Social media for public services: how about an Open Innovation Exchange?

The Crowdsourced Council event earlier this week was for me interesting at three levels. First for the idea expressed in the name – that councils should use a variety of different methods to find out people’s opinions, engage with (read more...)

Conversations, culture, people and props

If you happen to be near the British Museum this afternoon do drop into the Great Court and say hello to Lloyd Davis. He is engaged in some Tuttle consulting  (about which I wrote here). The project is, specifically, for the British Council , and is about the nature of culture and cultural relations. You can read about it here, and see that the method of investigation is, in large part, conversation.

Lloyd’s assertion (I think this is right) is that culture – whether Britain Overseas, or the way we run organisations, or meetings, or just hanging out together, is determinated by people, and the way that culture evolves, and is defined, is substantially through conversations. Who could disagree? There’s more to it than that, of course, so let’s … well …. talk about it. Which is why Lloyd is in the British Musueum. (read more...)

Message to leaders: let the monkeys get on with it

A while back … was it really last year? … I interviewed Jemima Gibbons about a book that she was researching on leadership, organisations, and the difference that social media is making. With talk of Web 2.0, and World 2.0, Leadership 2.0 seemed a good enough working title. As Jemima said then “… is not about personalities, it’s actually about stepping back and allowing other people to bring themselves forward.”

Last week Jemima and I met up again – appropriately enough at the Tuttle Club, where Lloyd Davis is a strong exponent of letting the members make things up for themselves. We aren’t really members, just whoever turns up on Friday morning. It works, even when the club loses its home, as you can see here. People rally round with new ideas. (read more...)

Double inspiration at Chain Reaction

I had a splendid day yesterday at the Chain Reaction event, including a chance to catch up with Simon Berry and the Colalife campaign, and an opportunity to run the Social by Social game near the top of one of the office blocks in (read more...)

The challenge of scaling and sustaining hyperlocal

I’m delighted that discussions about local blogging, local councils using online engagement tools, and how to sustain these activities have lifted off on socialbysocial.net – the online community I’ve started with Amy Sample Ward, co-author in the Social by (read more...)