I've had many conversations about how trivial social networks are, and if your primary goal is to share your dietary habits, this might be true.
If people want to get something done, and have shared goals, social systems are far from trivial.
By now we have all heard about the aftermath of the Iranian election. How Iranian reformers used Twitter, Facebook and other social networking tools to coordinate demonstrations, thwart government misinformation, and keep the rest of the world of informed on their situation.
This was in the spite the fact that these sites were being blocked by the government, and they had to coordinate workarounds to get these systems to continue to work for them.
Contrast this with your own internal systems. Do they show the same effectiveness despite the investment and support they get?
What is the difference?
Well, it could be an acute stake in the outcome, a sense of ownership in the process, and a vision behind how all the pieces fit.
The argument that social networks are trivial, really doesn't hold up anymore. There are only trivial pursuits.
I do not know whether Iranian reformers will succeed in their goal, but their effectiveness has impressed their countrymen and the world.
If you have a vision of how you can give people a stake in your business, and the power to be effective, you may be able to start your own revolution.
