I commented on Twitter yesterday that it seemed from recent experiences, the majority of CIOs don't get Social Media and the Web 2.0 thing. There were a few comments – one saying that this probably was the case across most boardrooms, and another asking why did it matter?
In his talk at Google Atmosphere last week, Don Tapscott talked about a generational divide between Digital Natives (generally under-32s, born into a world of ubiquitous Internet), and Digital Immigrants (over-32s). I think that there are at least two other categories: Digital Exiles (we should never forget that the Internet is still the virtual playground of the relatively wealthy) and Digital Refuseniks. This latter category stalk the boardrooms of organisations the world over, and it is often those who are in positions of power and influence who still believe that typing is something done by a secretary.
Tapscott last week (and I believe in his new book Macrowikinomics) argued that leaders need to embrace the Social Media and really live it. This is not the world of the PR team preparing and issuing tweets and blog articles.
But why? What benefit is there to what for many is seen as a hugely invasive method of communication. Well, for me, it's for the reasons that maths teachers drummed “show your working” into me a few decades ago at school. Social Media offers an opportunity to have a constant conversation, and that in turn will (if it's genuine) deliver a much greater level of trust amongst followers and peers than a traditional ivory tower model of leadership can ever do. Leaders who want to finely hone and polish their pronouncements will be honing and polishing as their competitors run rings around them. Of course for some there will be a concern that opening up will find them caught out.
The warts and all approach is scary. There are times when I wonder whether I'm setting myself up for a fall with the things that I write here. But I know that the alternative, radio silence, is just not tenable any more if I want to be able to build trust so that I can gain influence so that I can get my job done.
mmitII 