Apr 14, 2010 | blog
One of the many things I’ve been working on lately is perspectives. Both mine and others (I hope). When you’re working on introducing ideas and concepts into an an environment that hasn’t had a lot of change, you get a lot of resistance.
That’s nothing groundbreaking, but I think it goes without saying that there are many perspectives and perceptions that people view their world and the things that make up their work. Introducing new ideas is a challenge not because people are resistant to learning, but because the change that it brings is disruptive.
Social media is disruptive, of course, that way. It’s not necessarily that there’s something new, but that it requires attention, time that many folks and businesses don’t feel they have. Running the day to day of businesses, putting out “fires”, planning for the future, launching new product, finishing a tight-deadline project, these are the things that people are dealing with in businesses of all sizes.
So, it’s kind of hard to expect management and staff stuck in the middle layers of an organization to jump up and down and get all excited about having to deal with something new. Yet, this layer of any organization needs to be included in change, they are the ones who can make the most of change. They’re the ones who understand their area of the business. Consider them hundreds or thousands of SMEs that understand how that part of the business works and what it needs.
Understanding their perspectives on the organization, change, and the job at hand is another part of the puzzle needed to implement social media behind the firewall.
Behind The Firewall is an ongoing series of blog posts, Twitter chats and more. Created and lead by Arik Hanson and Rick Mahn, these discussions explore the world of the social web inside companies & organizations, “Behind The Firewall” if you will.
Apr 4, 2008 | blog
It’s all perception, or how you view things. I’m often trying to change my view of the world by working in different places when I have the chance. Whether that be coffee shop, a cafe, or a park – the change of scenery does wonders for one’s productivity.
Inspiration
That thought was driven home when I looked out the window last evening and watched the beginnings of a beautiful sunset. Just being able to see that sunset after a darn hard day of coding helped change my perspective on the day. It elevated the spirits and allowed me to get more done around the house than I had planned for the evening.
Look for Patterns
So often I see people doing the same thing day in and day out. It’s an easy routine to fall into. After all most tasks are repetitive and we naturally evolve processes to fit them and simply follow the process over and over. Often we don’t even think about the repetition, instead letting the frustration of it cloud our view of things in general.
Trying Things
It’s amazing how changing even the simplest of things can change one’s point of view and bring on a fresh perspective.
- Soundtrack for your life – listen to some tunes while you work
- Rearrange your desk – it’s amazing how moving things around shakes things up
- New wallpaper for you desktop – get some new vistas to look at
- Work remotely – go find that “Coffee-Fi” as my friend Thomas calls it, exactly who says you can’t be productive outside the office
Watching for it
More than anything, simply watching for real opportunities to change how you do things, view things, or even work will help bring a new perspective. You’ve probably been doing this type of thing for your employer, “think outside the box”, but may not have done it as often for yourself.
Stand up for a minute and take a good, slow look around your office, and office mates. Turn all the way around. How many others are looking up or around? I bet you’ll see most of your cube mates “heads down” doing those repetitive tasks we talked about.
What About You
So, what are you going to do? Do you have something that we can learn from? What other things have you found to change your vista?
Photo credit: lulacerdarj
Technorati Tags: Perspectives, Viewpoint, Worldview
