Gaining Consensus – Why?

May 11, 2009

A challenging part of employing social media concepts within an organization or large company is getting everyone to agree. With so many parties with differing interests, one wonders how things ever get done.

I’d like to posit the idea that consensus is not required to explore the opportunities that social media present. Sure, you may (or should) gain approval from the group you’re working with, getting the every executive, or department, or business unit’s buy in just won’t happen. At least not in the timeframe you’ll need to reap some of the rewards of joining your community.

Consensus is one of the problems that social media may be able to solve as well. As large companies continue to consolidate resources internally, they also create more silos for information, and push the decision making to a select few at the top.

Sure, these fine folks have years (decades in many cases) of business experience that allows them to plot the course for large companies. However, these same folks are now spreading themselves quite thin and it requires more time to make decisions for each business. This translates into slow moving companies that can’t adapt fast enough to changing market conditions.

In this, social media allows faster interaction across the organization. By leveraging both the business experience of executive staff along with the day-to-day mid-level management that is tracking the trends of each business, large companies have the potential to move almost as fast as a much smaller organization.

The need for an open, transparent culture still exists though. Without it, the company won’t have the ability to try new things and learn from them quickly.

Social media is more about cultural and conceptual changes than technological. And you don’t need consensus to understand that either. Good luck.

Conversation Tags: , , ,
Categories: enterprise, social media

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  • sociological theories - consensus theorists assume a universal understanding of right or wrong. conflict theorist argue that morality is defined differently by social groups in their struggle to gain or keep power.
  • Now that is an interesting take on the post. Many thanks for giving another perspective for me to think about.
  • @Odzyskiwanie Danych - I don't think it's making people do something at all cost, but rather showing them the value of social media that they're too quickly dismissing. The same had to be done of the Telephone, Television, Personal Computer, Email, and Internet. This is just one more instance where, for many, the existing tools seem to do the job, even when there are better options available.

    @Best Flash Sites - Excellent point! Of course, if you're soliciting ideas and feedback from outside sources in related situations, you're not likely to get trapped in that scenario. Also, many businesses need a kick in the butt to get started looking at improving processes. Human nature is to resist change because we're too comfortable in the way we've done things. This isn't healthy for an organization that needs to compete in a changing market.
  • Which is better when making decisions in life? To ask questions to gain a consensus to see if your reasoning was wrong or to use your reasoning from previous experiences (which may be wrong) to come up with the answer you will believe is right? Which is more useful in life?

    <abbr>Best Flash Sites´s last blog post..Hold the success with efforts of SEO</abbr>
  • I think we should avoid "making people do something" at all cost when it comes to social networking. It's just way too easy for them to express a lot different point of view on their "private time"
  • Rick, You've stated the opportunity, the problem, and the solution extremely well. I would add that there should be a sense of urgency here. The speed with which social media is being adapted in business is rapidly accelerating. Companies run a risk of being completely outflanked by competitors in the battle for the hearts and minds of customers.

    <abbr>Brad Shorr´s last blog post..Social Media Squeeze Endangers Midsized Firms</abbr>
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