Some of you may have read the original Enterprise Octopus post, which introduced the icon and explained the difference between The Enterprise Octopus (people-centric work) and The Enterprise Filing Cabinet (file-centric work). I wanted to take this further by turning on the x-ray and giving you a look at what’s inside both scenarios. First, let’s […]
Go to any company and they’ll tell you they need to be doing more “thought leadership.” I cringe when I hear this. The message behind the message is that they really want a whitepaper or marketing program or something that sales can dump off on prospects. I’ve never met a prospect that thinks of this […]
I didn’t go to this conference last year but everyone I talked to this year seemed blown away by how much attention and activity there was. I know our booth was perpetually stuffed and the few times I stopped by there were C-level folks from pretty massive companies talking to us. It was also very […]
In the consumer space social networks are intentionally aimless other than to allow folks to find each other, connect and socialize. Aimlessness is the last thing a company wants for its employees.
Social Networking is ambiguous at work
A couple of weeks ago I was invited as a guest speaker by a massive tech company. They had […]
1. Powering the Enterprise 2.0 Website
Techweb is a new customer for Jive. They chose us to power the community aspect of the conference and launched just days before the conference. This includes the front and real-time “back channel” of all engagements before, during and after the event. You can read Steve Wylies blog about it […]
Last Thursday I posted about a quick contest to win a free registration for Enterprise 2.0, which is next week in Boston. I received four submissions but only three of them qualify since one was a joke from Bill Lynch, one of Jive’s co-founders. I’d add my own commentary but I’ll save that for the […]
Yesterday, I hosted an online event called Business Social Software Jeopardy. We wanted to provide an entertaining way to share some commonly requested facts and make it as interactive as possible. The contestant were Jeremiah Owyang, Bill Johnson and Laura Ramos. You can watch a recorded version of the event here. Dennis Howlett did […]
The Enterprise Octopus has a nemesis. His name is Norman Naysayer. You might think the Enterprise Octopus’ nemesis would be a boat propeller but Norman is the real deal. You all know Norman. He’s the guy who sits across the table and throws obstacles at you.
Quotes that reveal you’re dealing with a “Norman”
I’ve seen all […]
The naysayer’s timeline of technology in the workplace.
Email has no place at work (1994)
It’s clearly used for goofing off. The last thing I want are my employees wasting my money emailing each other. What’s the use case for email at work? What’s the ROI? Who else is doing it?
Internet access has no place at work […]
The staple of Enterprise Social Software are discussions. Simply, it’s the active clash of interactions that powers the big gains. There’s no place to have these conversations at most companies so suddenly being able to get together and talk is a basic but unbelievably powerful behavior. It’s connective tissue that surrounds all objects.
Here’s how we […]
I am currently the CMO at Jive Software and a frequent speaker, blogger and work-a-holic. Although I write about social software, my opinions are biased in favor of Jive's collaboration and community solutions. I live in Portland, OR with my wife and two sons.
Copyright ©2008 Sam Lawrence — Views expressed here are not necessarily those of my employer.