Ignorance is Bliss -   Sometimes too many people working together on one thing do not create a bold new thing.  Instead, they create a patchwork of compromise, where the whole is vastly less than the sum of the parts. 

This happens in lawmaking too, but mostly because of the influence of lobbyists representing special interest groups.  It's not just a problem of too many people, but rather it's a problem of people having too much information.

Here is my brief take on that problem.  Comments are appreciated.

[Ernie the Attorney]

Something to think about. Certainly, organizations have "solved" the information problem with a vengeance. Now we had better start reflecting on how to make effective use of all that data and information.

11:33:27 AM •  • comment  

Traction and Radio. Roland Tanglao liked my review of Traction, but reconsidered when Jim McGee pointed out that Traction is a whole lot more expensive: ...[ Jon's Radio]

Jon Udell reviews Traction. Jon Udell reviews Traction, which, according to Jon, is "best described as an enterprise Weblog system."  [ Scripting News]

Radio vs. Traction -- A Personal View. Jim McGee asked, so I thought I'd try to find an answer. [ Blunt Force Trauma]

Seems like Traction is generating some traction, which is probably good for the case of weblogs in organizations. Turns out that I'll be in the neighborhood of Traction's offices in early August and they've graciously invited me to come visit. Stay tuned.

11:29:49 AM •  • comment  

Top down endorsement for klogging..

The Utah State CIO made this Offer to Utah State IT Employees.

I believe that the 900 or so IT employees of the State of Utah would benefit from speaking and listening to each other more. I think we need groups of specialists inside various departments to communicate with others in their specialty and without.  Consequently, I'd like to see more people writing blogs and communicating their ideas through an open forum like the one blogs engender.  To that end, I'm willing to pay the licensing fee to Userland for the first 100 employees who start a blog.  Here are the conditions:

1. Download the software and begin using on the 30-day free trial.  I'd like to see you get a start before I pay the fee.  Let me know when you're up and running.
2. I'm biased toward IT employees, but other are welcome too, particularly if they're interested in eGovernment.
3. You're responsible for what you post.  If you're going to talk about things that shouldn't be public on Userland and need to be kept behind the state firewall, let me know and we'll set up a place inside the state network for that.  We could even set up an authenticated area, if needed. 

"It is good to be king." Royal suggestions cut through all kinds of trust issues and formal decision making. I've been asking for prerequisites to success on various knowledge management lists. Uniformly the top answer is "senior management endorsement, buy-in, enthusiasm."

UserLand's hit a sweet spot too.

1. Low price point cuts risks of trying and eventual rollout
2. Newbie-friendliness gives immediate satisfaction (egoboost, social affirmation)
3. Syndication/etc. amplifies social networking effects, reinforcing current participation and bringing in new users

One other thing: you can see from Windley's post there is something real about the sense of ownership and control you feel when the tool and your writings are on your desktop. Radio gives you this. The tradeoffs of remote access and managed desktop are also real, but have much less emotional investment. These feelings of control worth of attention as the klogging meme spreads.

[a klog apart]

An unfolding example of klogging in the enterprise worth following.

8:58:56 AM •  • comment