Wiki Attitude: Getting Things Done

A colleague remarked today that he really likes working in our social business software (aka, wiki) because "we get things done." I liked that. It sums up a lot about social media overall.

Everyone in the wiki can just do it, as Nike so aptly puts it (side note: Nike has a terrific social media site). You don't have to ask permission, fill out a form, navigate red tape or in any way delay getting something done. The tool is flexible and powerful, and most of all, so easy to use that it is empowering. You really can get things done quickly and easily in it.

But this isn't just about a contrast with bureaucratic work processes. It's about the energy and potential that's released when *everyone* has the power to just do things. There's no time like the present, is there? How many useful ideas have never been implemented because it simply would have taken too long or too much trouble to try them?

I saw a great phrase the other day about social business software: it allows us to fail faster. When you have everyone trying things, without all the usual constraints created to avoid failure, you certainly will get more failed efforts. We have countless user-created groups in our online community, for example, that are languishing. They seemed like a good idea at the time, but for one reason or another, there's little or nothing happening in them now.

But that's okay. Social media is messy, not tidy. We also have terrific, active, innovative groups that have developed into true communities. Maybe we could have selected the winner groups in advance and shot down the loser groups before they started, but I truly doubt it. And I hate to imagine the evaluation process we would have to go through, or how long it would take and how much valuable energy it would consume (think opportunity cost).

So we have some quick failures in the mix -- maybe lots of them -- and we learn from that. We have some home runs, too, and we learn from them. Failing faster means eliminating things that don't work with less investment in them, and that frees us up to keep seeking things that do work. Since crystal balls have never worked very well, trying ideas out quickly is a pretty good strategy.

It all boils down to getting things done, and that's one of the most exciting things we're doing with our social media solution. It's the wiki attitude!