I am beyond honored that Lindy and Maddie have invited me to do a regular guest post on the SocialFish blog. The three of us have been kicking around ideas related to the impact Social Media has on organizations and the way we work, so that will be the focus of my monthly column, called “The Social Organization.” The first post I did last month examined whether or not your organization is human enough for social media. Today’s looks at the intersection of social media, organizational culture, and learning. I think people are becoming more aware that incorporating social media into your organization is more than just adding some communication tools to your kit. It can impact the culture. I retweeted that during the #UnTech10 conference. But culture is a big concept. It’s hard to get your hands around, and if you go to your boss and say “we’re going to have to change our culture if we do social media,†you’ll get—at best—a blank stare (I won’t go into the “at worst†scenarios). You’ll want to get specific—spell out some actual challenges that are going to emerge that relate to the goings on in the office that you and your boss can tangibly understand and discuss together. I can’t tell you what the specifics are. They will be unique to your organization. But if you want to discover those specifics, then I suggest you take a look at learning in your organization. I’ve always felt that the number one value I get from Twitter is learning. Back in the days of the “I don’t care what you had for lunch†criticisms, I would tell people over and over all the things that I learned on Twitter, from people that I didn’t actually know. Through the quick, easy, and diverse set of interactions, links, and stories I found on Twitter, I could emerge with some really new or developed understandings of important issues. That’s learning. That’s at the heart of my personal love of social media. So look at your organization: where do you learn? Take your time, I’ll wait. Most organizations are not very good at learning. We’re good at doing, mostly. The “data driven” among us might even be good at measuring, though I am not convinced the measurement is always translated into valuable learning. Why? Lots of reasons, but here is a big one: learning is turbocharged in environments with lots of diversity, less hierarchy, and strong relationships (three things your organization probably doesn’t do well). Social media rocks those three things. As you engage in social media, it’s possible the people involved will start outpacing the organization itself in terms of learning. Volunteer groups figure things out before staff does. People outside your department knowing more about what’s going on in your area than “your†people.  This can easily translate into official resistance to social media. But if you can boost the learning capacity internally (outside of social media efforts), then the difference won’t be as stark. Voilla! Cultural fit! So the sooner you address the learning issues in your organization, the more easily your culture will accept social media. (photo credit)

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