On long-form thought, networked knowledge, and books

On long-form thought, networked knowledge, and booksDavid Weinberger has recently argued for networked knowledge and claims that books are not an ideal format for thought and that, indeed, long-form thought such as books is not wide enough for deep thinking.

In this post, I will argue that much of Weinberger’s idea of networked knowledge is not particularly new and does not have the consequences he claims it to have.

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The death of the peer-reviewed article

The death of the peer-reviewed articlePre-publication peer reviews became the dominant paradigm within the academia in the 20th century. In recent years, the system has been criticized and some attempts to correct the weaknesses of the system have been made, such as ventures into open post-publication peer review. However, the scientific community at large remains relatively satisfied with the prevailing paradigm.

In this post, I will examine the peer review paradigm from a point of view that I have not seen used in this context before, and which points at a potential for paradigm shift. This point of view relies on a combination of three key elements: Total quality management (TQM), Lean thinking, and social collaboration.

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The process approach to social business design

The process approach to social business designSocial business is more than just conversation. If implemented properly, it can be a route to more effective operation and, by extension, higher profits. Most companies are nowadays managed through processes, and in this post I will explore the ways social business can be designed with a focus on process improvement.

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Social business enthusiasts need to leave straw men behind

Social business enthusiasts need to leave straw men behindWhen exploring what benefits becoming a social business can provide for the enterprise, it is important to make a serious comparison to a viable alternative. Attacking straw men is useless and can only hurt the adoption of social as an important part of the enterprise.

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Boost the productivity of internal meetings with social collaboration

Boost the productivity of internal meetings with social collaborationMeetings are an unending source of debate. Some feel they are essential, others consider them a huge waste of time. Most tend to agree that, at the very least, many meetings could be run in a more effective manner. This is where social collaboration platforms come into play.

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Enterprise 2.0 is the Total Quality Management of the 21st century

Enterprise 2.0 is the Total Quality Management of the 21st centuryIn the 1950s, Japanese companies began their path to glory based on a new form of thinking largely built on the ideas of W. Edwards Deming. The age of quality had begun.

In this post, I will argue that there are significant parallels between the ideals of Total Quality Management (TQM) and Enterprise 2.0, and that technology is finally ripe for an even more thorough application of many of Deming’s ideas.

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Simplifying ISO 9001 compliance with a wiki

Simplifying ISO 9001 compliance with a wikiMany companies need to comply with ISO 9001 requirements for quality management systems. This can be cumbersome at times, but technology has evolved to a state where it can also be quite easy: with a wiki!

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Building a social employee feedback system on Confluence wiki

Building a social employee feedback systemCorporations need feedback to evolve. Feedback from customers is vital, but so is feedback from employees: employees see what is happening under the hood regarding products, processes, and tools. Social collaboration tools provide unparalleled opportunities to create feedback systems where thoughts are shared and discussed and changes are implemented, sometimes at lightning speed. This is a story of one such system.

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On Enterprise 2.0, motivation, and incentives

On Enterprise 2.0, motivation, and incentivesMany types of rewards and incentives are popular when companies attempt to attract people to follow them or interact with them on social media. But what about incentives when collaborative tools are used internally? It is not at all obvious whether similar reward schemes are useful in an enterprise 2.0 environment.

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The final obstacle to wiki tech comm, localization

The final obstacle to wiki techcomm, localizationI recently finished reading Sarah Maddox’s splendid book on technical communication in a wiki environment, Confluence, Tech Comm, Chocolate. It answered most of my concerns on doing tech comm on a wiki, except for one: localization.

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