Just Another Customer

Reviewlet: Groundswell - POST Method

A quick comment on Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff’s Groundswell

A Happy Coincidence
I was so enthusiastic about Groundswell that I actually bought two copies (unintentionally) in the course of about two weeks. The ever-changing social technology space needs guideposts to help both the uninitiated and those swimming in the stream. As coincidence would have it, the For Immediate Release (FIR) podcast recently posted a review of the book (by Shel Holtz, FIR, and Ryan Williams, TWI Surveys) which I listened to on the way home from work yesterday.

What’s Missing?
One of the key elements to the book is the development of the POST method that describes a planning methodology for entering into the social space. Admittedly, I have only read about a quarter of the book but the principal commentary that I took away from Shel and Ryan’s critique matched my own observation that the importance of mission, as it relates to engaging in social technology, was conspicuously absent. From my perspective, everything starts with the mission of the organization. As a government employee, it is tempting to see many of these new social tools as a way to improve engagement with the public. However, if they do not align with our agency’s mission then it very difficult to justify the time and effort that they would require. I don’t want to be too harsh on the book though as I think it is a valuable resource (from what I have seen so far) and it did receive generally high praise from Shel and Ryan.

Look for more reviewlets on Groundswell to come…