed profiles.  Look up anyone you have ever worked with whom you had a relationship.  Tell them you are looking.

3.  Be persistent:  Work your network and keep your on-line profiles updated.

4.  Do not settle (unless you have to) :  All of our circumstances are different. Some may be holding a "dream" job; som may just want a paycheck.  One advantage of taking any job is that you are no longer unemployed, and will therefore no longer be automatically rejected if you continue to search.

You have your ego fully exposed when looking for employment.  It can be a wretched and soul sucking experience.  You can have a bad day every once in a while, but do not have a bad week (or longer).  Stay active and stay positive!

Thanks for reading!
SH

Building Your Brand (and Keeping Your Job)

Hello fellow branders-

I stumbled upon a great article in the July 30, 2010 issue of Fortune called Building Your Brand (and keeping your job). As personal branding increases in popularity, it is possible that your employer may feel threatened or taken advantage of as you develop your personal brand in a work environment.  The article focuses on Scott Monty, who as Global Digital and Multimedia Communications Manager at Ford Motor Company, was recruited to the manufacturer after establishing himself as a expert at the intersection of marketing, advertising, and PR.  Monty is truly an expert in personal branding techniques, bringing 3500 Twitter followers with him to Ford. 

But establishing your personal brand in the context of your company's can be a tricky business.  While certainly great for your resume, corporations may wonder why and what you are typing all day.  As Monty says, "With personal branding, there's a constant debate about who benefits more- the company or the individual."  Scott has obviously navigated this path with great success, but others have not. 

The article presents five case studies where social media experts have been both lauded and fired by companies for working to grow the corporate brand. Some of the issues are corporate culture. A corporation may have trouble seeing the value you are creating for them when you are extending your brand at the same time as theirs (and at their expense).  It falls on you to sell your corporation on this concept so that is the proverbial win/win.   The article gives you four tips on how to successfully traverse this slippery slope.

Excellent reading for anyone interested in personal branding in today's corporate environment.

Thanks for reading!

SH

The Continual Learner

Greetings, fellow brand cell mates-
One of the foundations of my brand is that of continual learner, as I am certain it is with some of you.  I have this description of myself in several places, including Goodreads and Facebook, because it is accurate.  Remember that our brand goes nowhere if it is not authentic.  Your brand must line up exactly with who you really are or it is worthless.  It will disappear like a trailer park in a Category 5 hurricane the first time it is tested if it does not reflect who you are.

What does "continual learner" mean to me? An openness to ideas, developing new skill sets, learning new languages...exactly the type of flexibility employers are looking for in today's work landscape.  To this end, I have stumbled upon a great website that offers a true cornucopia of learning opportunities.  The website is Alison.  Besides being one of my favorite songs (by Elvis Costello), Alison produces learning videos, and provides a gateway to others.  And it is all FREE.  Although the site is advertisement heavy and can be a bit difficult to navigate, the course offerings are endless.  It also tracks your progress and offers a diploma upon completion.  I am currently taking a course in Social Media Marketing with Chris Farrell that is very engaging.

In addition to its own productions, Alison links to higher institutions of learning around the world for more FREE classes.  I am also brushing up on my French through the BBC; there are courses from MIT, Cornell, Harvard, Stanford...the list is long and filled with some of the best universities in the world.  You get to see the actual lectures for which students are paying $300 a credit hour.  Sometimes a complete syllabus is included, which has the prof's recommended reading, tests, etc.

If you are online looking for jobs, or playing games, or just surfing, take 20 minutes a day to take a class in whatever discipline you like.  It costs nothing except your time, and the results will be personally and perhaps professionally rewarding.  Plus, you get to add the authentic tag to your brand of continual learner.

Thanks for reading!
SH

The Design of Business is Your Business

Greetings branded individuals!
Some of you may have read that unemployment has ticked up a bit in my home state of Virginia.  We are actually in pretty good shape, with an unemployment rate nearly 3 percentage points lower than the national average (6.2% VA vs. 9.2% national).  Interestingly, though, corporate profits are up. Way up.  How is this happening?

Most of the corporate growth has been overseas, for one thing, which obviously means no American jobs.  Ssecondly, corporate productivity continues to rise, so business feels no need to hire.  Unfortunately, they feel no need to give raises either, since there is little competing demand for their human capital.  Business is by nature conservative; most businesses fight change.  Innovation is often sacrificed for efficiency.  Which, I believe, is the reason social media is not yet universally recognized for its massive potential as a marketing and sales tool.

I just finished a book about the struggle between efficiency and innovation in business called The Design of Business.  It is written by Roger Martin, dean of the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, and gives fascinating insight as to why both "new knowledge" (innovation) and "current knowledge"(efficiency) can amd must coexist in an organization.  Martin makes the point that a business totally reliant on analytical thinking may be blind to opportunities and resistant to change.  "Design thinking" accelerates the pace at which information moves through an organization, which means costs of the knowledge will decrease as it creates productivity increases.  At a more rapid throughput, business may still have a competitive advantage when the information is applied or adopted.

Being an innovation champion in an organization can sometimes be perilous to your career. (Editor's Note: That is why you need your personal brand!) At this time, there are still CEO's thinking social media is for his kids, or crowding the responsibilities for social media on someone's already loaded job description.  The challenge lies in making the traditional organization see the value in social media applications. A design thinking organization will understand the balance required between efficiency and innovation to keep its business competitive.  That is the organization with whom I want to stake my future.

Thanks for reading!
SH

Taking the "Un" from Unemployed!

Greetings branding zealots!
Everyone who is unemployed and is doing whatever they can to get re-employed has certainly seen the lists of "must do's" created by HR professionals.  I am hip deep in a couple items from the list, specifically volunteering and working for the experience.

Volunteering: Most of you have heard of the "microloan" concept.  It is fully explained in Muhammad Yunus' book Banker to the Poor.  Dr. Yunus and his Grameen Bank won a Nobel Peace prize in 2006 for their efforts to amerliorate world poverty by applying microloans first in Bangladesh, then throughout the Third World.  There are several MFI's (microfinance institutions) out there, but I like sending my money to Kiva.  Kiva is a non-profit that works with MFI's across the globe to serve people with no access to traditional banking systems.  Kiva packages my, say $25 loan with your, say $25 loan until the goal of say, $1000 is reached.  The amount is then distributed through an MFI to an entrepreneur of your choosing.  I love this concept because it is social awareness on a grand scale.  I give up a venti soy latte a week, and I bet I never miss it. I was about to go all in with Kiva (i.e., donating a modest but regular amount) until the grim reaper called, so instead I applied for a position as a loan reviewer.  I would encourage anyone with a personal interest in making the world a better place to investigate Kiva.

Working for the Experience:  As I told a friend I have known since elementary school, this is the advice you do not want to take.  It has turned out to be a learning experience, however, so I continue.  I am working for a friend of mine who owns a small HVAC contracting business (3 vans, 2 technicians, plus her) and is struggling with cash flow.  She is an incredible technician, a good teacher to her technicians, great with customers, but lacks sales and marketing skills.  I have been helping her by running a few sales calls, building her website, and following up with customers, in an effort to try to build a revenue stream that is but a trickle.  The experience has sharpened my sales acumen and allowed me to build a website, and I would rate it a very positive experience thus far.  If you have the opportunity, give it some reflection.  It may work for you as it has me.

And now your brand includes: self motivated, shows initiative, high personal drive, excellent sense of self direction.

Thanks for reading!
SH