The following is a slight modification of an internal post from a few months ago. I am a part of a team that went from a server in a basement to being charged with deploying an enteprise wiki for 17,000. This post addressed some of our experiences in demonstrating the capabilities of E2 (specifically a wiki) across our firm. I wanted to repost as I use the “resident wrongness” concept quite frequently. Also, we are much further along in the implementation now, and this provides an interested retrospective. Enjoy.

One more thing..As this is my first post, I wanted to make it very clear that I do not own, nor have operated a grenade launcher. I have however, been on some very strange engagements.

Jay and I have been demoing across the firm and it is interesting to see the reactions. For the most part, everyone agrees with the utility of the product. People generally think that the available functionality is great, and come up with possible uses almost instantaneously. However, driving use of the tool afterward has been challenging. I would say we are hitting about a 40-50% use rate afterward. While I don’t think that is necessarily bad, I think it is strange. Especially after receiving rave reviews in the demos.

Generally, I think people are hesitant to use the product for two reasons. I will posit that one is relatively legitimate. The other? Well…you be the judge.

Reason 1 – Change is Hard
Ok fine. I will give into the reality that paradigm-shifting is difficult work. People are comfortable doing things the way they have always done them. Even in the face of clear efficiencies or value, folks will still stick to their habits. I myself am still using Windows 2K. And I love it. Seriously, I do.

Anyway…I have read the books on change and I totally understand that different people approach change in different ways. Early adopters, champions, detractors, etc, etc, etc. Got it. On to reason 2…

Reason 2 – The Smartest Person in the Room
Now here is where I might be stepping on a few toes. If there is one thing I have learned in talking to people all across the firm, via these demos, it is that technology decisions are made by the perceived smartest person in the room. Technology (even at a consulting firm focused on technology) is still a bit of a black box. Don’t get me wrong, I think we have tons of SMEs. For example, we have some of the best SAP resources in the world. But when it comes to understanding the complete (or at least larger) landscape of technology, and using that understanding to enable business users, I think we are a bit thin. Thus, the perceived smartest (IT) person in the room will make decisions about things that may or may not be completely out of his or her wheelhouse.

Our current KM approach (or lack thereof) fosters the growth of pockets of relatively right information. People, Processes, and Technologies are “right” because no one who may know better is able to participate. So not only are the perceived IT experts relatively right, but basically anyone within the pocket of closed information can be right as well. Business, IT, whatever. It is all the same. Decisions concerning people, process, and technology are made based on the available information. As our KM is relatively limited, the available info and resulting decisions are limited as well.

So what happens when you expose this information, and resulting decisions, approaches, deliverables, solutions, via something like a wiki? Basically, the room gets bigger. You begin to realize the power of the knowledge of the masses. On the positive side, perhaps the decision or information is as good as it could possibly be. But…on the (perceived) negative side, you and the people around you, may have just found out that you aren’t the “experts” you once were. Moreover, it could also be argued that as nothing on our wiki is anonymous, you and your “resident wrongness” have now been exposed to the greater community.

I believe that this fear of exposing “resident wrongness” to the masses is a major factor behind user hesitation. It is nothing novel for me to point out that people don’t like being told they are wrong. However, rational and professional business people should be able to engage in dialog about differing points of view. A wiki sort of forces people to present first cuts on information as non-authoritative or open to discussion. Sure, there are some things that need to be dictated down from the top. But why not make each decision or approach or resulting client deliverable the best it could possibly be? Why not ask the people who really know? Or maybe find out (and be recognized) that your contributions are truly top notch. It’s a big room. Are you ready for it?

Who knows, maybe it is all reason number 1. Go ahead, tell me I’m wrong. I gotta drink my own kool-aid on this one, so bring it on. (You can tell me I am right too, if you like.)

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