Comments for The Working Group: A New Organization for Change Agents in Big Orgs

The Working Group: A New Organization for Change Agents in Big Orgs

2007-12-18T11:54:32Z

Many of our readers here at ReadWriteWeb are brave explorers of what's new in technology - while working inside large, often slow-changing organizations. For those of you who fit that description, there's a new organization in the works called The Working Group. More than just another niche social network, this is a serious project that I expect will be in high demand.

]]> The Group calls itself a "place for anyone to share their experiences, frustrations and successes in driving change inside large organizations." Monthly meetings, the first being this week, will combine guest speakers and open discussion. Account creation is required in the group's Ning social network, but anyone can join. (Too bad there's no OpenID at Ning.)

Founded by Oracle Corporation's Paul Pedrazzi (pictured here) and discussed on the Oracle AppsLab blog, the first teleconference meeting is scheduled for this Wednesday morning. (PST) It will begin with a 30 minute talk by guest speaker Oracle Chief Privacy Council Peter Lefkowitz, followed by a 30 minute open discussion.

The group is "not affiliated with Oracle or any other company," but it's nice to see some heavy-hitters getting involved as individuals.

Context

Building momentum for new paradigms, tools and strategies is something that gets easier when you've got other smart people in similar circumstances available to talk to.

If high-value guest speakers can continue to be lined up and the discussions are well moderated, I expect that this group and others like it will be very well received. There's certainly a growing number of people hungry for collective learning in their efforts to drive change in large organizations. Those are the people who will help keep the big companies relevant - something that cannot be taken for granted in a time of extreme disruption.

Comment from Ben Tremblay on 2007-12-18

2007-12-18T13:40:42Z

There must be something in the air!
My recent posts in "MozDawg" (1. 2, and 3) have to do with ... ummm ... my take on what's missing, from the perspective of, well, let's just say "the trenches". (I say "CMC since '72" and that's no joke.) Does the term "rapporteur" mean anything to many people? Because it has an operationlized definition ... it's a job, a task, a position ... not just an abstract term. (Sorta like "journalist meets technical-communicator"? Yaa, like that.)

"Integrated logistics support" ... pretty hi-falutin', yaa?
Fact is, the finest thing I brought to our project was "SME interviews": getting subject matter experts to more than chat. (Not so easy! Really, who likes the guy who tugs on every loose thread he finds? *grin*) Then and only then did get get to herd cats / nail jello to the wall; only after wrangling that could I get into doing change management on a flock of R&D documents (some of which I was tasked to create). In that situation I came up with the concept of "write once", along with the ILS mandate.

In a situation of chaos the easiest solution is to drink some entropy koolaid ... things will get right simple right quick. *shrug* All depends what a person actually wants, nae?
There's something poignantly existential about draining the swamp when it's one's own precious butt the crocs are snapping at! Like Sam Johnson said about impending execution: it focuses the mind wonderfully, in a way that doesn't arise when boooshwah and sophistry are viable options.

Seems to me having to register at ning is a pretty low entry bar. ;-P

--bentrem

p.s. the poster-sized banner over my desk read "When you look to see how the system works | Likely you will find that it doesn't." ... some folk thought it was a joke. heh

Comment from Khurt L.F.E Williams on 2007-12-18

2007-12-18T20:13:03Z

I think this is a wonderful. I have stopped and frustrated by all efforts to get management on board with forward and innovative thinking. Just because we work inside a pharmaceutical does not mean that we need to be any less innovative than Google.

Comment from ITrush on 2007-12-18

2007-12-18T22:14:10Z

This is good, Big and small organization will benefit on this project. It's like having a friend that is always ready to lend a hand every time you need some answers.

Nhick
http://www.itrush.com

Comment from Michael Caton on 2007-12-18

2007-12-19T04:01:15Z

As important as initiatives like this are, innovators often need mentors at large (and mid-sized) organizations to help effectively navigate beaurocracy and politics.

That would be a good topic for one of the first sessions, how to find a mentor and/or start a mentor program in your organization (if you don't have one).