In the health care industry we talk about risk a lot. Whether it has to do with patient safety, managing potential problems, or dealing with information technology threats, risk is a part of life. We don’t have a corner on the term though, every business large or small has to deal with it.
Nothing New
Know Your Stuff
One of the ongoing challenges when going social in any organization is the senior leadership’s complete and total unwillingness to use and understand social tools. Far too often the nervous laughter and jokes accompany a question and raised eyebrow when social tools are being put to use in the workplace. What is also missed in that moment is that the social tools being used are building the brand…not tearing it down.
“If you don’t use the tools you won’t understand. How in the world can anyone lead when they don’t know what they’re talking about?”
Perhaps I’ve set my expectations too high? Maybe I fell in to the trap of believing that because one billion people use facebook and other social tools that it might be a good idea to use them myself? Or it could just be that I have have a classic case of optimism bias? Regardless of the answer, I’m not convinced that going social presents anything so scary that organziations should consider not moving ahead.
How About You
Where do you fall on the social-is-a-risk continuum? Are you scurrying around your office trying to make sure you control every single tweet and post? Or, are you looking around your organization seeing hundreds and hundreds of potential brand ambassadors?
I’d love to hear from you.
No Excuses.
