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3 reasons to read this blog

Huh? Maybe you were looking for - About Mike Riversdale


With a new blog there is always the tendency to plough on in and just start posting up thoughts, links and the odd video without letting the readers know why, what the relevancy it all has to them and the underlying reasons for subscribing to this blog.

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1: Full coverage
I find that many ICT blogs tend to stick with one niche area such as a particular vendor product or a type of programming language/methodology but the blogs that float to the top of the pile give you the whole picture. Within a sphere of making information available, findable and usable within organisations using the bigger picture elements of Web 2.0* this blog will cover the following 3 key areas:

Fundamentals - the "why"
Before you install a Wiki, before you tell the CEO he should be blogging and definitely before you ask your boss for money to get an Enterprise 2.0 consultant in you really should know why.

Postings under the 'fundamental' tag will be discussions around the ideas behind, the research backing up and the theory of how the "Enterprise 2.0" organisation can function and grow. These postings are most likely to come from my personal view, be the most theoretical in focus and therefore have the most room for argument - don't hold back!

Oh, and to be honest you don't have to know the fundamentals in much the same way that you don't have to know how a car works to drive to the supermarket. Of course if you want to fix the car, change the way it works or convince someone to buy the car off you you'll need to answer all those annoying questions people tend to have - these 'fundamental' postings will give you just that.

Techniques - the "what" and "when
You know why (collaboration is good because ...) but how do you introduce, grow and gain the business benefits (increased revenue or cost savings) of all this "Enterprise 2.0" stuff? Postings under this 'technique' tag will be just that, techniques in introducing, using and growing your use of Enterprise 2.0 tools (be they software or otherwise) to you organisation.

As I believe that we all learn from others attempts I will endeavour to give real life examples of techniques with the failures having as much focus as the successes.

Tools - the "how"
The final main category of postings will be 'tools' which will encompass not just software but anything else that can be picked up and used in your quest to make information more available, findable and usable ... the whiteboard for instance ;-)


Early Office Museum: Vintage Photographs of Office Interiors, 1930s-1940s2: Stories from the trenches
Apart from my own personal views, experience and knowledge I will be culling a lot of stories from the people I work with (with their permission), from the feeds I read and anywhere else I can find them ... you? Yes, you - we all want to hear your views, your stories so don't be hesitant in leaving comments for others to learn from, engage with and even connect with you.

I firmly believe that we all learn from others attempts and that the stories people tell give us much more insight into how to approach techniques and tools than any manual that I might be able to proscribe.
I also know that people's failures and mistakes hold as much weight in others learnings as do the successes - if anyone has watched the skateboarders outside the Wellington Stock Exchange building by the waterfront you'll know exactly what I mean by that.

And the stories will definitely have a New Zealand/Kiwi slant to them.


Agile development from Fronde3: A cohesive approach
This is all going to happen with a weekly plan.

Each week I will blog (or re-view) a fundamental which will then be aligned with one or more techniques and then supported by some tools to help you. I will then repeat that cycle until we have covered the whole world of information ... *ahem*

However, despite the seemingly waterfall approach it's better to look at each of these as a Scrum Sprint that will be reviewed at the end each cycle and amended as emerging needs need to be taken in to account.

Oh, there will be regular postings that don't fit into the "fundamentals, techniques and tools" approach - I'm sure we can all cope.

* More about the big picture view of "Web 2.0" at my Enterprise 2.0 starter pack

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