Comments on: How we use discussions internally http://gobigalways.com/how-we-use-discussions-internally/ Fri, 22 Aug 2008 02:27:24 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5 By: Kara Udziela http://gobigalways.com/how-we-use-discussions-internally/#comment-1312 Kara Udziela Mon, 26 May 2008 19:18:41 +0000 http://gobigalways.com/?p=253#comment-1312 "We’ve found competition and market intelligence to not only be a highly active category at Jive but everyone of our largest customers have echoed that as well. It’s the conversations about the movements in the market that leads to action and knowledge growth." Love that. Sounds like you have it nailed. Too many of the OLD traditional companies have piles of competitive data that those in the trenches don't ever get access to, or worse, someone gets a whole division stuck in analysis paralysis. I once spent an entire year rewriting marketing and PR plans for an "Internet" start-up within a large company because no one could move and the business objective changed monthly. Needless to say, I left. On the flip side, so many young players are moving too fast or feel too strapped to actually dedicate constant resources to active monitoring and response, which can help keep a strong lead, or make a breakthrough. “We’ve found competition and market intelligence to not only be a highly active category at Jive but everyone of our largest customers have echoed that as well. It’s the conversations about the movements in the market that leads to action and knowledge growth.”

Love that. Sounds like you have it nailed. Too many of the OLD traditional companies have piles of competitive data that those in the trenches don’t ever get access to, or worse, someone gets a whole division stuck in analysis paralysis. I once spent an entire year rewriting marketing and PR plans for an “Internet” start-up within a large company because no one could move and the business objective changed monthly. Needless to say, I left.

On the flip side, so many young players are moving too fast or feel too strapped to actually dedicate constant resources to active monitoring and response, which can help keep a strong lead, or make a breakthrough.

]]> By: George Black http://gobigalways.com/how-we-use-discussions-internally/#comment-1124 George Black Fri, 16 May 2008 11:33:15 +0000 http://gobigalways.com/?p=253#comment-1124 I could not agree more with your opening paragraph! Making those discussions as easy as possible is paramount. Interesting post. I could not agree more with your opening paragraph! Making those discussions as easy as possible is paramount. Interesting post.

]]> By: Ben Tremblay http://gobigalways.com/how-we-use-discussions-internally/#comment-1115 Ben Tremblay Fri, 16 May 2008 02:32:42 +0000 http://gobigalways.com/?p=253#comment-1115 "Go ugly early" ... I like that, a lot. It brings to mind Arno Penzias' tactic of "setting up to fail": keep the front-end investment low and watch to see just precisely how the concept goes pear-shaped (if it does); low investment makes an objective reading of the entrails more likely whereas more formal presentations tend to entail ego-investment i.e. folk run for cover in the event of spin/stall/crash/burn/die. “Go ugly early” … I like that, a lot. It brings to mind Arno Penzias’ tactic of “setting up to fail”: keep the front-end investment low and watch to see just precisely how the concept goes pear-shaped (if it does); low investment makes an objective reading of the entrails more likely whereas more formal presentations tend to entail ego-investment i.e. folk run for cover in the event of spin/stall/crash/burn/die.

]]> By: Paula Thornton http://gobigalways.com/how-we-use-discussions-internally/#comment-1111 Paula Thornton Thu, 15 May 2008 16:44:20 +0000 http://gobigalways.com/?p=253#comment-1111 Per the informal stuff which extends the 'social' identity of individuals beyond their 'work persona', almost 10 years ago when identifying the distinct attributes of communities, I was careful to include a distinct design for 'communities of interest', to facilitate the random gathering of people around their personal interests. The 'walk by my desk' raises another critical 'social' factor: 4' cubes. The standard cube design is 5'plus. 4' cubes add a sense of 'connectedness'. More (still eliminates some) can stand during a phone call and connect visually with others on the floor. I go to the office (1 hr. commute) and may see no one the entire day...and drive home. What's the point of that? Per the informal stuff which extends the ’social’ identity of individuals beyond their ‘work persona’, almost 10 years ago when identifying the distinct attributes of communities, I was careful to include a distinct design for ‘communities of interest’, to facilitate the random gathering of people around their personal interests.

The ‘walk by my desk’ raises another critical ’social’ factor: 4′ cubes. The standard cube design is 5′plus. 4′ cubes add a sense of ‘connectedness’. More (still eliminates some) can stand during a phone call and connect visually with others on the floor. I go to the office (1 hr. commute) and may see no one the entire day…and drive home. What’s the point of that?

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