I had a recent professional experience that I wanted to share that revolved around data-sharing and collaboration.
As a person who works and lives in public, my digital exhaust is rather pervasive across the Internet. I made a deliberate decision to pursue a public persona and as a result it is my default working mode. [Real shocker coming up here, folks] Not everyone is inclined to work in public. Why people feel that way is a topic for another blog.
So what happens when people who work in public encounter colleagues who work in “The Box?”
What is “The Box?”
To me “The Box,” which often comes in the color of black, is the deliberate decision of a person to work on a computer, but do not choose to leverage social software solutions. These folks are comfortable with their own hard drive. The words “shared drive” prompt curious looks and head scratching. Having a WiFi connection or wireless card is really not a priority for them. They might use e-mail, but they hate it or find it annoying. It’s very warm in “the box” because errors and problems are under the control of the person who lives there. “The box” is safe, clean, and familiar. There’s a Lazy Boy in the corner too.
People who like “the box” are hostile to living outside of the box.
Living in “The Open”
So, I live outside of “the box.” You say wiki? I’ll rattle-off my current edit count and tell you about the pages I watch. You say blog? I have 5! (only this one is public) You say social bookmarking? (You get the point) So unlike my colleague in “the box”, I am hostile to my own hard drive or a shared drive. I think we can always do better than SharePoint for a collaboration solution. If you start talking to me about walling-off data, I’ll immediately question that motive. If you don’t have a wireless connection at your restaurant, I’ll say something to the management. The only thing that ties me to my friend in “the box” is our hatred of e-mail. I’ll use Twitter, Yammer, IM, or a wiki page before I’ll write an e-mail. Living in “the open” is cold, wet, and dirty with data. The furniture hurts your back sometimes, but we’ve got iPods.
Boxing
So I was approached by a person who lives in “the box” and questioned about what I was working on. I told them what I was doing and this led to a conversation about where the work was located. This “boxer” was concerned that I was trying to hide data from them. I pointed this person to my work on the client’s wiki and blog. This has now set the stage for a battle royale between those in “the box” and those outside. My colleague does not find value in how I work and I do not find value in how s/he works.
This typically leads to a requests like, “Can you send that to me in an e-mail?” Now we are back to a communication device that we both detest, but is within the comfort zone of the person in “the box.” This is not a request I am inclined to fulfill because it just means more work for me. My data is already public. Why do I need to cater to this person’s stubbornness?
There’s a flipside to that coin. Why am I being so stubborn? You might say, “Brian, you just as easily could work the way your colleague is.”
At the risk of sounding arrogant, I don’t work that way because I know that my approach delivers more value than living in “the box.”
Personally speaking, I am able to point toward my own digital exhaust when others question what I have been working on. I can also create bodies of knowledge and information and point people to them with a few simple search terms rather than sending (and resending) around attachments in e-mails. I can go on vacation and not worry about people picking up my work where I left it. I know more people that I can leverage to get our collective work done because I connect with them all the time. The furniture may hurt, but work is more fun and I don’t fall asleep in the Lazy Boy.
Creating Middle Ground
There is a middle ground here, but it’s not easy. You have to be a leader for your colleague, even when that colleague may be your superior. You have to be willing to take the time to explain your viewpoint, process decisions, and demonstrate how it makes your work better and/or faster. Patience is a virtue. You will need to be patient with your colleague because they will be introduced to this mode of work for the first time. A couple of closing thoughts:
Be prepared for your audience to not accept your mode of work. Remember “The Box” is cozy, safe, and warm. Your world may be very scary or non-sensical to your colleague. Perhaps they don’t need to accept your worldview, but you do need to ensure that they do not take actions to prevent you from working in this way. This is especially true if your colleague is your supervisor.
Be prepared to compromise and, perhaps, do double work. The hard truth is those who use Enterprise 2.0 solutions are in the minority. We still are under the common theology of PCs, Microsoft, and thick-client installations. You may have to live in your web-enabled world and move data between the two environments.
Keep at it! A knowledge worker is (or at least should be) expected to use these tools. We are breeding a new leadership workforce which promotes transparency. You may not be able to win-over the digital troglodytes, but you should set the example.
