As is often my wont, this morning started with a quick glance through some Tweets of interest, especially those of some of my favourite tweeters. Among other things, I noticed Dennis Howlett flogging one of his cherished themes: the BS that is talked about “social business”:
There is NO rigorous understanding of 'social business' that resonates with business buyers. Ergo it's a marketing fantasy.
— (((Den Howlett))) (@dahowlett) February 3, 2011
That prompted a terse response from Stowe Boyd:
@dahowlett baloney
— Stowe Boyd (@stoweboyd) February 3, 2011
Dennis smacked that through the covers (that’s a cricket reference, for those unfamiliar with it – like hitting a home run in baseball):
@stoweboyd really? Try selling that bill of goods to businesses that do serious stuff and not the airy fairy crap you talk about
— (((Den Howlett))) (@dahowlett) February 3, 2011
At this point, Martijn Linssen and myself hijacked the conversation:
@dahowlett @stoweboyd seeking truth by taking extreme positions? Den is prob right about socbiz not yet resonating with buyers … (1/2)
— Ric Hayman (@achurchassoc) February 3, 2011
@dahowlett @stoweboyd (2/2) … but I don't believe that automatically makes it a fantasy. Need to find the value point(s) for each business
— Ric Hayman (@achurchassoc) February 3, 2011
@dahowlett @stoweboyd and not all businesses will find a value for socbiz. what that means for their future is still unclear…
— Ric Hayman (@achurchassoc) February 3, 2011
@achurchassoc @dahowlett @stoweboyd as most ent shareholders lost their stakeholder position to mgt kingdomry, I fear Dennis is right here
— Martijn Linssen (@MartijnLinssen) February 3, 2011
@MartijnLinssen @dahowlett @stoweboyd Type of business, size of business, and ownership model impact greatly on potential socbiz uptake
— Ric Hayman (@achurchassoc) February 3, 2011
These are some of the themes I’m trying to work through in the New Enterprise discussion – what changes can and will “social business”, “Enterprise 2.0” or whatever name you want to give it really make within our enterprises? Dennis and Stowe appear to be diametrically opposed, but paradoxically Dennis himself is a prime example of a social business, having successfully applied social media tools in his own work, as has Stowe.
Social media benefits in enterprises will be situational (a flash way of saying “it depends”) – smaller, newer, knowledge- or creativity-based companies will probably see benefits much more quickly. Likewise, even within enterprises, social business principles may find departmental niches that work well. But there IS a lot of hot air being vented around the extremes of both viewpoints, and while it makes for an interesting and entertaining discussion, I believe the truth lies somewhere between those extremes.
The Church Of Savvy: Not Just In Politics, But In Enterprise Software https://sto.ly/gT6M0Z Howlett advances no arguments, just savviness