Rawn Shah Archives - Rogier Noort

When I visited the Enterprise 2.0 Summit in Paris (in 2013) I was surprised by the amount of quality content (presentations). I learned a lot those two days. And not just about Social Business as a theoretical practice, but also about it’s real world value.

The greatest bonus, or advantage, of being active in this field is that you’re surrounded by people who understand the benefits of social. They are social. They have to be social.

This means they’re open, not closed.
They’re helpful, not obstructive.
They’re friendly, not arrogant.
They’re supportive, not opposing.

All in all, I had a lot of fun, which was a first for me at a conference.

#e20s Meetup

When the schedule for the Meetups was made available, and there was one in Brussels, I simply had to go.

Present was a small contingent (Bjoern Negelmann, Rawn Shah and Frédéric Williquet) and the topic was, of course, Social Business and the upcoming Summit. There was also some regular chitchat, and all-in-all it was a pleasant evening.

Ambassador

I suppose my showing up, being part of the evening triggered enough in Bjoern to ask me to be part of the Ambassadors team for the Summit. This is why I’ve been Tweeting and writing about the Summit so much. That, and the fact it is my favourite conference.

I take that role pretty serious, I do find it to be an honour to be asked. This might sound a little too Klingon for some, but it’s true nonetheless.

Spin Doctor

And then there’s that. Born out of a necessity, my predecessor moved on to a different project, the role was offered to me.

Prove

So, there it is my friends, prove that being active in a community has its rewards.

And this is an important lesson too, because it strikes at the very heart of social. If you do nothing, share nothing, ask nothing.., you will receive nothing.
At the other end of the spectrum, every seed you plant will yield some result. And these results can either be reaped by you at a time of your choosing, or something unexpected pops up or falls down.

And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make. – The Beatles

Or maybe it’s exactly what you think. The problem of having the same name for two quite different definitions can be confusing. Doing a search of “Social Business in Europe” shows you exactly what I mean.

You can’t see the forest through the trees. As a tried and true metaphor, it explains my point exactly. In an earlier post I described both versions, and the relation between the two, and you’ll see one variation gets completely overgrown by the other.

When you search, and look around on the web, Social Business in Europe is predominantly about the Prof. Yunus definition of Social Business.

For me, as a Social Business professional this is a bit disconcerting. Because I follow Peter Kim’s definition of the term. I focus on the goings on within a company, how they communicate, how they share knowledge and engage with their employees, partners and customers.

In essence, I don’t care how they make a profit.

Why is this a problem?

Well, image some executive hears about Social Business in Europe. Some partner or even a competitor is very happy with their Social Business implementation. Having nice results because of it. Getting their Social Media under control, having proper on-line conversations and happy employees. All smiles, all around (it can happen).

Now this executive does the Google thing and is hard pressed to find anything related to what he heard during lunch.

What he does find is a lot of information on Social Business as depicted by Prof. Yunus.

OK, so why is that a problem?

Because this executive is going to abandon his search really quick when he finds out that according to Yunus’ definition of Social Business, his company needs to change the way it does business and needs to become socially responsible in a way that requires him to uproot his entire business process. Or at least part of it.

He’s not going to do that. And chances are, he won’t pursue the idea for some time. Missing out on the great benefits of having a Social Business according to Kim’s definition.

Now, I love the idea of Yunus’ Social Business, the concept is tantalising and the fact that the EU is picking this up is very promising. I do believe it’s a very important part of building a sustainable society.

However, not every company is ready for this, far from it, hardly any company is ready for this.

It is happening

A Google search on “Social Business in Europe” might lead you to believe we don’t practice Kim’s version of Social Business. The opposite is quite true. Rawn Shah did a write up following the Enterprise 2.0 Summit in Paris, earlier this year.

Rawn says:

Enterprise 2.0 and Social Business are reaching a stage of maturity in Europe with detailed cases from mid and large-sized organizations from a wide range of industries, headquartered in various European countries.

Even Microsoft Netherlands is doing a great job moving into the Social Business sphere.

The Difference

The difficulty lies in the different definitions of Social Business. Although both firmly rooted in “Social”, both have a very different impact on business. So much so, that a clear distinction has to be made when looking for a certain solution.

And let’s face it, most established companies will be looking for the Enterprise 2.0 version of Social Business.

Social Business in Europe

I know the two definitions are sticking. One comes from the US and is generating considerable traction. Books are written and businesses are build around the term.

The other comes from Bangladesh and, apparently, is getting momentum too, only on a different continent.

One is rooted in business and aims to create a more inspiring working environment leading to more streamlined and resilient company. The other a business which aims to create “new kind of capitalism that serves humanity’s most pressing needs”.

Quite a difference. Heck, Wikipedia doesn’t even recognize the first, they refer to Social Media.

Bottom line (literally), when you’re searching for a Social Business solution, make sure you get the right answers.