So I am actually generally impressed by the McKinsey Quarterly and particularly their Web site. I noticed them integrating feeds, widgets and now Twitter responses to their articles from early on.
The other thing that is nice about McK Q is that it is one of those publications that goes over well with the folks upstairs. MCKQ focuses on corporate issues and they have a certain cachet when I can walk into the boss and say "see. I told you this would be important." HBR works too. I also love the fact that they footnote their stories.
In this article, they lay out what they consider to be "six critical factors that determine the outcome of efforts to implement these technologies." They are:
1. The transformation to a bottom-up culture needs help from the top.
2. The best uses come from users—but they require help to scale.
3. What’s in the workflow is what gets used.
4. Appeal to the participants’ egos and needs—not just their wallets.
5. The right solution comes from the right participants.
6. Balance the top-down and self-management of risk.
From my experience, that's a pretty spot-on list. #3 is especially important...particularly say if you happen to work in an organization whose age demographic skews older and need strong ties between what you are proposing and what they are already doing. I have this image in my head of leading a group of people thru a fog bank along a mountain path and they are help together by a thin line - that line connects all the crazy stuff I'm talking about to their reality - break the line and you lose their support.
i think some of the observations of the study are wonderfully articulated. web 2.0 is deceptive in its simplicity, and as McKinsey identifies, it is no less far reaching in its impact than those ultra expensive softwares. its almost like computers with vacuum tubes filling entire buildings being replaced by personal computers.
Pankaj
http://www.hyperoffice.com
Posted by: Pankaj | March 20, 2009 at 03:37 PM