Social Business Myths

I had planned to respond to Maz Iqbal’s post Social Business: snake oil or great medicine?  to agree it's not the software that makes you a social business but argue that social software can help an organisation evolve a more participative style.

Then I noticed an article by IBM's General Manager of Social Business, Alistair Rennie, who makes these points in Social Business Myths Debunked  published in the Financial Times (you will have to register, but it's free).

Key Points

• Social Business practices have a clear ROI (see The Dachis Group: 101 Examples of Social Business ROI)

• Social Business is NOT a new idea, business is inherently a social discipline. Social software allows us to broaden and extend this.

• Social business NOT just an IT project. Social business requires vision, leadership and conviction. Also experimentation, measurement, coaching and a shift in the way people do work.

• Tools alone can NOT transform an organisation into a social business. Technology is an important component, but focusing on tools is not enough.

• Social Business is more than jumping on the Facebook, Twitter, or Google+ bandwagon. It is about integrating organisational business processes with social components to achieve transformational business outcomes.

As Maz explains, to be a social business, an organisation must trust and value the expertise and contributions of staff. If this is not the case, software will not make you more social.

In summary, a social business takes advantage of a more transparent and participative way to manage the organisation, made easier by this new software.

But if you see the potential of engaging employees in new ways, are willing to lead by example, empower peer leaders and remove the cultural and organisational barriers you encounter, then this software might not be a bad place to start being a more social business.

Talk about the Passion

Welcome to the world of business where cool reason and objectivity make for sound management and decision making. At the same time, companies dream of products and services that elicit customer loyalty, admiration and passion.

How do you expect to have loyal, passionate customers, if employees don't have the equivalent passion for excellence?

Passionate people already impact company performance

An employee's passion is not mindless enthusiasm for the company and what it does. It is a commitment to what one cares about, and a willingness to fight for what one thinks best.

Studies also show how emotionally engaged employees are more productive and generate better outcomes. But the fact is, personal passions will drive behaviour in your business regardless.

Good managers know this and use performance evaluations or team structures to channel this energy toward constructive activities that improve services and increase customer value.

But what if this passion can be tapped on a larger scale.

Channelling passion can help drive change

Malcolm Gladwell, in his book "The Tipping Point" describes three archetypes that help push social trends (e.g. fads, epidemics) to critical mass. These personality types do this by wielding influence in different ways, but they all have "passion" in common.

• Connectors are passionate about people. They enjoy meeting people, understanding what they do and connecting them to other people.

• Mavens are passionate about their favourite topic (cars, films, etc.). They learn all they can about it and they enjoy sharing that knowledge.

• Salesmen are passionate persuaders. These charismatic people enjoy debate and love to get people "on-board".

Gladwell argues that these personality types, given the right context, seed ideas, lead by example and persuade peers, driving these trends. He calls this "The Law of the Few", but we know it as the 80/20 principle where initially 80% of activity is generated by 20% of the participants.

Social business tools can channel individual passion to meet organisational goals

This is where good social business tools and passionate employees combine to give management the leverage to institute positive change.

Business-oriented tools that mimic personal-use counterparts such as LinkedIn and Facebook, give people a way to discover and collaborate with others who share their passion. This also gives the company a vehicle to influence outcomes through shared goals and focused initiatives. 

Since customer service problems, wasted time and red-tape impact your employees, your customers and your bottom line, people can be very passionate about fixing them. These tools turn passion into crowd-sourced activities to generate and vet ideas, define and document best practice, and accelerate problem solving.

When employees are seen to make a difference, "The Law of the Few" will drive additional participation and, due to the relationship between how employees perceive your commitment to the customer and a customer's perception of quality, will strengthen your service operations and service culture.

So, with a "social" approach to help you solve old problems in new ways, you can use the commitment and passion of your employees to inspire loyal, passionate customers.