To all the "Bobs" in the world (see my last post about turKeys), you're not alone. With any change there is a certain element of uncertainty, if not fear. I'm constantly facing things I'm unfamiliar with or, worse yet, things I finally figured out that have changed – again. It's never ending.
It's not only the technology that is a challenge to keep up with, it's the terminology as well. It's like learning a new language.
- Aggregator
- Dynamic content
- Creative commons
- Mashup
- RSS…
the list is endless. (Here's a good wiki of social media lingo)
Reading Chris Brogan's blog post – My Business Wish List for 2010, I came across yet, another term I wasn't familiar with: skunkworks. Here's how Chris used it:
"I want companies to start their skunkworks projects on how to use
social media internally and externally, and to earmark some of their
“experimental marketing” and their IT spending for such projects"
From the context it seemed that skunkworks is something akin to stealth or think-tank, something outside the normally red-tape laden business channels.
Googling skunkworks, one of the best definitions I came across was on www.webopedia.com:
A typically small and loosely structured group of people who research
and develop a project for the sake of innovation. The term typically is
used in regard to technology projects. A skunkworks often operates
independent of a company’s normal research and development operations
and therefore often is subject to limitations in resources. Skunkworks
projects often are undertaken in secret with the understanding that if
the development is successful then the product will be designed later
according to the usual process. A famous example of a skunkworks
project is the first Apple Macintosh computer.
(According to webopedia, the term comes from the Skonk Works, the Kickapoo Joy Juice bootleg brewing operation in Al Capp’s Li’l Abner comic strip.)
So why is this important to know? It's not the term that's important, it's embracing the meaning. Social technologies isn't a fad. Social media isn't just for finding long-lost college mates or tweeting out a blue light special.
Business as usual is gone. The "way you've always done it" won't work much longer. Social technology is facilitating a fundamental change in the way people connect.
Do you work in a place that resists change? Start a skunkworks project. BE the skunkworks project. Work through some of the "failures" that are inevitable in blazing a new trail out of the glare of the naysayers and the Bob's. Get some traction and experience outside of the normal channels. Get some experience and start to see some positive feedback from the relationships you build. Bob's perceived risk will be reduced and let's face it, even Bob will want to take credit …er, support a success.
To remain competitive – to remain relevant requires evolution. Innovation is critical to evolution. Innovation can be threatening to the Bobs of this world because their motivation is eliminating risk. Reducing perceived risk with a skunkworks projects can be a win-win formula.
Want more information on how to sell social media to your management? Hubspot's webinar, led by Chris Brogan, "Convincing the Boss" of the value of social media.
