Andrew McAfee posits that the next generation of knowledge workers is a different breed, no longer beholden to the tried and true concept of "seeming busy." As usual, he captures the essence of the status quo and the benefits of evolving beyond it.
Companies that are full of knowledge workers and that have builtcultures that value busyness face a potentially sharp dilemma when itcomes to E2.0. These companies stand to benefit a great deal if theycan build emergent platforms for collaboration, information sharing,and knowledge creation. But they may be in a particularly bad positionto build such platforms not because potential contributors are toobusy, but because they don't want to be seen as not busy enough.
And even if the leaders in such companies sincerely want to exploitthe new tools and harness the collective intelligence of their people,they might have a tough time convincing the workforce that busyness isno longer the ne plus ultra. Corporate cultures move slowly and withdifficulty, and it will take a lot more than a few memos, speeches, andcompany retreats to convince people that it's a smart career idea,rather than a poor one, to contribute regularly and earnestly to E2.0platforms.
It's missives like this which make Andrew, a fellow Enterprise Irregular, a must read for anyone looking to better understand and/or support the emergence of social software within the enterprise. I'm looking forward to participating with Andrew in the Enterprise 2.0 Rave next month; something you'll be hearing more of in the next few weeks.
mcafeeenterprise2.0social softwarebusynessenterprise 2.0 ravewoodrowenterprise+irregulars
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