Tag: social business

Microsoft’s New World of Working

Office 365 is a result of a philosophy coined by Bill Gates’s white paper “The New World of Working“.

I was made aware of this philosophy by a friend who’s working for Microsoft. It was a side of Microsoft I had never seen before. It’s a philosophy which didn’t fit into the image I had of the company.

A monopolist who’s always late to the party and thanks its existence to the dependency they so successfully created through their office products.

This is an unfair assumption. Microsoft Netherlans

Lighthouse

Microsoft has come a long way. Especially Microsoft The Netherlands, now the “Lighthouse” division, it leads the way into the new way of working. Not just for their partners and clients, but for other Microsoft divisions too, across the globe.

Journey

They started the journey of rehabilitating themselves into a Social Business in 2005(!).

CEO Theo Rinsema asked the question if they were living up to to the “The New World of Working” envisioned by Mr. Gates. The answer was ‘No’.

Rinsema, like a few other CEO’s before and after him, stood on stage during an event and told it’s employees that they would start a journey together. And like others before and after him, he knew where he wanted to end up, but had no idea on how to get there. He asked everybody at Microsoft The Netherlands for help. Mind you, even Steve Balmer had to green-light the transformation.

Now, 8 years later we can see the results of this journey.

Time

One thing is clear. Transforming your business into a Social Business takes time and a whole lot of patience. 8 years running and still they’re learning, developing, innovating and honing their plan.

Over the past decade, software has evolved to build bridges between disconnected islands of information and give people powerful ways to communicate, collaborate and access the data that’s most important to them. – Bill Gates, 2005

Because of the transitional nature of business in general and social business in particular the innovation never stops. Especially if you are one of the pioneering companies. Granted, there are more companies going at it, IBM and GE are two prime examples, but they all started from the same place, an old classically structured business with a top down mentality, there was no map available.

Culture

Things are different now, maps are available, some with detailed guides on how to get you where you want to go. But, social is a custom business. Even the better books have to take into account the differences in culture, size, budgets and commitment. It’s not just a change, it’s an evolution.

Microsoft’s New World of Working

And people who live this new world of working realise this. They see what’s at stake, what needs to change and what the impact is on the individual.

People like Michiel Hoogenboom who passionately shared the story of his journey with Microsoft NL. Starting with the mentality that he had to be at his desk at 09:30. 5 minutes late was reason enough be asked why he was late.

Now, he leaves home after peak traffic, stops by a colleagues’ home for a meeting before heading to the office. Which he leaves before the afternoon peak traffic (a really good idea in Holland, especially between Amsterdam and Rotterdam).

The new home on Schiphol was designed with this revolution in mind. Nobody has an office, not even Theo Rinsema. Flexibility is the key here.

After diner and spending time with his kids he opens his laptop and is instantly connected to his entire office environment. Able to edit and share documents, call or chat with anybody who’s online, and e-mail of course. All through a secure connection, all in the cloud. Office 365 is the technology that enables the people.

The people are the core and Microsoft is People Ready. Obviously it works, read more (Dutch).

Het nieuwe werken

I’ll let Theo Rinsema explain Microsoft’s The New World of Working:

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.

I believe Social Business can change our future

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?

The Winkwaves Social Business Philosophy

130228- @WijVanWinkWavesAfter making contact with @ReneJansen, of the Dutch company “Winkwaves“, he invited me to the launch of the rebranding of their Social Enterprise software. This took place in their office in The Hague.

The old name Kenniscafé (Knowledge Café) was dropped in favour of Harmonics. And I think that’s a good choice. It better embodies the philosophy the company has about social business.

Continue reading “The Winkwaves Social Business Philosophy”