Comments on: Early adopters and the strategy gap

By: Jason Ryan

Jason Ryan — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 22:16:24 +0000

Thanks Matt. Regarding the inevitability of the migration, I didn't mean that as a binary distinction. I was signalling that, in order to build new knowledge management capability into the organization, agencies should institute tools that support staff to exhibit these behaviours in the .govt namespace.

That way the agencies benefit from increased knowledge retention and improved cultural practice and the individuals benefit because they are effectively off the tightrope – its only us alligators that lose out...

You are absolutely right about the guidelines.

By: Matt Lane

Matt Lane — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 20:38:08 +0000

Fergus, we all know that SA Govt public servants are using Facebook, they are just doing it at home now. What we do not know is whether they have created a Facebook group for colleagues and past members of the SA Govt, and if so, are they discussing the organisation, and if so, how in depth does the conversation go.

I agree with Jason that Facebook this is "a nightmare" for communications managers. However, I do not see how migrating the behavior is inevitable. These Facebook conversations are walking the tightrope between personal and professional lives, giving managers no control (unless the individuals fall off the tightrope, then their managers will be waiting like alligators to catch them).

The only defense is providing staff with clear guidelines as to what is acceptable.

By: Che Tibby

Che Tibby — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 02:08:27 +0000

Perhaps, instead of calls to action regarding speeding up the rate of adoption we should be looking more diligently at the risks involved

yes, i agree. but at present the new zealand public service is so risk-averse that we squabble about instituting bulletin boards for public servant-citizen interaction.

that’s a 20 year old technology there…

By: Mark Harris

Mark Harris — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 06:01:33 +0000

PS your server has not been adjusted for DST

By: Mark Harris

Mark Harris — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 06:00:37 +0000

You jest, sir. The public management system has never evolved on the basis of what’s going on in the world outside

And you miss my point: “more” and “faster” != “better”, necessarily.

By: Jason Ryan

Jason Ryan — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 19:57:16 +0000

Thanks Mark, for the challenge. I think it is critical that we distinguish between the behaviour, which I point out is desirable for the organization/culture, and the media – which in this instance, is inappropriate (for the reasons you state, namely risk).

The (counter) analogies you raise miss my point, simply because neither are social technologies. The public management system will continue to evolve with changes in wider society, we can actively manage that change by planning for it, or we can ignore it and abrogate our responsibility for managing that risk.

By: Mark Harris

Mark Harris — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 18:53:24 +0000

You know, there’s nothing new about early adopters not being able to use their stuff in the workplace either. ‘Next generations’ have always caome into the workplace expecting things to happen at their speed, with their tools. I’m sure early adopters of the typewriter had an uphill battle against fountain pens. But the world doesn’t necessarily work to their expectations, whether they’re ‘digital natives’ or not, whether they’re in the public sector or private. This is not necessarily a bad thing (imagine if we’d all rushed out and instituted HD-DVD systems across the public service) as it lets the market simmer down and standardise a little. And the world won’t end if the ‘digital natives’ don’t get to use chat during work hours. Maybe there’ll be a little more time for contemplation of the issues rather than instant reaction.

Perhaps, instead of calls to action regarding speeding up the rate of adoption, we should be looking more diligently at the risks involved (and I don’t just mean the openness of the communications) and whether these things are really in the public interest, or just stuff the public is interested in, at the moment.

By: NZ Blog Post- Public Organisations must manage change more quickly…

NZ Blog Post- Public Organisations must manage change more quickly… — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 16:12:22 +0000

[...] Read the full post here: http://www.psnetwork.org.nz/bl.....-adopters/ [...]

By: Jason Ryan

Jason Ryan — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 01:31:32 +0000

Thanks Fergus. I am no fan of blocking access to social sites because it deals with the symptom not the cause, but Che is right: government business shouldn't be conducted over these sorts of channels...

It just reinforces the need for agencies to adapt their business processes, and soon.

By: Fergus Hogarth

Fergus Hogarth — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 23:58:23 +0000

Nice article. No chance of public servants using Facebook in SA Govt – access was switched off across the sector a couple of weeks ago! And MySpace. Interesting times…