The Power of Collaborative Innovation by John Chambers

How many times have you heard, or read, various articles or news items, where it is described, with plenty of details, how the management line of the corporate world seems to be the main group of people fearing (Or, at least, being rather weary on) the wider adoption of social software both inside and outside of the firewall by the knowledge workers they manage on a regular basis? Probably far too many! Probably, right?

Well, despite all of that, which is always a good sign, by the way, to be honest, that we are heading in the right direction (Just like it happened with e-mail, or with Instant Messaging, or even the Internet itself in the late 90s), sometimes it is eventually rather refreshing to see quite the opposite; a high level executive, as high as you can probably go, not only talking about it in a very coherent and comprehensive manner, but embracing it fully as the way the enterprise world is going to operate very soon on a wider scale, if not happening already altogether, influencing not only what we do for business but also ourselves as a society.

That’s the case of this recent video interview where John Chambers, CEO of Cisco Systems, spends a little bit under five minutes sharing some great insights around the topic of Enterprise 2.0 and Social Computing and its wider impact in the corporate world as well as ourselves, trying to answer (Very successfully in my opinion!) these questions:

• "What does the Annual Meeting theme "The Power of Collaborative Innovation" mean to your Business?
• In which new ways are people and organisations collaborating?
  How important is this for effective competition in your industry?
• Do you think we are seeing a significant shift in the way the public and private sectors can collaborate?
  What are the implications for business?
• In what ways is Cisco using new communications channels, such as blogging and social networking Web sites, to read internal and external audiences?
  Have these channels forced a rethink of your communications strategy?"

I am not sure whether you have seen the interview itself or not, but I can certainly tell you it would be worth while your time going through it. It would make you think. It would help you understand that there is a long road ahead of us all still, but also, much importantly, we are already on our way to achieve that new wave of interactions that will make use be part of that group of winners… (Yes, those great companies we all aim to work for at some point in time!)

Oh, if after having watched the video you would still want to have some further insights on this topic, I would strongly encourage you all to have a look into the excellent blog post that Jay Deragon has put together under "How Will Your Company Gain Experience?", where he also links to the same video, but adds plenty great tips and advice on how business can engage with this new wave of Collaborative Innovation.

Are you ready?

Tags: Enterprise 2.0, Social Software, Social Networking, Social Computing, Social Media, Collaboration, Communities, Learning, Knowledge Sharing, KM, Knowledge Management, Remote Collaboration, Innovation, Collaborative Innovation, Networking, Social Networks, Social Networks, Networking, Conversations, Dialogue, Connections, Relationships, Productivity, Communication, John Chambers, CEO, Cisco, Cisco Systems, Management, Managers, Fear, Weariness, Jay Deragon, Society, Knowledge Workers