The Machine is Us/ing Us

my first observation: how cool he used music by Deus!  but I digress ...

This video brings me back to something I walked away with from the first Web 2.0 assigned reading: collaboration.  It allows us to take this thing we refer to as "collective consciousness" to the next level.  Individual thoughts all collaborating can truly move mountains.  I'm still in awe of Obama's presidential campaign and the extent to which he harnessed technology to create the ultimate grassroots campaign.

I'm really excited by all of these opportunities and proud of myself for finally taking enough of a breather to learn more about them.  But I'm equally pleased Jun chose to teach the class in person rather than strictly with technology.  I still crave my personal interactions.

HR's Struggle w/Web 2.0

Ah, this article emphasizes the need for skills in Change Management!  But just as importantly, it also proves organizations need to be presented with evidence-based HR in order for them to move into new recruiting techniques and/or new systems.  If you cannot back up your need for Legal, IT and Marketing resources, you should not be petulant they were not allocated to you.  As Jun says: it's all about data!   

Social Technographics

Well, I now fall into Creator with my blog!  

Prior to this class, I fell into the Spectator realm with the exception of my LinkedIn profile which is considered a social networking tool - though I see it as a business networking tool and I do distinguish the two.  Now that I am an official blogger and have been introduced to wikis, I will surely be an ongoing Creator which is definitely exciting to me.

I'm trying to wrap my head around exciting new ways to turn Spectators into Critics, in other words ramp up viral marketing efforts with existing fan bases.  If anyone has some amazing incentive ideas, please pass 'em along! 

25 Trends

This was such an interesting read for me.  Short of evaluating where each of the 25 trends stand today 5 years later, my overall impression is most of them remain just that: trends.  The ones that seem to have made significant advances lie in technology.  This speaks directly to something I am reading about in my Organization Development & Change course: Dynamic Conservatism.  HR and its role in business organizations can been seen as a social system.  It has been recognized that social systems tend to follow a sequential pattern as they move toward adopting change.  

1. Ignore it.

2. Counter-attack it.

3. Allow change a limited scope of activity and contain it.

4. And finally when it can no longer be ignored, "respond by change - but by the least change capable of neutralizing or meeting the intrusive process."

"At the root of most innovations significant enough to precipitate a change of state, there are individuals who display irrational commitment, extraordinary energy, a combativeness which enables them to battle established interests over long periods of time, a remarkable skill at guerrilla warfare."

I dare say the aforementioned "irrational" individuals are [yes, the rare CEO - think Jack Welch - but] predominantly the Web 2.0/tech "geeks". 

    

Spock

in class, i researched spock.  i thought it was a service that allows one to manage their public profile [reputation] on the web.  evidently, i signed up for it over a year ago when invited by a trusted colleague.

what it really is, is a service that collects all of an individual's web activity in one place.  if you search for someone, it will identify their blog site, their flickr posts, LinkedIn page, Facebook page, etc.  it also sends out email blasts to those who are registered for the service information on people you know: who recently posted a blog, who signed up for a new radio station on Pandora and what they are listening to, etc.

it's a search engine so comparable technology is Google but Spock is limited to people.  it's site says it is "the world's leading people search engine."

the problem it is designed to solve is: "see where your friends are on the web"

pros: it collects all public web data on a person in one place

cons: a person [such as myself] may want to compartmentalize their activities: professional v. personal.  it also is revealing activity on people i have not linked to via Spock.  it must be identifying my LinkedIn or Plaxo networks.

 

Why We Hate HR

this article depicts my very reason for wanting to work in human resources management. down to a t!  it depicts everything i have experienced in my years in business and and everything i envision is possible. not only can organizations become more profitable but imagine a world where people are working in jobs they are well-suited for, jobs they love, jobs where they are recognized and respected ... it makes me giddy.  and it's all possible!

  

O'Reilly Web 2.0

my eyes glazed over a few times while reading this article.  some of the content is likely intended - and certainly better understood - by tech engineers.

but, i love the concept that the web should be about data that becomes richer the more it is used and that it is collaborative experience.  i especially loved the idea of "harnessing collective intelligence."

i remember telling friends during the dot.com boom that it was unsustainable.  venture capitalists were throwing millions of dollars at companies that simply could not and did not generate income.  i never understood how dumb they were not to see how things would end. but after reading this article, i now understand that they were throwing millions after the talent that was designing the internet frontier. [now, if they had thrown it after engineers who could improve specific work needs, the crash may have been avoided but i digress.]

the article also reminds me how annoyed i am that i pay for internet for my computer, wireless for my computer and mobile phone and cable for my TV.  talk about redundancy!  i was also struck by a recent tv commercial: Heroes gave fans the opportunity to create their own Hero and there are now mini episodes (i think) running on the internet! how cool is that? TV is now interactive, allowing for collaborators! (So, again, why the redundancy? one screen and hard drive that is for your computer and tv please.)