My longest experience with business social software has been with wikis. I first used a Wikis in a businesses about ten years ago, and have now seen a number of projects across different companies. Case studies are still hard to come by, partly because introducing wikis touches on some sensitive issues. It is not just about the technology, it is about a cultural shift. In many command-and-control cultures information is (seen as) power, but social software moves people towards sharing it. That is a big change.

Be Careful What You Measure

The major benefits of wiki technology are tangential ones. As such they present challenges for metrics, but I have seen multi-million dollar roll outs of ‘traditional’ applications hit their metrics, but be a productivity disaster. Metrics cut both ways, and there is the risk of MacNamara’s fallacy:

“The first step is to measure whatever can easily be measured. This is OK as far as it goes. The second step is to disregard that which can’t be easily measured or to give it an arbitrary quantitative value. This is artificial and misleading. The third step is to presume that what can’t be measured easily really isn’t important. This is blindness. The fourth step is to say that what can’t be easily measured really doesn’t exist. This is suicide.”

The quote is from Charles Handy, but it came via wikipedia and I’ve already said enough about wikipedia research. The Adam Curtis BBC program ‘The Trap’ explored this topic well, if you have the chance to watch it, it is well worth it.

Measuring human systems, like users with a wiki, is non-trivial. You change what you measure, simply by measuring it. This is not to say that things shouldn’t be measured, but they should be measured with caution. It might sound a little trite, but there is truth in saying that the most valuable things are invaluable (or immeasurable).

Wikis are most successful when they are introduced while the company is still small and growing. That way they become part of the culture. Not to say that big businesses can’t be successful with wikis, but it requires a good training program around them. The only wiki-failures I have found were in very large companies, where the technology was introduced with minimal training and no clear objectives, and predictable results.

What are the major benefits of a wiki to a business?

These apply just as well to any form of social workgroup, not just to businesses. They also apply for groups of two to hundreds, but the scaling of wikis is a topic for another day.

Knowledge Availability

Wikis remove much of the chance factor in finding knowledge in the business. Most intranets contain woefully out of date information, through no fault of the intranet owners. Users are left to chance upon the right person who is ‘in the know’. Wikis also reduce the dependence on key knowledge workers for answers to common questions.

Even if the answer isn’t on the wiki, at least users can glean an idea of who to ask (based on who has been adding what to the wiki). This speeds up the business and offloads the burden on senior staff. This is especially important when you are in a hiring phase. No new hire pack? Search the wiki.

Change Control

Basic, but missing from so many information systems in common use. The ability to rollback and track changes is inherent in most wiki software. This can be a life saver and is why wikis are the enterprise CMS of choice for me.

Knowledge Permanence

Wikis are the most constructive and least disruptive way of documenting projects that I have found to date. If someone leaves, at least some of their knowledge remains within the organisation, on the wiki. The same is true for extended absence due to illness, travel or long holidays.

Knowledge Creation

Sparks come from striking two things together. The same is true with knowledge. I have watched brilliant ideas emerge in real-time on a wiki page, right in front of my eyes. Something new on the wiki combined with something someone already knows leads to new knowledge in the business, across multiple people.

Geographic Freedom

Wikis work across geographic boundaries and across time zones. That supports remote offices and remote workers on a global basis. This is key to keeping a business competitive. Water cooler chat is good, but it doesn’t scale across national boundaries.

Cross Platform Portability

Because wikis are web based, the only client required is a browser. That means wikis work across different operating systems and even for mobile devices like Blackberries and smart phones.

So, hopefully now you can see why I am a wiki fan.

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Using a blog is a novel idea, but there are various other tools that can be used to keep a journal:

• A text file or document (on the desktop)
• A personal wiki (either web or PC based)
• A paper journal (you know, those things made from dead trees, you see them in old photos)

The challenge with a traditional on-line blog is that it is not private, which significantly limits (consciously or unconsciously) what you write in it. It is possible to make a blog private – wordpress.com certainly has this feature.

The big flat text-file

You could use a file on computer, in a text editor or word-processor of your choice. If you do, you might want to think about password protecting it – most word processors and operating systems provide a means to do this. Given the rate of PC and laptop thefts, it is probably well worth it if it contains sensitive information.

Personal Wikis

I have found using a personal wiki to be the most effective journal for me. Hosted wikis make me a little nervous from a security perspective, for something as sensitive as a personal diary – either the wiki or its server could be hacked, or someone could sniff the web traffic, unless the wiki uses SSL or some form of network-level encryption. The good news is that you can run a wiki locally on your own machine, right in your browser, without having to install any server software.

I’ve settled on TiddlyWiki. I did use Bladewiki for a while, which is also excellent, especially if you are using Windows Mobile / pocket PC, but I needed something that worked on the Mac and the PC and that could be transported around on a memory stick. TiddlyWiki’s functionality has moved on in leaps and bound since I started using it and it is improving all the time.

The big advantage of a personal Wiki is that your entries can be tagged and linked to other information in the wiki. Of course a blog provides many of theses capabilities as well – I’m on WordPress 2.3 here now so WOWNDADI has tags too. If you are a blogging addict, Seth’s suggestion might be a great way to start keeping a personal diary to track your progress and record your greatest (private) thoughts. You’ll have a searchable archive of your inner-world. Just make sure it is secure.

The paper journal

It has to be said that there is something very organic about having a paper journal, although I never figured out how to back it up effectivitly or make it fully searchable. Recently I was in a print shop, having some urgent brochures printed up, when an older lady came in and dumped her filofax onto the desk. It looked like she had be using since the 80′s, it had hundreds of pages. She asked them to photocopy the lot for her! I do hope it was hers. For what she paid to have it copied, I could have bought a good PDA.

My trusty MacBook always seems to be with me these days, which makes it an ideal diary and journal fo me – especially if a remember to back it up… You have backed up recently, haven’t you???

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I have recently restarted academic studies and it has definitely been a shock to the system. The rigor and discipline required has reminded me quite how sloppy we are as a society when it comes to matters of knowledge and understanding. More simply put, we are rubbish at getting our facts straight and the writers we read are poor at acknowledging their sources.

One of the keys to effective leadership and successful living is summarised in this:”What’s the reality of the situation?” Start with this question, and work from there. It is a simple question, but often a very hard one to answer, accurately. Understanding the reality of the situation means sifting facts from opinions, truths from assertions and understanding from misunderstanding (see Understanding the reality of the situation Part I and Part II).

This is where I have a problem with wikipedia. I have expertise in a few areas and I know that the information on those areas in wikipedia is inaccurate, if not just plain wrong. While the pages sometimes note that the information is unvalidated or contentious, unfortunately that doesn’t stop people taking it as fact. Remember, when it comes to your brain, just like a computer: garbage in, garbage out. Once your put junk in there, it is very hard to get it out. Why have I not edited these inaccuracies? Because I know enough to know that I don’t know enough to fix them properly. Don’t get me wrong, I really like wikipedia, it can be a great starting point, it just isn’t an authoritative source on its own.

Back to Seth’s post, I believe we should be teaching children basic philosophy and critical thinking – and some research at least agrees (see: “a little bit of philosophy makes you smart, apparently“). Information should be multi-sourced and children should be encouraged to explore different perspectives and assess the information. We should do the same as adults too. Check the sources – too often we hear the same misinformation from multiple places, little realizing that the same inaccurate facts are being parroted or dressed up in new clothes as new information. Misunderstanding reality, be it academic or misunderstanding ourselves, stands in the way of good leadership and living. Inaccurate information means inaccurate decisions. It is worth fighting to establish the truth in your life, sadly it doesn’t just jump off of a web page. What are your real goals? What is really happening around you? What untruths have, or are, holding you back?

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