Today I was interviewed by Penny Pullan for www.basummit.com a Virtual Summit for the business analysis community. My interview topic was "A Leader's View of Change".
Penny is a great host and we covered quite a few subjects from "How do you convince board level people that they also need to change?" to "How do you deal with cultures that are resistant to change?" I found it stimulating.
The recording will be available at the Summit on 25th November. You can register now to hear our interview and others througout that week.
First, let me admit it. I'm a great fan of social media. I'm interested in how it works, and how it can be applied to business.
I've blogged for a number of years now; I was an early adopter. I subscribe to blogs, and their posts continue to inform and educate me. I tweet. @PatrickMayfield has a steadily growing number of followers. LinkedIn has an increasing richness for me in business. I've set up resource pages on Squidoo for clients who have taken particular training and consultancy from us. And recently I recanted and joined Facebook, and we've set up a company Facebook page. It seems I now swim in a sea of social media... and I love it.
So would you expect me to advocate this in the area of transformational change, of harnessing these technologies in programmes and projects? Do I urge Facebook as a collaborative medium for projects?
Not immediately.
My current view is to tread cautiously. It seems to me that the main challenge for most project managers and change leaders is to engage in real relationships across former silos of working. This is best done face-to-face. Where social media can add value is just that: adding value, not replacing the necessary shift to traditional expressions of human relationships.
What can happen with task-oriented people is that their enthusiasm for tools takes over, the tool becomes an end in itself, and real relationships get neglected.
So first I'd advocate simply talking face-to-face with people more.
