Event: United Way Speaker Series:Dan Heath

The United Way Ottawa is hosting an event featuring Dan Heath, co-author of Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard (which, coincidentally, I am currently reading).

It just so happens that I have a pair of tickets to give away. If you are interested, please leave a comment on this blog post. I will randomly select one person to receive the tickets and post the winner to the blog this Friday.

The event takes place on Oct 14, 2010 from 5:00 PM to 6:30 PM at the Shenkman Arts Centre 245 Centrum Boulevard, Ottawa, Ontario. K1E3X9.

If you'd rather secure your seat now, I would strongly encourage you to register, tickets are $65 and the money goes to help support the United Way.

See you there.

Machiavellian Social Media

Niccolo Machiavelli is probably most well known for The Prince, but I wonder what advice he might have for organizations in the era of social media. Maybe it would look something like this ...


People and Tactics

• Make sure you have the right people running your social media efforts;
• Give those people robust rules of engagement;
• If you can't afford to actively manage the presence, at the very least defend your name against squatters;
• Deal with dissenters quickly;
• Whenever possible build your organization's own capacity, prior to borrowing resources from others or hiring outside talent;
• Study the successes and failures of others; and
• Be diligent during quiet periods so you are ready when/if the shit hits the fan.

Self-reliance

• Number of followers/friends/subscribers is less important than loyalty;
• Loyalty is strongest when it is earned over time; and
• Underdogs who fight the status quo have a hard time moving up but enjoy greater respect if/when they are successful.

Change Management

• Using social media to address organizational change is one of the most difficult things to do because people are naturally resistant to change;
• Those who benefited most under the old system will be your biggest resistors to change; and
• It is impossible for anyone to live up to everybody's expectations; disappointment is inevitable, so the mission must be compelling enough to rally supporters when they are wavering.

Reputation

• It won't always be good news. While you should avoid things that contribute to a negative reputation, ultimately you should pursue whatever is most beneficial given the circumstances of the day; but
• Don't break your word unnecessarily. It will cost you.

Generosity

• Sharing is great but be cognizant not to overwhelm your stakeholders with your message; and
• It is desirable to be both true to the organization's mission and be popular in the space; the former is more important than the latter.

Honour

• Pursue organizational goals by engaging and you will earn respect, sit on the fence and you will lose it.

Avoid Ego Tripping

• Don't only discuss your organization's efforts with yes-men, have a core group of trusted advisers who will always give it to you straight.

Luck (Fortune)

• Luck is at most half the battle, every other inch requires effort, follow-through, and a relentless drive to be the best.

I particularly like the last one, you?

[h/t to Chelsea and Mary Beth for inspiring this post]
[image credit: anonymous9000]

Event: Collaborative Culture Camp

**English follows**

C'est enfin le moment!
Le Camp sur la culture de collaboration (C3) aura lieu à Bibliothèque et Archives Canada le 15 octobre 2010, de 8:30 à 16:30.

• Organisée de manière bénévole par des fonctionnaires passionés par le renouvellement de la fonction publique, le C3 sera une activité hautement interactive qui vous permettra d'apprendre et de partager votre savoir au sujet de pratiques exemplaires pour travailler de manière collaborative au sein du gouvernement.
• L'activité fera appel à des conférenciers d’expérience et des études de cas d’exemples exceptionnels de collaboration, ainsi que des séances de forum ouvert dirigées par les participants qui seront axées sur les pratiques exemplaires et des leçons concrètes que vous pourrez ensuite appliquer à divers contextes de travail.
• Wayne G. Wouters, Greffier du Conseil privé et Secrétaire du Cabinet, sera notre conférencier d'honneur.
• L'inscription est maintenant ouverte à tous les employés fédéraux, sans frais! Le seul coût demandé est votre engagement à participer à la journée entière.

Pour plus d'information et pour vous inscrire, visitez le lien suivant :

http://www.gcpedia.gc.ca/wiki/Camp_sur_la_culture_de_collaboration

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It's finally here! The Collaborative Culture Camp (C3) will be taking place at Library and Archives Canada on October 15, 2010, from 8:30am to 4:30pm.

• Organized on a volunteer basis by a group of public servants with a passion for public service renewal, C3 will be a highly-interactive event during which you will share and learn about best practices for working collaboratively within government.
• The event will feature knowledgeable speakers and case studies showcasing exceptional instances of collaboration, as well as a number of interactive, participant-led sessions with a focus on take-away lessons and best practices that can be applied in a variety of contexts.
• Wayne G. Wouters, Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to the Cabinet, will be the Keynote Speaker.
• Registration is now open to all federal employees, at no cost! The only cost we ask is your commitment to participate in the full day of activities.

For more information or to register, follow this link:

http://www.gcpedia.gc.ca/wiki/Collaborative_Culture_Camp_2010

Update: The Death of the Web

Wired magazine recently declared that "The Web is Dead". It spurred a whole slew of responses and generally got people talking about the article (which probably makes it a success despite your views about it's accuracy).

TVO's The Agenda hosted a great discussion about the article featuring Jesse Brown, Jesse Hisrch, Mathew Ingram, and Tim Wu.



I just figured you may want to watch the discussion, it is 36 minutes well spent.

Still Scheming (Virtuously) Two Years Later

Two years ago I took a risk and wrote a whitepaper called Scheming Virtuously: A Handbook for Public Servants. The whitepaper is a tactical guide for anyone looking to make a real impact in the public sector. I've updated the whitepaper, you can view it below, or download the PDF here.


If you want to get a sense of why you would be interested in reading it, I've also taken the time to put together this quick introductory video.




Whitepaper