Bertrand Duperrin's Library tagged committee →  View Popular, Search in Google

How many prospects does it take to buy a light bulb?

More than ever it seems, thanks to social networks and a plethora of great collaborative software solutions. Maybe the question should be “how many committees does it take to buy a light bulb?” At least the number will be smaller.

The benefits of ubiquitous conversations are undeniably clear, including shorter decision cycles. Thanks to collaborative technology, we have the ability to ask anyone, anywhere, any time, “Hey, got a minute?” Click to collaborate! How good is that? But every new solution creates new problems. When do business processes become engorged on 24/7 collaboration, and implode into a digital morass of bypassed Outlook meeting requests and defunct online communities?"

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Any organization that designs a system (defined more broadly here than just information systems) will inevitably produce a design whose structure is a copy of the organization's communication structure.

In other words, lets say you are designing a complex system -- an auto manufacturing plant, a new financial market, a hospital, the World Health Organization, or a large software solution -- the efficiency of the end result will always be limited by the efficiency of how the committee communicates

communication organization system committee innovation flexibility process

Social software changes this paradigm:

* All conversations and buy-in from individuals can be transparent
* A much broader group can participate in the debate
* Polling can be done regularly and almost instantly
* Conversational persistence allows for asynchronous participation
* Low barrier to participation - some people can argue and write original commentary while others can organize supporting information and others can rate or comment - making participation in the conversation open to more voices and personalities

decision decisionmaking committee socialsoftware power organization