Guru Speak > Mark McDonald, Gartner
Guru Speak Interview: Co-creation Strategies
Mark McDonald
Mark McDonald, Ph.D., is a Group Vice President, Head of Research in Gartner Executive Programs, and a Gartner Fellow. He is responsible for the research agenda focused exclusively on CIOs and the business of information technology. Mark is the lead author of research in the areas of CIO credibility, the business use of advanced technologies, enterprise architecture and business process transformation.
He is the co-author of the book, "The Social Organization" with Anthony Bradley, Group Vice President in Gartner Research. Mark is also the co-author with Peter Keen of "The eProcess Edge" and the author of "Architecting Enterprises — Achieving Performance and Flexibility." In this exclusive interview, Mark shares his views on social organization, and what it takes for a business organization to become a social organization. Excerpts: "Purpose is What Differentiates a Social Organization"
Younomy: The explosion of social media and its increasing adoption in the business world have truly caught the imagination of business thinkers. People call those companies that tap the full potential of social media as social business. But you prefer to name them as social organizations. Do you think you are tabling a new concept or it’s just a new name? Mark McDonald: I believe we are tabling a new concept because social organizations are tangibly different in terms of the way they work, how you manage them and most importantly what they can accomplish. Terms like social business, social media and the like describe a different flavor of the same activity. Just like many companies put the 'e' flavor into their business without really changing the business, the same exists for many organizations that have social media. They view possessing the technology, being on Facebook or having an online brand as making the social. We find that social organizations are both qualitatively and quantitatively different because they apply a new way of working, managing and leading — that is called mass collaboration. Mass collaboration enables an organization to tap into the collective wisdom, energy, experience and insights of customers, employees and just about anyone else to achieve a meaningful purpose.
Mass collaboration, when applied in a social organization breaks through the limits of organizational hierarchy and spans the horizontal silos created by business processes that limit organizations that just provide the technology and pray it will work. That level of collaboration, its ability to tap the energy of people all within just enough structure to achieve a meaningful purpose is what makes being a social organization unique. Anyone can bring social media in house, set up a Facebook site, etc. Those are superficial changes. But a social organization goes beyond providing the technology and praying that someone shows up or something good happens. Every organization is social, but not every organization is a social organization.
Younomy: Talking about the impact of social media in value creation, do you think the process enables creation of intangible business value like "customer experience", helping organizations go beyond developing new products or services? Mark McDonald: The ability to contribute your thoughts, ideas, experiences and read the contribution of others via social media certainly expands the customer experience and can help them deliver a broader range of value. However, such value is a fleeting feature, easily copied and boring unless it is tied to a compelling purpose. Consider looking at reviews of products on customers web sites. This is a common social media based extension of the 'customer experience' however its value quickly fades either because of conflicting reviews — who is right the 5 star or 1 star revenue — or just sheer volume and repetition. Contrast that with a company that seeks to incorporate their customers knowledge and experience into their value proposition — for example a financial services company that allows its customers to talk with each other, share plans and ideas about savings, and track their progress against others. Now the customer experience expands, deepens and tailors itself in ways no company could provide. Social media technology can capture content and put it on display, but only a compelling purpose will attract and retain customer attention and build a unique customer experience.
Younomy: Lack of proven strategies or frameworks or best practices are often cited as reasons for the wait-and-watch approach of many businesses as far as social media adoption is concerned. Do you provide any ready-to adopt guidelines in your book?
Mark McDonald: Yes, The Social Organization is build around the idea of sharing insights, approaches and techniques for how organizations use social media to tap the collective genius of their customers and employees. The book’s focus on chapters is on that approach and the results it produces. We found this approach by studying more than 400 social media implementations to identify patterns of success and the activities that led to those patterns to both build, manage and sustain a social organization. Younomy: I think that an open innovation culture to engage employees, and the willingness of top management to create value for society (going beyond profits) are the two pre-requisites for an organization to excel in social media-enabled co-creation. What are your comments on the need for "employees empowerment" and top management's commitment to "total wealth" to make it big in social media adoption, please? Mark McDonald: The term employee empowerment has lost most of its meaning from a combination of overuse and abuse. The vast majority of 'empowerment' initiatives represent approaches for employees to contribute their ideas, even via social media, but then the business leadership still decides. Social organizations empower their employees in different and more meaningful ways. Rather than roping off a part of the business and saying, 'you can contribute your ideas here, but for the rest of your day do what we say,' social organizations create collaborative communities based on purpose. Purpose is what draws people together. It defines the community, not in terms of a close ended question for comment, but rather in terms of an open ended objective where the community has the responsibility for figuring out the means to achieve that end. Purpose is what differentiates a social organization from one that predetermines where, when and how it will 'empower' employees.
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