One of the key advantages of a large company is the sheer number and diversity of people within it. This size and diversity means that even if an idea is interesting for only one percent of the population, in a company like IBM, that still amounts to almost four thousand people. If people are passionate about something, they can find other people who are also passionate about it and who have the complementary talents to help them make it happen.
Influencing and connecting with other people outside their typical workgroup becomes much easier when people are on social networks. When people share their passions in their profiles, blog posts, bookmarks, communities, and activities, they make it possible for people to stumble across them through links in e-mail, results from a search engine, social engine recommendations, or word of mouth.
People can build an ever-growing list of people who are passionate about the same idea. Much like Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump, others join people on their adventure–whether it’s running, spreading ideas about presentation skills, or helping people learn more about connecting and collaborating.
At the same time that a person is doing this–reaching out and building your extended team, bouncing ideas off them, mobilizing people to make a difference (often in their spare time)–others are doing the same. When they encounter people who share the same passion, they invite them to join as well. They share their passions and ideas and actions. The group grows larger organically.
This is influence without authority, done on a larger scale.
Why is this important to large corporations?
Although the chief executive officer sets the main direction, most decisions are made by managers closer to the front line. Managers must decide how to distribute their resources, which ideas become projects, which projects make it onto _their_ managers’ agenda. They must consider how each decision affects their bottom-line and the bottom-line of their manager, and how each idea or project fits in with existing priorities. In most companies, then, the people who make the most decisions have the least leeway. Naturally, then, most managers favor projects that will fit in with existing initiatives and pay off in the short term. An innovative idea that requires diverse talents and may pay off in the long term is likely to be near the bottom of the priority list.
In every organization, there are plenty of great ideas that are discarded because of lack of time, funding, or fit. When idea after idea falls by the wayside, people who came up with those ideas may become discouraged. Why think about how to make the organization more effective, when your ideas will disappear into a suggestion box that goes unread and unacted on?
What if an idea is so compelling that it becomes a passion? What if one person could connect with others who also believe that the idea is worth exploring? The idea can take root, develop into a project, and even get to the point of returning benefits before it needs formal management support. This is the model behind IBM’s Technology Adoption Program, which invests in ideas after a certain stage and brings the projects to a large community of early adopters.
Where would people find the time to do this? Aren’t they supposed to be working on the rest of their jobs? Are we asking people to innovate during unpaid overtime?
To answer these questions, take a look at large volunteer projects like Wikipedia. When asked by a television producer about where people find the time to contribute to Wikipedia, Clay Shirky replied that television and other distractions had been masking a huge cognitive surplus. He estimated that the entirety of Wikipedia represents about 100 million hours of work. This is the same amount of time that people in the United States spend watching ads on weekend television. We have a lot of cognitive surplus waiting for an outlet. If there is an opportunity to make a meaningful difference at work, why not spend some of that cognitive surplus there?
When an idea becomes a passion, people make the time for it. Some people look for ways to do their regular work more efficiently, freeing up time to work on side projects. Others take the time they had been spending on less valuable pursuits, such as watching television, and work on projects that are much more engaging and rewarding.
There are numerous benefits to pursuing passions by working on innovations across organizational boundaries. People come to the workplace energized. They look forward to completing their regular work and then working on their side project. In the process, they can explore their passions, develop their skills, and grow their networks. The diversity of the conversations and connections can result in even more innovations down the road.
By giving people space to explore innovations that have not yet been directly funded, an organization benefits in the long run. Recognizing this, companies such as 3M and Google give people formal permission to spend 15-20% of their time working on something not directly related to their primary job responsibilities.
Whether social networks were built using traditional means or by using new social technologies, these networks can make a difference in the success of a project. Without ways to tap into the broader social networks in the company, innovators may find themselves working on a project alone, or with a few people who have similar interests and skills. With a wide, diverse network such as the ones facilitated by corporate social networking platforms, innovators can reach out, find people with similar passions and complementary skills, and help make things happen. Innovators can discover similar initiatives in the early stages of development, reducing duplicated effort and allowing people to accomplish more.
In a company that differentiates itself through innovation, social networking technologies are a natural fit.
