Relevancy Is Not Simply On /Off

I bang on and on about "relevancy" because it is the single* most important attribute that you should apply to your work. If we can achieve the perfect relevancy of a piece of information or a tool or a contact then we can sit back in the knowledge of a job well done.

Unfortunately, gaining relevancy is soooo difficult.
For instance, Google would like to return the most relevant search result for you at any one time - just one result, the most relevant. And they are millions of miles away from doing that.

Relevancy is not a binary attribute, it is a continuum.
Relevancy is made up of a number attributes that are, second by second, constantly in flux:

• need
• mood
• urgency
• context
• time of day
• ...

You get the point - there are so many factors to take into account that it's almost impossible (currently) to be perfect but we should not be scared of failing as we go for perfection :-)

OK, so how do you know when a piece of work (content, software, website, intranet ...) is relevant? There is only one way - ask those that have to use your work. Relevancy is indeed made up of many factors as I've stated but all those factors are wrapped up in the person using your work. Them, and only them, can state, "That is relevant! (thank you)"

And when you discover that relevancy is a continuum that flows within people you design your work to flow with them ... and therein lies the skill. It is not easy but there are plenty of extremely experienced and skilled people to help you. My talent lies in making information as relevant as possible especially when people want to work upon that information to a common goal ("collaboration" if you will).

To sum up, if we move away from the concepts of "done because we delivered" and
"done because we've reached the delivery date" and towards "done because that is relevant and useful" we will deliver better work and, I believe, far quicker and for less resource.


More on this blog related to this:

• Whoever pays for your information, owns it
• 3 pillars of collaboration
• 3 parts to good information - available, findable and usable
• Relevancy ... that's the key word for content
• Plain English - making information available and usable

* And the second most important attribute = useful

SharePoint Conference (Wellington, 2nd-3rd July) - International/Local Speakers, Your Peers PLUS Me

Through the hard work of a small yet dedicated team* New Zealand finally has its own Microsoft SharePoint conference - and I'm presenting (Friday 3rd, 1pm-2pm: "How To Manage Those That Want "Facebook" Inside Your Organisation")

The two days are a must for anyone currently using SharePoint, thinking of moving to SharePoint or considering SharePoint and, to be honest, if you're moving your Intranet/collaboration environment into something useful and a "doing place" you will be in one of those camps.

You'll get to hear fantastic local and international speakers, pick up tips & techniques and, like all the best conferences, network with your peers who are bumping up against the same issues as you are!

Here's the details:

• http://www.sharepointconference.co.nz/
  
• Conference agenda
• Register ($500/person - 20% for parties of 5+)
  
• Venue: Duxton Hotel, 170 Wakefield Street, Wellington 6110, New Zealand
  

I'll put up the details about my session, "How To Manage Those That Want "Facebook" Inside Your Organisation" (Fri 3rd, 1pm-2pm) once I've created it :-)

Oooh, very exciting!


* Here's the details around your awesome organisers amended from the official conference site:

The New Zealand Community SharePoint Conference is organised by three SharePoint MVPs from the New Zealand SharePoint Community. The trio of hard workers participate and support the community through organising and sharing their knowledge at user group events

Debbie Ireland, Mark Orange and Chandima Kulathilake

Webstock 09 Memories

• Webstock - what you said
• What Bruce Sterling Actually Said About Web 2.0 at Webstock 09 - verbatim transcript

None Of This Is Serious

As Bruce Sterling infamously pointed out at Webstock (and beyond) this whole "Web 2.0" world of "social media" is all very nebulous:

Okay, "webs" are not "platforms." I know you're used to that idea after five years, but consider taking the word "web" out, and using the newer sexy term, "cloud." "The cloud as platform." That is insanely great. Right? You can't build a "platform" on a "cloud!" That is a wildly mixed metaphor! A cloud is insubstantial, while a platform is a solid foundation! The platform falls through the cloud and is smashed to earth like a plummeting stock price!

And Twitter is merely the latest in a long line of world-changing-yet-not services taken up by the chattering classes of the Internet (I am a fully paid up and active member :-)

Check out this awesome vid from Super_Josh at Current.com (via Digital Learning via a tweet, probably :-) and sit back in your chair with a smile and then re-evaluate the import placed upon that next push of "the cloud" and the like ;-)

How Is The Wisdom At Your Organisation?

As I've noted before when times are tough the desire to lock down, control and only look inwards can be overwhelming but I (and others) believe it's not the right approach and certainly not one that can set you up for the good times when they arrive. Now is the time to ensure we have the moral compass to do the right things and not to mandate to the n'th degree what we should/shouldn't do.

Warch this TED talk in which Barry Schwartz discusses, "The real crisis? We stopped being wise":

Barry Schwartz makes a passionate call for "practical wisdom" as an antidote to a society gone mad with bureaucracy. He argues powerfully that rules often fail us, incentives often backfire, and practical, everyday wisdom will help rebuild our world.

Related to this:

• Recession Time Calls For Tough Calls - Here's Your List
• 4 ways of being productive DESPITE the organisation and how YOU can help
• Hard to work inside an organisation - the escape plan

An Explanation Of "Social Networking" For Those That Don't Get It

I came up with the following analogy the other week that I'd like to share - by all means cut-n-paste it, pass it on and link to it to those that ask the following question:

I just don't get it,  why would I use Twitter??

Substitute Twitter for any other "social networking" platform (Facebook, blogging, LinkedIn, RSS, Flickr ...) and you'll find many MANY people that just don't get it.

So, the analogy.

------------------

Imagine you're talking to a friend about a new local pub that's just opened up and you think that this coming Friday you and he should give it a whirl.

He looks at you blankly ... "I just don't get it,  why would I want to go into a pub??"

Cripes, you think, he's onto it, "Oh, have you heard bad things about that pub?"

Your new friend explains it's not about that one pub but all pubs, why would anyone want to go into any pub? He's read the horror stories in the newspapers and heard the dire consequences that result from just entering them.

And yes, dur, they're not stoopid and of course they understand the basic makeup of a pub - it's a room, people get drunk in them, in fact people get so drunk that other bigger people are hired as "bouncers" to kick the drunks out once they start fighting. The pub is usually loud, full of "certain types" and"Well, to be honest, they're just not for me - I'm not into that"

And you can understand that, why would you want to go into a place that's full of drunk people shouting at each other and eventually end up in a fight to be thrown out. You know it would also be a lie to deny that there are pubs that are like that. 

However most pubs are not and most people do not go to those sorts of pubs.

So what do you do, you ask your friend to come along to the new pub on Friday and because he trust you he agrees. Friday comes and in you walk - it is quiet, it is warm, it is welcoming and it is full of people "like you". People are talking, people are working and people have having fun. Your friend looks around for the bouncers but can't see them ... 

At 8pm a quiz starts up in one corner of the pub, some people finish their drinks and leave for a different pub, their tables are taken by others. Your friend is notices a work colleague and pops over for a chat where he is introduced to others at the table ... conversation ensues.

At the end of the night your friend turns to you and thanks you, "I'd never have thought that a pub could be like this, thank you!"

A few weeks pass and you catch up with your friend, he tells a story full of woe about how he and his girlfriend plucked up the courage to go to their local pub. It was a very different type of pub and, unfortunately, the night ended with his girlfriend having her handbag snatched. But he hasn't been put of pubs as a concept but they certainly won't be going back to that pub.

-------------

Unless you're gonna talk about pubs then the key is:

• you = enthusiastic early adopter
• friend = anyone that's not using Twitter
• new pub = Twitter
• pubs = social networking tools
• drunk people = trolls = annoying spamming posters
• getting drunk = talking crap, wasting my time, tell me they've just had a coffee ...
• bouncers = moderators
• quiz = event / subject or any other reason to get together (eg a Twitter #tag)
• table = Flickr group, community of interest and many other "grouping" of people
• bag snatched = anything nasty at a social networking platform

The moral of the story:

You cannot tell people what it's like, they need to experience it

This is the same of "social network" sites ... you need to experience them and find the zen space of the 'social networking' tool(s) you use

Photo: At The Sign Of The Queens Head - Originally uploaded by elhawk

"... I want this cloud thingy" - Brilliant

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