Rogier Noort - Page 19 of 40 - welcome to the 21st century

You Do Not Have To Share Everything

One of the great fears of social is the idea that you have to share everything. Well, you don’t.

Also, people who do share everything are rare, and it might be a good idea for them to stop doing so.

Unable to Lie

In the movie “The Invention of Lying” Ricky Gervais’ character is a few minutes early to a date and Jennifer Garner’s character is triggered to say “Hi. You’re early. I was just masturbating”.

Well, that was a nice shocker and apparently she said it because she can’t lie. But, she was never asked what she was doing upstairs, she just volunteered this information for no reason. She chose to share it.

In my opinion this was as useless (and gratuitous) as the strip scene in Star Trek Into Darkness.

They did not have to share this with us, it did not add to the story. We would have enjoyed these movies just fine without it. Then again, it’s not worth writing numerous blogposts about the subject either.

For You Personally

The habit of sharing everything might be fun for some. And on the receiving end it might even be interesting to some. But it can be risky.

Your privacy is largely determined by how much you share on-line. And it’s not just embarrassing stuff you have to worry about.

Future employers can easily check you out on-line, and they do. And they do let what they find way into the decision to hire you or not.
And then there is real valuable information, like your credit card. Believe it or not, people actually post images of their new credit card on-line.

Anything you say can and will be used against you.

For Your Company

Reputation is a precious commodity. Whether it’s street cred for some kid, or the credibility of a bank, in some cases the loss of reputation can have unimaginable consequences.

A company needs to protect it’s reputation with vigour. Deciding what to share and what not can be crucial and sometimes the line is blurry at best.

When in doubt, do not share.

A basic rule is that any information you share must serve a need. It must benefit a customer or a partner, help them solve a problem. A band aid for a pain.

This does not mean you have to share all the knowledge your company has.

It does mean that you can truly help people, and that you can control the conversation about your company.

Yes, by actively participating on social you decide what people read, what the conversation is about.
If you are absent, people will discus your brand anyway, but on their terms, not yours.

Inside Your Company

The need for silos within a company may always exist. And that’s OK. There are always certain aspects, like personnel or legal information, that can’t be shared with all employees.
This is not a problem, because most of that information is not critical knowledge for the day to day work routine.

What you do need to share is exactly that knowledge that is needed, or can be needed, by employees (and managers) to progress their daily work.

The fact that person A knows some process very well can be very useful to person B, who might be just before or just after this link. Having access to the information about every link in the chain can help an employee change something within their link in order to improve the workflow of an employee in the next link.

If these two employees never talk, or never share information they’ll never know. It’ll be up to a manager who sees both links to come up with these solutions.
You’d need one heck of a talented and multitasking manager to see and know everything down all links and then improve on them.

It is much easier, and probably more effective, if employees can do this themselves.

Having policies in place to guide employees on the correct behaviour is a best practice.

Not Everything

So, no, you do not share everything, you really don’t have to.
Whether it’s personal, or corporate a lot comes down to common sense.

If you wouldn’t share it with somebody in person, or shout it out loud on a birthday or mention it in a meeting.., you probably don’t want to share it on-line.

Take 10 seconds and think before you hit the send button.

I shared over 1600 photos on Flickr. All personal. And I regret none of them.

I believe Social Business can change our future

For starters, I think the word Social must not be put in the wrong context. In the case of social media and social business the opposite of social is not anti-social.

Meaning, a business that is not engaged in social, or is not a social business, is not per definition an anti-social business. It’s just not engaging with its customer base, partners or employees.

Let’s take a look at the definitions of social business.., yes.., there are two.

Social Business #1

Social Business is a concept coined by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Prof. Muhammad Yunus (pictured). By his definition “social business is a non-loss, non-dividend company designed to address a social objective within the highly regulated marketplace of today”.

This is the society conscious version of social business. In order not to confuse the two, take a look at Social Business Earth. This is an organisation raising awareness around Social Business as intended by Prof. Yunus.

Social Business #2

The term social business as I use it, was coined by Peter Kim back in January 2009.

He states: “Social business draws on trends in technology (e.g., powerful mobile devices, widespread availability of high-speed Internet access, low cost of data storage), work (e.g., always-on culture, globalisation), and society (e.g., propensity to share).”

The way I see it, the idea of a social business is a business that stays up-to-date, that stays current. It grows (or shrinks) with the times.

Meaning that when society changes, you have to change with it. When technology changes, you have to adopt it. And when people change, or want to change the way they work (in order to be more productive and happier), you have to consider facilitating this change.

Very Confusing

I find this whole lot very confusing. Oh, I understand the terminology and I understand the definitions, but it would be nice to separate them from each other.

Or should we?

After writing my article on Corporate Rebels United I started thinking about these definitions.

The two definitions of Social Business don’t have anything to do with each other. However, when you drill down a bit more, both are firmly rooted in culture.

The one is rooted in societal culture, the other in company culture.

Now, why should these two be so far apart? Surely, when a business draws on trends in technology, work and society, the step to addressing social objectives shouldn’t be too great.

The Evolution

My definition of social business is “the incorporation of technology for the benefit of a more open social construct in order to facilitate the sharing of knowledge, experiences, innovation and open communication between employees.”

Think about it.

The amount of time and effort which is required to achieve a great social working environment where you can become who you want to become is huge.

An environment which is open, social, transparent, honest and respectful… Is that not what we want to achieve, is that not the evolution we need?

And while the big chiefs in the C-Suite are providing the budget, leadership and inspiration for this magnificent change, Prof. Yunus’ vision is suddenly not that distant.

The way I see it is that if you perfect Kim’s social business, Yunus’ social business is not that elusive.
And when you set up a company according to Yunus’ principles, you have to create a culture according to Kim’s definition.

So while the two definitions are miles apart, the actual philosophy behind them is not all that different.

Wouldn’t it be nice to combine the two.

Social business is adopting a corporate culture which enables it’s employees to work in a more open and respectful environment with the intent to reflect this behaviour on society as a whole.

Technology can help with this, but it’s the mindset of corporate leadership and of employees that needs to drive this.

It’s all about people, it’s all about culture.

What is your idea on social business?

Corporate Rebels United, kickstarting evolution.

Amelia Earhart was, by any reckoning, an extraordinary woman. Her unconventional upbringing by her mother ensured she’d not be “a nice little girl” and her determination to do things differently, to brake the mould was evident from a young age.

Despite rough times and health problems she worked herself up to become one of the most inspiring people in our recent history. Her disappearance only adding to the legend.

By any measure Earhart can be considered a rebel. And it’s no wonder Corporate Rebels United uses her image to reflect their intend.

Corporate Rebels United

I came across an article by Philippe Borremans. The headline grabbed me: “We need more “corporate anarchists”…” and at the very bottom he mentioned Corporate Rebels United.

What a post… I just had to check it out.

A Change is a Coming

This may not be an obvious change, evolution never is. It’s not written on a wall, or a news broadcast. It’s probably a change you’re not consciously aware of at all, but it is coming regardless.

It will take considerable effort to make this change, to live through it, to wake up.

Principle-3: We have the mandate to be brave and to challenge the status quo.

Not Revolution but Evolution

In my opinion people have a more and more negative image about society and people. Sadly, I’m one of them.

Maybe I’m just projecting my own views, they tend to be on the negative side of things.., however, I do prefer calling myself a realist, not a pessimist. Meaning there is room for improvement.

Anyway, ever since I started with Social Media and grew towards Social Business I became more and more aware of this evolution.

And I’m starting to believe that this particular evolution, this particular change is what we need. And I do mean “need”.

We need to change, move on, grow up.., evolve…

Principle-4: We will reboot our corporate and organizational culture to install a 21st century, digitally native version.

Living Consciously

The biggest problem with “just doing your job” is that it dumbs you down. OK, maybe not you personally, but certainly the masses.

Come after dinner and we’re tired and numb from a day at the office, all we want to do is have a beer and watch The Voice or some other mindless entertainment.

I do not watch The Voice, I don’t watch regular TV at all (I have a thorough dislike for commercials). I watch an HBO Original and claim myself more intellectual than those that watch The Voice.

It’s still just tuning out though, but I’m working on it.

Principle-12: Our community acts from deep personal awareness and presence, and an irresistible enthusiasm opening up old rusty structured.

The Great Cure

Our brain is a marvel of evolution, or creation, depending on your point of view. No matter how you look at it.., it’s just a marvel.

It made us what we are today, well, that and our opposing thumbs, but the point is.., on Earth, we are unique and just fantastic.

However, your brain develops until you reach adulthood, say, the age of 20. After that it, like the rest of your body, it too starts to decay.

If you do not maintain it, you end up colouring outside the lines by the time you’re 50, chances are.

You need to keep stimulating your brain, keep learning, keep thinking, keep creating new synapses.

Changing the way we work, uprooting our daily routine can have unprecedented benefits throughout society.

Principle-11: Our actions lead to new product and services and new global practices for value creation, agility and velocity.

Just Imagine

When we are given the opportunity to be as creative as we can, to stimulate and challenge our minds. To work in a safe environment where intelligence and progressive thinking is encouraged, not feared or obstructed.

We could reach a point where enlightenment could be an every day occurrence. People waking up from the matrix we created for our own.

A point where change, challenges and progress are your comfort zone.

Imagine knowing you can do better and being able to actually do so, at work. No need to work from home, take an evening course or risk it all by going freelance.

You could be that entrepreneur, that innovator, that change maker and still have a steady pay check.

The company you work for would benefit endlessly because now, finally, you are living up to your true potential and you truly do want to get to the office to get things done.

And just imagine the effect this will have on society. Born again free thinkers all over the place.

Back to a society where the human spirit is driven by innovation and the hunger for exploration can be stilled.

I like that idea.

Principle-18: We keep our community a safe environment, where you can become who you want to become. Where you are not alone in being a catalyst.

Rebel Jam

You too can join Corporate Rebel United. Or read a bit more.

And just to show how “there is no box” thinking looks like. Corporate Rebels United organised the “Rebel Jam“.

Now pay attention: It’s a free, on-line, 24 hour event. With a speaker every hour and discussion after each speaker, from all over the world.

Some pods are meeting up to enjoy the Rebel Jam in good and like minded company. I am going to Brussels.