Both Sides ... Web 2.0

I came across an interesting post written by Jay Cross. I say interesting because this brings out both sides of the story quite well. While web 2.0 has the potential of giving power to the people ... letting users create and deploy content as they see best, it also opens up the possibility of misuse. Something which Dave Snowden has written about as well.

I guess this is one of the reasons more and more organizations are looking at deploying web 2.0 tools within the organization. This could also be something which has high value to the organization. Lets face it ... How much of sharing of thoughts, ideas actually happens in an organization. Of course, it varies from organization to organization, but fact remains, even within an organization, content or expertise discovery is a laborious process, and not something which can be easily done. Leaves users going round in circles. And this is where web 2.o tools being deployed even within the organization could open up new channels for knowledge flow in the organization. I believe knowledge flows in the organization in ways which we dont quite understand well, not today, at least. With internal deployments, we are at least making a start in bringing these channels to light, so they could be leveraged more effectively? One more thing to add here ... web 2.0 or collaboration, when looked at within the context of the organization could actually augment the existing content management tools that have been in place for quite some time now. This not only allows organizations to make good these investments, this also enables people in the organization to discover and use these content resources more effectively.

Social Networking

I am trying to catch up on reading ... all the blogs i have subscribed to, and am making some progress on that. Which is why it was only today that i read a post by Luis Suarez (he usually knows what he's talking about, which is more than can be said about a lot of folks, including me!) about the Value of Twitter. Quite an interesting post ... Though i would like to change the direction of the discussion ...

I am looking at social computing within the organization ... Something i have written about before here and here. And this is where i would move away from the numbers ... Bottomline, the success of social computing in the organization depends largely on the adoption of the platform, which in turn is measured by the numbers ... number of hits, posts, etc., but before we can go there, we need to look at the platform itself. I have recently logged into facebook. Ok, so i have been hibernating, but i am trying to catch up. One thing which impressed me a lot was the way a number of third party applications are available for use. These applications can bring value to users, especially with things they want to see. More importantly, the way profiles of users can be used as an advertisement for these applications is amazing.

Let me put it this way ... I need something to complete some work. Is there a way i can discover what kinds of apps are available which can help, and who are the people who are using those apps, and how i can connect with them in the simplest possible way, to make my work simpler. If we assume that things take the shortest possible route, this could be a way we could drive larger numbers, and hence, larger collaboration within the organization. Of course, this is early days, and this may not necessarily take off unless there is a larger eco-system of collaboration apps providers (which there is). However, that said, all this is doing is bringing the process of discovery one level closer to the user, and making it that much simpler. And, i like what i see. And, if you take this to the virtual worlds, the possibilities can be immense. Imagine an island on SL, where you could find out what are the kinds of tools they offer which you could use. Imagine, also, a directory of tool users, and also avatars announcing their latest finds.

Wikipedia ... The other side

Dave Snowden has written an interesting one about the dark side of wikis ... Something which is an interesting thought about the darker side of "social computing". My take on this ... The essence of "social" computing is the social part. That social computing is putting power in the hands of the people, to contribute to the web of knowledge, and to derive value from it. Democratizing knowledge, or information ... Thats the very essence of social computing.

Now, in any social scenario, there are going to be folks who use these tools constructively, and those who wont. Something we need to live with. The alternative is controls on what people say. Censorship? There has to be a line between building controls, and allowing free flow of dialogue. And, this line is indeed very thin. Must we look at building in censorship into the social computing world, or can we give the social forces to make sure this kind of behaviour dies a natural death?

Its just Cricket

Cricket is almost a religion in India ... at any rate, it is a passion, an obsession. And, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is the richest sports body when it comes to cricket. No wonder then, that the Indian Premier League is a hit with fans. Across the world, i would think, because this features cricketers from across the world, and more so within India. More so, because a lot of us are supporting their home teams ... Delhi Daredevils, and King's XI Punjab.

OK ... By now you must be wondering what this has to do with all that i write about. Here it is ... Check out these ... Delhi Daredevils ... King's XI Punjab ... These are the entries on wikipedia for these two.

This brings out two points ...

1. IPL has been in the news for the last few months, and the matches began last week ... And yet, wikipedia is up to date. This is the power of sharing knowledge ... This is what can be achieved when people come together, and are able to share the knowledge they possess, and enable others to access it, and to build upon it.

2. The information you would find on wikipedia for these teams is far more comprehensive, and easier to grasp than the official websites (though not half as fancy!).

And this is a very important demonstration of the value collaboration, and web 2.0 can bring to the world around us, as well as to the organization.

Nostalgia ... In an Unknown City

I know ... this sounds like an oxymoron ... but, its something i experienced ...

The festival of Baisakhi is celebrated on the 14th of April ... And, this is an occassion to visit the city of the Guru ... Amritsar! Add to this the fact that the weekend was a 3 day weekend, we went for a visit to the lovely city. And, believe you me (or, if you dont believe me, see this picture) ... The Golden Temple ... is a sight to behold. And, a place of Eternal Peace. The waiting in the queue ... Mattha tekkna at the Guru's feet ... Something which is an experience of Peace! Something i would like to do again ... and again!

I have still not told you wh I was feeling nostalgic about the city I had never visited before. The first one ... My grandparents got married in this city. Both my grandfather and my grandmother passed on to another life almost 2 years ago ... the memories, of course, still remain. And, the city of Amritsar was a living reminder ... and, a thought that maybe I should have gone there earlier. Much earlier. Another experience ... collecting the Prasad ... the smell, the look, and taste ... Probably the only time i have ever been to a Gurudwara was with my grandmother. That, too, was as a child. And, then, whatever the Kadha that the Bhai ji gave to my grandmother, only little bits were available to the rest of the family, and the rest was for me. The smell of the Prasad brought back memories ... smells of times when, as a child, i would eagerly look forward to going to the Gurudwara with my grandmother on weekends (weekdays, school was too early as it is ...), mattha tekna, and then waiting for the Prasad ... probably the only reason i went to the Gurudwara. Of course, now i dont think it was the only reason (considering that i would get it even if i didnt go). Which means the reason was more ... And, this reason was something which peeped through the mists of time, to show me the thread of memories, the thread which lingers, no matter how time might try to erase it. The thread which reminded me of going to the Gurudwara, and the smell which took me back almost 30 years.

Another thought ... my friend, Pavan got us a ringside view for the retreat ceremony at Wagha ... The ceremony itself is an experience which one must have ... but, i am not talking about that. There is a point during the flag-lowering when the flags of India and Pakistan are right next to each other ... which gave me the feeling ... so near, and yet so far! But, i am not talking about that either. What i am talking about is that sitting at Wagha, we are closer to Lahore than to Amritsar ... Lahore ... Another city which brings back memories from the mists ... Memories not of something i have seen, but more of things i have heard ... tales of Lahore. A Lahore where Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs lived together ... a city they all called home. A city which was called the Paris of the Orient. A city referred to as "The City of Sin and Splendour" (a collection of stories about Lahore, edited by Bapsi Sidhwa). A city, which lives on in my mind's eye, a picture etched, albeit dated, but a beautiful pitcure at that. A picture of the Lahore before it became a place out of bounds for lakhs of people who knew no other city other than Lahore. Looking at the road at Wagha ... the road leading to Lahore ... brought back these memories. Of course, the real Lahore of today may not have much to resemble the memories i carry (memories which i saw through my grandfather's words), but definitely a city which attracts me. Definitely a city which i would like to see ... though, on second thoughts ... maybe not? It is better to travel hopefully than to ... On other thoughts, a city i should have visited maybe 10 years ago.

As i have written before ...

On Facebook

Its been a few days now ... I have finally succumbed to Facebook. After having resisted the urge for a few months now (basically, I was wondering how different this would be from other websites), I have finally become active on facebook. And, I have already gotten in touch with tons of folks I went to school with (most that I can recognize by name, though not by face, considering the incredible growth in girth a lot of them tend to be showing). But, apart from that, what I was really impressed with was the way applications are sprouting on facebook. Most of them, I have no clue about ... That said, this does have a lot of potential ... especially if we look at the possibility of this architecture, and the concept being unleashed within the organization.

I am talking about an aspect of the organization which doesnt get too much attention, though it does get a lot of effort from people ... expertise location. A facebok kind application could enable the organization ... the people in the organization could describe the work they are doing, and the kind of expertise they are looking for. And, applications specifically developed could bring these two together ... much in the form of a matchmaker ... only, this could be much more significant than any matchmaker, simply because this is taking what people have to offer, in their own words, and in their own expressions, and delivering this to people who need them. A pillowfight could be an invitation to critique an idea ... and so on ... This is nothing but a simplistic description of what I have seen of facebook, and I guess much more can be written about this.

Social Business Apps

Came across this quite interesting article about Harnessing the Power of Social Applications. This article is quite a refreshing one ... More so because it points out the way some companies are using the social apps ... And, opens up a lot of vistas ... You dont necessarily have to be in the high-tech industry to leverage these apps. Fiskars could do it ... And, to add to it, Barrick could do it ... The question simply remains how imaginative we can be, in applying some of these emerging technologies.

More than being imaginative, though, one of the things which is most interesting about web 2.0 is the fact that it would evolve ... evolve the way users want it to. Akin to the idea of the companies losing control to their customers, the technology "haves" are, and will in all probability, continue to lose control over the evolutionary path of technology, and it is the users who would come up with more and more imaginative ways to use this technology. And this, i feel, is for the better of the technology itself. As we can see, too, more and more, the experts tend to follow the trends rather than come up with theories about how this technology should evolve.

Somewhat similar to the idea posted at the IBM Podcasting Update. The key words being ...

IBMers go looking for it, it is most often not delivered through official means.

This is the very essence ... The organization would, in all probability, lose more and more control over the way information flows across until recently unusual channels, and this is already bringing about change in the processes of management, and is, in all probability, set to continue this.

Incomprehensible words

Andrew McAfee has written an interesting post about explicit content. While the concept as related is quite interesting, i quite agree with him when he says the wager is more of academic interest rather than of any practical interest.

I for one believe we need to be careful so as not to get into too much semantics, and too much jargon ... it could actually kill web 2.0. In fact, i think this is the basic difference between the way technology has evolved in the past, to the way it is set to evolve ... Technology of the future, to my mind, would need to be far more user-friendly (and I dont just mean this in terms of the features) than it ever has been. And, the jargon is an important part of this, i would think.

Coming back after that little meandering ... I do believe the explicit part of the content is the more important one from the viewpoint of the KM practitioner. After all, the concept of implicit content, if taken to its logical conclusion, is about what the user was thinking when they clicked on something. The clicks and what the user actually did buy is a manifestation of what they were thinking. However, when we think, every one of us think in ways which are quite different from one to the other. And, to be able to appreciate what the other person is thinking, one needs to understand the way they think (remember Dr. Watson being unable to follow the train of thought of Sherlock Holmes?). And, the way the other person is thinking is something which is conditioned by their perspectives, their "mental models" so to say, and also the context of the content.

These are the thoughts that lead me to believe that at least at this point (maybe there will be a day when we will be able to read what the other person is thinking, along with their train of thought, and their contexts), explicit content is what KM practitioners need to focus on. Lets master this first (and we are a long way from there), and then see where this takes us.

The Secret

I am these days reading a book ... The Secret ... The essence of the book is very interesting ... That what we are seeing in our life, are things which we have called to us, which we have attracted to us by persistent thought. Interesting ...

Though, to begin with, this can be quite a daunting thought. When we do realize that what we are is due to our thought patterns, that lays the responsibility for our wellbeing on ourselves. This can be a daunting thought to a lot of people. To me, too. But, thinking about it deeply ... One can see where this is coming from. One acts according to ones thought petterns, and like begets like, and ... Something which i would recommend to everyone, to read.

The Long Tail of KM?

Over a period of time, I have been thinking about one of the challenges facing "conventional KM ... the long tail. Actually, at a basic level, the long tail would be a corollary to Pareto's Law (or am I oversimplifying things here?). And, Pareto's Law would be applicable to KM as we know it. At least from the perspective of content. Lets face it ... all knowledge managers have to have a document repository with artefacts (documents?) being contributed to this repository from the business. Now, this is where the issue lies. With the long tail of KM, it can be seen that there are only a few resources which are accessed by a large number of people. This implies that there is a large number of resources which are appealing to a very small audience. The long tail ...

Corollary ... People expect KM to address all the niches in the business. And, this is where the question arises ... Can KM be all things to all people? Looking into this question at a deeper level ... Where do these documents come from. In most organizations, these documents are largely contributed by employees. Now, not too many organizations where people would be contributing documents related to the different niches of the business (by definition, most of the people in the organization probably dont even know these niches exist). The other alternative is that KM needs to invest in expertise in the different niches of the business to address the resource requirements of people in the organization addressing these niches. Question is ... How much is worth it!