A week in Tweets: 05-11 December 2010

Slipping back a bit – combination of travel, bad jetlag and an even worse cold… 🙁 Oh well. Anyway, another week’s-worth of Tweets and links, as usual, for whoever might find them useful.

Enterprise-architecture, business-architecture, business-strategy, business-models and suchlike businessy matters:

SAlhir: White Space, Dark Matter, and Enterprise Architecture http://bit.ly/i4LBIn <strong recommend #entarch #itarch
business_design: revised my unfounded opinion of http://Zappos.com founder Tony Hsieh after watching this video http://goo.gl/BgH91 what a vision!
via @business_design: Tony Hsieh at Stanford: “brand is just a lag-indicator of culture” http://bit.ly/erufea – recommend #entarch #bizarch
business_design: Interview by @ideaconnection asking me about business models http://goo.gl/oRVRe <strong recommend for #bizarch #bmgen – in-depth interview with a lot of useful detail
livsystems: Don Norman on problems with Human Factors Integration: http://bit.ly/guZm0p Must be something in the air <recommend #entarch
adrianrcampbell: #BizArch #BMgen Alternative Business Model Canvases? http://tinyurl.com/32sjknk <similar themes as in #ecanvas
5Di: 5Di Site updates: http://bit.ly/hcN3X8 and http://bit.ly/fUuTDe <from Nigel Green, the key developer of the #vpect framework
SAlhir: Reality: Thriving on Chaos (Tom Peters) in an Age of Discontinuity (Peter Drucker). // Reality: Past = Incoherence & Inconsistency; Present = Ambiguity; Future = Unpredictability & Uncertainty.
SAlhir: Product [=Service] = Holistic User Experience = Functionality [=Capability] +Design +Monetization +Content http://bit.ly/gQddQv <useful post aimed mostly at e-commerce ‘product’ #bizarch
oscarberg: RT @flowchainsensei: Recent blog post: Would You Rather Not Know (what makes technology organisations effective)? http://amplify.com/u/hlj5
jdevoo: RT @Competia @ethical_corp: Unilever’s new ambitious #sustainability plan http://bit.ly/fTMzsx #csr <also #entarch #bizarch
chrisdpotts: A business design principle: service is not a service. #entarch #bizarch <agreed, tho’ every service also serves.
chrisdpotts: @iyigun @tetradian Enterprises certainly have values (including conflicting ones). Vision is optional. #entarch // Markets have processes. Enterprises participate in them, and can influence their design. <note that Chris is precise about his terminology: he argues that vision must be in some way visual or visualisable, and that ‘enterprise’ is a ‘venture’ of some kind, usually commercial, usually within a market – I use both terms rather differently, with ‘vision’ as a kind of ‘overlighting ‘guiding star’, and ‘enterprise’ as a shared-intent that extends beyond its market(s)
ChristineArena: RT @RealizedWorth Transparency: The Internet’s Killer CSR App by @gregoryunruh http://bit.ly/ePD9dA #entarch #bizarch
aojensen: RT @erikbryn: Google opens eBook store with a la carte prices http://on.wsj.com/fbfzoe Why not experiment with massive bundling? http://bit.ly/hN01yn
KMskunkworks: Will we share and possibly surrender competitive advantage? — Business Failure is Knowledge Failure #KM http://bit.ly/aZ5e0Z
business_design: RT @bvanoosterhout: New blog post: B2B Business Model Innovation – challenges and rewards http://bit.ly/hzuVUO #strategy #innovation #bmgen
iyigun: [post] Technical debt and trust http://goo.gl/zYWiP #entarch <recommend: “Trying to increase the quality of IT-systems without solving the trust problem is doomed to fail” – lack of trust as cause of technical-debt
SAlhir: Service Innovation http://bit.ly/eCaYFw // Outcome-Driven Innovation (ODI) http://bit.ly/deLd8a // Giving Customers a Fair Hearing http://bit.ly/hjzKPa // Richard Barrett: Why Values are Important to the Evolution of Human Consciousness http://bit.ly/bytK0G // Improving your business through values http://bit.ly/gNqT2k [PDF] // From Maslow to Barrett: Overview of the Origins of the Seven Levels of Consciousness Model http://bit.ly/fNG1Zx [PDF] // The Barrett Model http://bit.ly/hLmMt2 // Building A Values–Driven Organization [PDF] http://bit.ly/dUL71L <selection of resources on values-driven aspects of #entarch, mostly from Richard Barrett (ex-World Bank – I came across his work at ANZ Bank in 2003)
greblhad: The Zen of EA: http://wp.me/p7ejN-8I #entarch #itarch
CreatvEmergence: Future of Design: Blue is the New Green (green: sustainable. blue: generative) http://bit.ly/ibJeo2 via @fastcodesign
kvistgaard: Flexibility includes becoming inflexible when that’s the right thing to do to accommodate change #entarch
taotwit: RT @rotkapchen: RT @DesignThinkers yes!!! DesignersDNA, plaform for corporate change agents, is online http://www.designersdna.com #designthinking
oscarberg: “In the computer industry, an enterprise is an organization that uses computers” http://bit.ly/flBFtM <<LOL <huh???? #entarch
adrianrcampbell: Business Models and Enterprise Architecture http://wp.me/p1p9N-2x #EntArch #BizArch #BMgen
SAlhir: RT @zapposxperience Customer Abuse? Good Triumphs Over Evil http://post.ly/1J6Jx <bizarre example where someone tried to create anti-clients so as to boost Google page-ranking
aojensen: Organisations do not have a culture. They are merely impressions or articulations of a much wider, societal construct denoted culture. <no, and yes – orgs do have a distinct culture, and they are in part articulations of their broader social context
SAlhir: RT @VenessaMiemis: new crosspost: When Futures Thinking Meets Design Thinking http://bit.ly/fDqhcA // RT @VenessaMiemis: new post: 3 Tools for Futures Thinking & Foresight Development http://bit.ly/hWyILV #future <recommend #entarch
SAlhir: power from patience, precision, attention2subtlety, concentration, & reverence 4 moment. RT @HarvardBiz: Value of Ritual http://s.hbr.org/hG6dbN <also important crosslink to #bizimprov and the ‘business-anarchist’ theme of stability within a chaotic context
CreatvEmergence: Old paradigm: analyze, strategize, plan, survive. New: that PLUS visualize, improvise, create, emerge, thrive, generate
oscarberg: RT @VenessaMiemis: great slideshare by @Canvas8! – Trends + Anthropology + Behavior + Strategy http://slidesha.re/bD8iRF #trends
kvistgaard: If the figures on Table 4 were real (http://bit.ly/fJAAKK) then investing in #entarch should be priority #1 for all Government agencies
adrianrcampbell: #EntArch is all about telling a story, but ideally a story with a repository behind it from which more wisdom +knowledge can be discovered
Bonifer: Time to remix your business metaphors? http://bit.ly/ia0pZ5 #gamechangers #narrative #bizstory #entarch
hebsgaard: Bernard Duperrin: Enterprise 2.0 and culture : change or do with it ? #e20 http://bit.ly/hO7oxw <recommend #entarch
adrianrcampbell: http://www.servicedesign.lu/2010/12/09/service-design-within-the-business-model-canvas/ #bmgen #entarch
mentoraxis: Should universities offer undergraduate/postgraduate courses in enterprise architecture? http://bit.ly/fTpryW #entarch <UPenn [USA]: “scope is … architecture of the enterprise as a whole”, not just IT – yeeessss!!! 🙂
joemckendrick: New software enables modeling of ‘stunningly complete simulations of the real world,’ every known physical force: http://tinyurl.com/2ajherz <not all ‘new’ – some of the software has been around for decades – but the overall capability and scope is relatively new
SAlhir: RT @GrahamHill @complexified: RT @rotmanschool Roger Martin – A Smart Example of an Integrative Strategy – http://bit.ly/gtLrXI <Toronto Film Festival #bmgen #entarch

A brief back-and-forth on the usual confusions about money and ‘efficiency’ in business:

chrisdpotts: From the field. To #CFO. Q: why does it matter how much your enterprise spends on IT? A: It doesn’t, we’d just like it to be less. #CIO
taotwit: @chrisdpotts guess what same answer for pencils, desks, toilet paper …
chrisdpotts: @taotwit Indeed. But the #CFO had not been asked to consider that question before, and found it a valuable challenge.
taotwit: @chrisdpotts .. And so what did he learn? IT is just another commodity? But how you use it matters???
chrisdpotts: @taotwit I think he learned that it’s more valuable to focus on the business decisions that cause IT costs, than how much the costs are.
taotwit: @chrisdpotts good! maybe then he shld think about how measure value from IT rather than cost alone! // Why is it that normally sane and rational cxos lose the plot when it comes to seeing the true +/- value of IT?

Narrative-knowledge, knowledge-management, innovation, creativity, leadership and in-person collaboration:

kvistgaard: RT @swensonkeith: The Checklist Manefesto: http://wp.me/pNFv-kf <- looks interesting, and yes, again complicated v. complex <v.useful review of a v.useful book
unorder: It was a lovely surprise to see our blog listed as #2 in a top 50 #KM blogs. http://bit.ly/dNkBEv <very useful #km list
taotwit: RT @plish: How Effective Is Storytelling in Organizations? Here’s Evidence http://post.ly/1IOSR #bizstory
oscarberg: When things are uncertain, best strategy is to follow your intuition – because planning doesn’t work // I always choose between two paths; either I choose to go with the flow, or I choose to create one myself
SAlhir: RT @Jabaldaia Cognitive complexity and #creativity – http://bit.ly/ciJaGn
ironick: Story behind these must-watch videos. RT @thersaorg @ExplainerNet: Interview with RSA Animate producer Abi Stephenson: http://bit.ly/ffw4ll <simple, clear, concise, engaging is the key to explaining complex ideas – and it takes a lot of work!
oscarberg: Blogged: Creating a culture of collaboration http://goo.gl/fb/qp42I <…starting in the home, with parenting
oscarberg: RT @MartijnLinssen: Enterprise 1.0 – The Dysfunctional Family? http://dlvr.it/9wnGl
DavidGurteen: What Children Can Teach Us http://bit.ly/fIYFRi <useful reminders…
Eclectpedic: RT @timkastelle: Good post by @dominicbasulto Evocative Objects: Designing for Emotion and Empathy http://bit.ly/eb1XuR
oscarberg: Blogged: Humans are emotional beings http://goo.gl/fb/2hFhW // Do Rational People Work at Your Firm? http://bit.ly/faTskM by @VMaryAbraham #change #decisionmaking
SAlhir: RT @doug_mather The value of collaboration – a very interesting and useful article http://bit.ly/hLvlKr
KMskunkworks: #KM if you want success get used to failure http://bit.ly/aHuQ4E True? Too many organisations fail to learn from success, which gets lost! <learning from ‘unexpected’ success is as important as learning from failure in #entarch #bizarch #bmgen etc

A lengthy back-and-forth about process, sequence and collaboration:

oscarberg: Social media in business = Content-oriented interactions & conversations facilitating collaborative work? // Processes are just a way to structure (repeatable) work. Business is so much more than processes #e20 <see http://thingamy.com for ‘Barely Repeatable Processes’? // If business was mostly about designing efficient processes, how easy wouldn’t it be to start & run a business?
kvistgaard: @oscarberg Repeatable work is represented by structured processes. The rest is p. as well unless nobody does anything and time is no concern
oscarberg: @kvistgaard no, a process is when you know the course of action – what activity follows an activity // processes are prescribed sequences of activities. For lots of work, you can only prescribe sequence of phases, not activities
tetradian: @oscarberg may only be a terminology-dispute, but I side with @kvistgaard (and @sig) on this: process = sequence, structured or unstructured
kvistgaard: @oscarberg Prescribed, ad-hoc and totally unpredictable are process specializations. The big attention to the 1st is easy to understand.
oscarberg: @tetradian @kvistgaard @sig in practice, process implies repeatable & prescribed sequences of actions. // on a conceptual level I agree with you, but I’m more interested in de facto def used by business people // some typical def’s of “process”: http://j.mp/g6gwhs http://j.mp/epFGe5 http://j.mp/fhBND0
kvistgaard: @oscarberg There is a trend to find ways to manage the rest. Examples: http://bit.ly/h4CGMQ ; http://bit.ly/18Z3j4 ; http://bit.ly/f0waaj
kvistgaard: @oscarberg Well, the third [definition in Oscar’s list] is almost fine. All process instances feature “sequence” but their process has “expected sequence” at most.
oscarberg: @kvistgaard the point isn’t to find a perfect def, but to understand the de facto def used by business people
tetradian: @oscarberg @kvistgaard if we stick with biz’ de-facto defn, we’re left with term-hijack: no term to describe unstructured activity-sequences // if we have no term for ‘unstructured processes’, how do we explain to biz that they’re a) common and b) v.important?
gagan_s: RT @tetradian: @oscarberg @kvistgaard W/ no term for ‘unstructured processes’, how to explain to biz that they’re common & v.imp? << Core Q.
oscarberg: @tetradian @kvistgaard exactly! that’s our challenge
tetradian: @oscarberg @kvistgaard agreed: so as with #entarch _challenge the term-hijack_ – ‘process’ is structured _and_ unstructured, _always_
kvistgaard: @tetradian @oscarberg roughly w/ just activities & sequence (known, unknown) we have: 1. Both known; 2. only A. known; 3. Both unknown
tetradian: @oscarberg @kvistgaard in #entarch is v.common to find all (known) processes documented, but actual work does not follow those ‘processes’!
kvistgaard: @tetradian that’s industry specific. The majority of p. in banks, telcos, retail r quite structured and dealing w/ category 1 pays off.
sig: RT @oscarberg: @tetradian @kvistgaard in practice, process implies repeatable & prescribed sequences of actions. < Industrial inherit // RT @oscarberg: @tetradian @kvistgaard @sig more interested in de facto def used by business people < result of available tech // @oscarberg cc @tetradian @kvistgaard core def of “process”: A series of actions or steps taken in order to achieve a particular end // other typical use of “process”: Peace process, creative process.. Linear and predictable? // Easily Repeatable Process is a subset of Barely Repeatable P; unpredictable have predictable snippets // Focus on ERP is about efficiency, on BRP is about effectiveness. Effectiveness always beats efficiency
oscarberg: @sig @tetradian @kvistgaard I agree with these def’s & views, but problem is they are not widely known (in business)
larshaahr: @tetradian @oscarberg @kvistgaard I think bricolage could be a beginning in this oxymoron world of conversation with things… #e20

Social-media, ‘enterprise 2.0’, user-interface/user-experience and online collaboration:

SAlhir: RT @Annemcx: RT @rachelbotsman New Post: How do you design a great peer-to-peer reputation system? 10 tips. http://bit.ly/e8IjE0 #socmedia #orgarch
SAlhir: RT @ErikPosthuma Engage your customer with an emotional experience. http://post.ly/1IUFA <interesting example from ASICS at NY Marathon #socmedia + corp-social-relationship
unorder: In case you didn’t see it over on @zahmoo, here’s the sneak preview of Zahmoo. http://bit.ly/ey9YHy #bizstory #storytelling
kvistgaard: Medeley (http://www.mendeley.com/) is a nice research tool <a researcher’s social-network: in effect, crowd-sourced citations and bibliographies
oscarberg: RT @tobyward: Social Intranets: The magic is in the culture, not the tools http://bit.ly/idcSyH <same in #entarch
SAlhir: RT @VenessaMiemis 20 Strategic Social Business Tools for 2011: http://bit.ly/eNFF63 via @fdomon #resources
via @Eclectopedic: Lifestream – very nice data-visualisation concept by Experientia http://bit.ly/9VUkc3 (see video full-screen) #ux
SAlhir: RT @Cnvrgnc: The next evolution of the web won’t be about more technology but about people, places and relationships. http://bit.ly/ib6SHp
oscarberg: It’s amazing how few people outside tech industry are used to virtual collaboration (email does not count) // There is SO much potential to be released with the use of virtual collaboration – we have just started // It is hard to sell virtual collaboration. Not because it isn’t needed, but because so few really understand why it’s needed // When people don’t even understand importance of virtual collab, how likely is it they’ll understand social collab / #e20? <we’ve experienced the same with whole-of-enterprise #entarch

Another longer back-and-forth on the meaninglessness of too-simplistic metrics for ‘return on investment’:

oscarberg: Is it just me that think “shortsightedness” when hearing people ask for ROI whenever a change is proposed? // What’s the ROI in trying to become a better person (or business)? <clarity on values – and in understanding ‘value’, ‘investment’ and ‘return’ beyond money alone – is essential here #entarch #orgarch #bmgen #bizarch #economics
oscarberg: @gfriend @tetradian that’s what I mean – some things you just need to do because it seems right for you / your business // there is rarely ROI calcs for real strategic decisions – it’s either do or die
tetradian: @oscarberg @gfriend re ROI, need to view investment & return in all forms of value, not just monetary terms #entarch #bizarch
gfriend: Who cares. Just Do It! RT @tetradian: RT @oscarberg: What’s the ROI in trying to become a better person (or business)? <oops… the joys of Twitter and splitting a sentence so that one half can be read way of out context… 🙁
oscarberg: @gfriend @tetradian that’s what I mean – some things you just need to do because it seems right for you / your business // there is rarely ROI calcs for real strategic decisions – it’s either do or die
Limbrey: @tetradian @oscarberg @gfriend does’t this boil down to the triumvarate of time, cost & quality (and risk?) #entarch #bizarch
gfriend: “ROI” is often after the fact justification for decisions made by gut, experience, whole being. // “ROI” important – essential – but quant analytics not the only way to get there.
gfriend: No, @limbrey bcs the time, cost & quality triumvirate presumes no innovation. Think stacked S-curves @tetradian @oscarberg #entarch #bizarch
sophiahorwitz: @gfriend @oscarberg @tetradian what if “ROI” is about full costing & measurement using more holistic such as Community Capitals or GPI?
gfriend: @sophiahorwitz @gfriend @oscarberg @tetradian Yes, Full Cost Acctg far better than Traditional Myopic Acctg, but quant analytics ? only way
tetradian: @sophiahorwitz @gfriend @oscarberg “ROI” needs to include all forms of value that are relevant in & to the context, inc. feelings hopes etc
rotkapchen: @tetradian @oscarberg Totally concur with the whole line of ROI-speak of late. Also differentiating ‘infrastructure’ from decor.
rotkapchen: @tetradian @chrisdpotts All products are services and all services are products 🙂
oscarberg: @rotkapchen @tetradian @chrisdpotts I once saw an info model w an service/product entity. That business was a total mess 😉
chrisdpotts: @tetradian The purpose a service managed to serve (if it did) depends on which of its stakeholders you ask. #entarch #bizarch

IT-architecture, IT-development, IT-systems and related themes:

theopengroup: Latest #ogwebinars recording is available: TOGAF™ 9 Content Metamodel Framework in ACTION http://ow.ly/3kUZe #entarch
kvistgaard: isn’t happy w/ #archimate 4 capability mapping. Biz func. can b used 4 Biz capabilities but app. func. doesn’t allow the right relationships #entarch #itarch
ironick: Inversion of Control is a defining characteristic of a framework. http://bit.ly/eCTN82 #itarch
EnterprisingA: Thought for the day: To do some REAL blue sky thinking you need to get your head out of the Cloud #itarch #entarch

Society, culture, economics, corporate social responsibility and other ‘big-picture’ matters:

The most sensible US comment yet on the Wikileaks mess, by Texas Republican congressman Ron Paul: “In a free society we’re supposed to know the truth,” Paul insisted. “In a society where truth becomes treason, then we’re in big trouble. And now, people who are revealing the truth are getting into trouble for it.” <http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/12/ron-paul-what-wikileaks/>
oscarberg: RT @karllong: as usual deep thoughts from @cshirky on wikileaks http://bit.ly/fZpN0J <quietly insightful, with solid sense and useful misgivings all round
oscarberg: ABC News [Australia]: News interview with futurist Ross Dawson on Wikileaks and the future http://j.mp/fYYqZr << clear analysis by @rossdawson
fer_ananda: Feudalism and money http://bit.ly/eaeY6d from @jfnoubel <learning to dissociate wealth from money – recommend. #society #economics
fer_ananda: Literacy for wealth possible? To reveal the patterns that create flow in communities? http://ow.ly/3ngd1 ( @wildcat2030 @emergentculture )
CreatvEmergence: Otto Scharmer: 7 Acupuncture Points for a Regenerative Ecosystem Economy [PDF] http://bit.ly/fkAPwE – via @nurturegirl @byrnegreen @gfriend #economics #society

And, of course, the mindful miscellany:

CreatvEmergence: George Orwell on writing: 6 Questions/6 Rules – http://ow.ly/3k3s7 via @RitaJKing @debbiestier <useful reminders for any writer
DavidGurteen: How I Write by @stevepavlina http://bit.ly/fwKrx3 /great advise <a lot of useful/practical detail
CreatvEmergence: Nice SlideShare: Visual Note Taking – http://slidesha.re/bdSt8S – via @VenessaMiemis
craighepburn: Thanks to @leebryant for introducing me to http://www.tweetdeck.com/chrome/ very cool indeed!
taotwit: RT @roygrubb: Evolution of knowledge and reconstruction of the Antikythera device http://bit.ly/hSm72y Bronze, then virtual, then Lego! <see the Lego video at http://bit.ly/hLRlLs – very nicely done 🙂

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