Motivation by Reputation
With blogs, it’s all about reputation management.
That was Kathleen Gilroy, CEO of the Otter Group. Her team is currently developing a Web Office solution for a major financial institution. Kathleen got in touch with me the other day after reading How Structured Blogging & Microformats will Help your Company Innovate.
We had a fantastic discussion, and I am certain I got more out of talking with Kathleen than she gained from talking with me. She has some amazing insights into how Web Office Technology will impact how successful companies are managed.
In a company that uses Web Office technology such as blogs and Wikis, people will be motivated to participate, contribute and add value by an acute need to manage their reputation.
People have asked me “Why will employees contribute to enterprise blogs and Wikis?” They will have to participate and contribute if they ever want to accomplish anything within the firm, and especially if they want to be seen to be contributing.
Peter Gloor begins his amazing new book “Swarm Creativity” with a perfect quote from Thomas Malone’s “The Future of Work” that echos this point.
As managers, we need to shift our thinking from command and control to coordinate and cultivate - the best way to gain power is to give it away.
This isn’t an easy thing to learn.
I was reminded of this today when I read a really great article by Kathy Sierra called “BrainDeath by Micromanagement: The Zombie Function“.
The more you use your reins, the less they’ll use their brains.
To paraphrase, if you want to get the least from your team, don’t give your people full information, don’t expect them to think out of the box, don’t appreciate it when they do think creatively and force them to only and mindlessly execute.
Instead, if you are the CEO and you want smart, capable, engaged and passionate employees, you have share with them. You have to share full information about your goals and your constraints. You have to turn them into partners who want to help you achieve your goals. You can motivate them financially. But year end bonuses only do so much. To engage them daily you have to make it personal. You have to make their contribution something that is assessed and appreciated by all their colleagues. You have to make it about their reputation.
Excellent post!
I would add another two more powerful motivations for participation in these new technologies: the creative impluse and the joy of collaboration. The rise of 40 million blogs in two years must be from something basic and profound. These new technologies give people a means of expression, along with a means of connection. Here’s a nice quote from Thomas Friedman’s “The World is Flat,” “Collaborating so mankind can achieve its full potential is God’s hope.” (from Rabbi Tzvi Marx, page 438).
Manage or be Managed….so many questions
Micromanagement dangers is again a fairly good read from Kathy Sierra, complemented by this great post about motivation by reputation. Those posts led me to think about management practice, what I liked when I’m managed … and what I do when I…