People who Blog

I came across an article about CEO blogers and the way organizations are leveraging blogs. Interesting reading. Two things that come out of this.

Firstly, the fact that corporate blogging needs a huge change in mindset. There is the school of thought which is totally against the sharing of thoughts in an informal setting (no, I dont think thats it per se, its just that they would be against sharing of thoughts on a scale made possible by blogs). This is related to the idea of "Knowledge is Power". But, in a flattening world, does that equation really hold true? I dont think so.

Lets take the example of the Dell episode. Had the company not written about it themselves, and admitted to the issue, and handled it in a way which told customers that they are aware of the issue, and are doing something about it, the world would have still known about it. There probably would have been plenty of voices in the blogosphere talking about it. So, rather than have a conversation going on out there which could potentially harm the company, its in their best interest to join the conversation, and try to influence it, and convey to the the world that they are clued in.

The second thought that comes out is something I have already written about ... Blogs are being used as a PR tool. I would think they are much more than that. Think developers discussing the latest software tool, or support analysts sharing troubleshooting tips, or project managers sharing ideas, or salespeople collaborating to expand the market, or maybe even coming up with ideas to create a new market. IBM is already doing this ... Think InnovationJam. But that again is only a part of the entire picture. The larger aspect here is the democratization of knowledge, and a belief that the old order of elite managers knowing all, and the rest being supposed to follow orders is no longer the order of the day. Or the decade?