The Gallanthotep's Pyramid

A friend passed me the link to this blog today.

Two pyramid builders – Goofushotep and Gallanthotep – set out to construct a
pyramid for their pharaoh. Being the traditionalist that he was, Goofushotep
build the pyramid from the ground up and risked not finishing it before his
pharaoh’s death. Gallanthotep, the Agile architect, built a small pyramid first
and built additions sideways, so that there was minimal risk in having an
unfinished pyramid when his pharaoh died.

While the original intent of his blog is discussing about the benefits of the Agile methodology, I think it is also relevant to how we should tackle the adoption of E2.0

A lot of companies are currently waiting for the technology to mature before adopting it and they are researching around for the best practices. However there is no ultimate secret formula that fits all. Companies with different types of work environment and business needs might have to adopt a different approach order to succeed. I am facilitating the use of wikis in several teams with different needs and skillsets. While some teams are already actively using the wikis, other teams are still picking up the momentum.

So instead of waiting, it will be better to start small and gradually refine the approach. The investment cost for building a wiki is definitely smaller than developing a traditional knowledge management system. It is because the structure in wikis can be modified easily and can be gradually refined. There is no need to throw again the wiki and rebuild again. And once benefits have been seem from the small group, then it will be easier to justify for implementation on a larger scale.

Confluence

I am so excited today when I read my blog today. My first comment :) Oliver mentioned about Confluence which is one of the leaders for enterprise wikis. So today's post shall be dedicated to Confluence :)

Confluence is an enterprise wiki that makes it easy for your team to collaborate and share knowledge. Beside wikis, it also support blogging as well. My company is currently using this and it has a strong community behind with useful plugins. If you are also using Confluence or have any questions about Confluence, feel free to email me.

For more knowledge on the features, you can visit their site or their video intro.

Enterprise 2.0: Fad or Future?

KPMG has published a good writeup - Enterprise 2.0: Fad or Future?
The Busineess Role for Social Software Platforms and wikis - with gusto. Will they take them into the workplace? And will that change the way we work

This article deserves a special mention in the blog because beside telling how these tools are being used, it substantiated the viability of the these tools with the companies that have adopted them. Lastly it also address the challenges faced during adoption.

Picnik

Picnik is a web application which allows you to edit your online photos from any place without installing photo editing applications like Abode Photoshop. It can fix underexposed photos, remove red eyes, or apply effects to your photos.

image from http://www.picnik.com

The Enterprise 2.0 wave is catching on

This week has been an exciting week, not only with my work. I have came across several pieces of good news that I would like to share out.

1. Digital Life ran a special on social Networks and they are running an online competition for people to blog down interesting ideas on how social computing tools can be deployed within an organisation or being between organisations and its customers and business partners. I am definitely going to contribute a few blog entries down there.
2. CNET Asia relaunched their portal site with a new design. In particular, the focus was shifted from the editors to getting visitors to participate with their own blogs and comments for tech stuff.
3. Another piece of news is that PCWorld has revamped their website with Clearspace X which is another piece of enterprise wiki software. With features like blogging tools, wikis, discussion groups and special recognition for contributors, it will definitely get more user participation
4. Intel has also joined in the bandwagon by launching its first public online community - Open Port. It is also powered by Clearspace X

Passing of Knowledge

Last weekend I was at the Botanic Gardens when I came across this sculpture. It strucked me when I saw it and found out that it is named as "The Passing of Knowledge".

In order to pass knowledge around, there must be someone who already holds the knowledge and willing to give. At the same time, somebody must be there with the heart to recieve the knowledge. And a part of knowledge is always lost when being transferred because the person giving has a lot to give, whereas the recipient can only absorb as much as he can understand.

So is there any way to improve the knowledge transfer process? I am seeking the way too.

An experiment on 3 dogs

Martin Seligman conducted an experiment at Pennsylvania University in the sixties.
Three dogs went through each experiment. The first dog was placed in a special cage and given electrical shocks through the floor. But it can stop them by pressing a panel with its nose. The second dog got shocks whenever the first dog got them. This means that it received exactly the same amount and duration of electrical shocks as the first dog, but it had no chance to affect them. The third dog got no shocks.

After a training period, the dogs were placed in in another electric cage separately. This time, the dog can escape by jumping over a low barrier into another part of the cage. Both the first and third dog quickly jumped over the barrier. However the second dog just remained there as it had learned that electrical shocks were not something it could control.

This story tell us the importance of giving encouragement and punishment at the correct time. It is important to practice what is being preached. For example, if the top management keep on advocating to the staffs that knowledge sharing is important but nothing has been done to give recognition or reward to those who adhered. Then they will revert back to their normal way of working gradually over time.

Social Bookmarking

Commoncraft has come up with a good short video clip on what is social bookmarking.

Subconsciously into Web 2.0

Have you ever read the book "Blink - The power of thinking without thinking"? The book talks about our mind making decisions subconciously.

I have been using Gmail and Hotmail for a long time but while my Gmail account is nearing the full capacity, my Hotmail is barely 10% filled. While you can said that I am using Gmail as my main email account, but why is that so? I did not realized this until recently. The response time is Google is much faster so I ended up giving more and more people this email address.

I realized this when I tried out our company wiki at another office. The response time was much slower than my office. And because that was the speed that the users at the other office have been encountering, they just accept it as something normal. If I have been using the wiki at that speed, I doubt I will adopted the Wiki in my work as much as what I am doing now. I am now trying to address that issue.

It is important for web applications to have fast response time in order to win over disk-based applications. That's why Ajax is an important component for Web 2.0. Therefore a good infrastructure is an important part in adopting enterprise 2.0.

What's in for me?

Reading Joe's entry on ROI reminded me about the meeting I had this afternoon with a group of users. They have been introduced to Wiki as a tool for their knowledge base.

While all of them agreed that a knowledge base is good, they also raised up that communication by other means like phone or email allows them to answer their queries faster. "It's faster and the job get done too" commented by a fellow member.

I explained with the knowledge base, they can

• save time answering other people's questions
• able to self help without troubling other people
• newcomers will be able to pick up the knowledge faster
• knowledge will be retained when people quit or retire
• help to spread knowledge around
• able to tap on the experiences and refine the knowledge of others

However, it was hard to convince them as there are no numeric ROI to justify them to commit the extra effort. For this type of long term investment, it is necessary to gather the support of the top management and to continue to spread the ideas and benefits at the ground.

So what is Enterprise 2.0

This slideshow gives a good introduction on Enterprise 2.0

My first post

While Web 2.0 (i.e. Gmail, Blogger, Google Map, Google Docs, Google Reader, etc) has already found a huge following in the daily part of life, the enterprise version of this technology known as Enterprise 2.0 is still a new kid on the block especially in the local scene.

Corporations are still investigating what are the benefits for adopting Enterprise 2.0 and the correct approach to implement this set of technologies.

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Web_2.0_Map.svg

I have been doing active research in this area and found a great deal of useful resources from overseas. I thought that it will be good for me to share my findings and bookmarks with the local community and exchange ideas as well. Although there are some recommended best practices from the West, but they may not work well in the local context due to differences in culture and environment. I hope this blog will attract like-minded people to share their experiences in implementing Enterprise 2.0.

In addition to bookmarks to other blogs, I will also include

• RSS feeds to interesting posts on Enterprise 2.0
• Development in Enterprise 2.0
• Potential uses of Enterprise 2.0 and their benefits
• Reviews on Enterprise 2.0 applications
• Success stories on Enterprise 2.0
• My journey in introducing Enterprise 2.0 to my company