by Rob Paterson
August 18, 2008 at 6:00 am · Filed under
Blogging, Cancer, Community, Death and Dying, Leroy Sievers, NPR, Public Media, Public radio, Relationships, Web 2.0
Leroy Sievers died this weekend. This picture is one of him blogging for NPR on his cancer. His column on the NP Blog is called “My Cancer“.
I post about Leroy today not just to honor a great journalist and a courageous man but to make a point about voice. The human voice that is central to the relationship world that is struggling to emerge from the transactional world that we mainly inhabit today.
Leroy’s column at NPR was unusual in two ways. First of all it was based on a journalist telling a story about himself - what it was like to to live with and die from a disease that had condemned him. Death in our society is itself one of the great taboos. We can talk of almost anything but this. Secondly Leroy did not allow any distance between his public voice and himself. So he could and did talk of his fears and uncertainties, of the days when he despaired and felt too weak to go on, of the joys of little things and the vital importance of friends and lovers.
For those of us in the “club”, his column was an immense comfort. For we too feel all these things. By bringing his voice to the ’sphere, he gave us ours.
And that my friends is the point. Here is the announcement of his death on the blog. Please have a look at the comments - there are hundreds and hundreds already - to see what I mean by him giving us a voice.
For when it all is stripped away, the great power of the 2.0 world is not to sell us more stuff but to help us regain our humanity.
If you would like to know more about Leroy Sievers and what he meant to many people - NPR have a wonderful tribute page here
I find this photo album especially moving as Leroy unlocks the unpspoken words in others and they alo offer a glimpse of themselves - the face tells so much
by Rob Paterson
August 11, 2008 at 9:12 am · Filed under
2.0 Design Thinking, Barriers, Blogging, Business Model, CPB, Community, Control, Culture, Enterprise 2.0, Enterprise Social Computing, Enterprise Software, KETC, Measurement, Mortage Crisis, Network Effect, Public Media, Public TV, Public radio, Relationships, Social Media, Social Networking, interaction
What is the secret of a 2.0 organization? Is it merely the mastery of the tools?
If your organization is all about control and top down - it is unlikely that having a Wordpress site will take you to the new world of networks. To make a 2.0 world work for those you serve means that you have to have such a world working inside your organization.
So what do you do to get this? It is clear to me that we have made this shift at KETC in St Louis.
The context of this story is a project that KETC is working on to find ways of activating the community in St Louis to help reduce the pain of the mortgage crisis.
In so doing we are testing the big idea that Public Media can do more than bring Jane Austen to your TV screen. The CPB is testing this idea in St Louis and if we have enough progress - will expand the test to many other cities and stations.
So an important task that we have to fulfill will be to help the system replicate what we have done.
The easy part of this task will be the “Whats”. The Content we created, what we did on air, on the web, in meetings with the community etc. But I don’t think that only talking of the “what” will be very helpful. I think that it will be the “how” that is the real secret. The “how” will be about the new culture - the new set of work and social norms that are behind becoming a convener.
We surely have to become a Convener inside the station before we can have much a of a chance of being the Trusted Convener outside. That is the really hard work. I know that KETC has pulled this off. But how can I tell you about the how. How do you tell another about a new way of being?
This weekend while watching the Olympics I had an aha about the “How” that I would like to try here with you.
Here is a picture of the Canadian men’s 8 at the Olympics yesterday.
When all the 8 in the boat and the cox are aligned - something magic happens. All the effort is applied to the work. When this happens, you feel it. It is almost a spiritual feeling. It’s a form of magic. The boat just flies. You dissolve into a field that is the boat, the 8 and the cox. You are ONE. All friction and resistance is gone.
With a big race and your reputation on the line - the pressure to get aligned is huge - you can feel if one person is not there with you.
This is what it feels like in our KETC project meetings now. It feels like the boat is flying - it feels so good to be with the other members of the boat.
The pressure is there. As the guinea pig for Public Media we feel the eyes of thousands upon us. Upping the pressure to perform seems to help with transformation. Like heat applied to water creates steam or heat applied to iron with other things creates steel.
So creating pressure about results, time and scale is a first step. You don’t go gradually into this - you have to go full tilt.
We had no time. the project is only 3 months long. So there was no time to be incompetent. In the early days we had to re-arrange the boat a bit to get the team that could do the work and do it with the others. We could not tolerate anyone in the boat who could not pull their weight. We acted immediately when it was clear that the mission was being threatened. This is not the pub media way but it is the real community way. Real communities see everything and expect a lot. Real communities are not soft.
But after this initial shift - we know we have the right team. With the right team we build energy and confidence over time. There is a trust and a confidence in each other that has been developed by publicly and transparently experiencing the abilities of the others.
To get this transparency - we have a process that is built around all involved making public commitments.
It has developed by a simple part of the Project Management process - the day starts with asking each other for help. Every day we meet for 30 minutes to talk about what is going on and all the cards are face up on the table. We have learned to be explicit. Not rude but very clear. A very different norm from the past or most organizations. Accountability is fully visible.
This does not seem like the typical meeting that many of us have. It is very operational - what has to get done today and this week. But it is also very social. As trust has built there is also a lot of laughter and banter. The walls of the silos are coming down. We are finding that people who we did not know or trust much can be very helpful and that they can work miracles. Especially when the chips are down.
We have set major milestones and we have surpassed them all. Everyone has been tested in public. By being open - by being demanding in public - we are closer. Nothing is not unsaid anymore. You don’t have to whinge in the washroom. This is more than transparency - this is “clarity”.
So how does this happen? Well we are set up as I now see like an 8. The engine room is of course the department heads - they do the rowing. But it is the project management structure and discipline that makes the 8 go so well. So let’s look at this because all can replicate this.
First of all we have “Cox”. Not the project sponsor, not the President but the Cox (The Project Manager). In an 8, it is the cox - usually a very small person (Our PM is new and is very young but is an old soul) - who not only steers but who encourages and who works with the crew to respond to threats and opportunities as they happen on the water in the race. He is always pulling us back to the task. He is always asking the awkward question - he is always asking for more clarity. He uses humor and self-deprecation to get his way. But behind him is the power of the coach and the President. He can always use disappointment as power - “Do we really have to go to Jack about this?” usually settles most issues without escalation.
So the PM/Cox not only sets the process tone but also shows us how to use power as a convener. He uses personal power and almost never has to escalate because all the conversations are in the open - bad behavior - is obvious to all - social pressure ensures good behavior.
There is no doubt in my mind that Project Management is a key skill in the operation of a high performing organization. What it does is it keeps focus - it forces accountability - it manages the white space between the silos - for this is where the cooperation is demanded. For a while it all feels forced for this is new. But after 9 weeks it is our new normal.
Of course what is really happening is that the PM is “Convening”. He is holding the kind of open and trusted space that enables groups to work well with each other. The central process at KETC has become Convening.
We are also seeing that the project never ends. There is always complex work that is measured by outcomes to do. That raises another issue. Outcomes and measurement: in the old norm, we were soft on both. Now everything that we do has to have an objective and hence has to have a measure. This again was awkward at first but now is a new normal.
Which brings us to the “Coach”. The Coach in an 8 is not the cox. The coach’s work is all about ensuring that the goals are set and the capability is ready. We have such a role being played at KETC - the project Sponsor.
There is a lot of discipline in the role. The coach is not one of the guys. The coach pushes all the time. the coach has expectations.The coach sees the needs of the whole race/project. She sees how this race/project connects to others. She sees the development needs and she has an eagle eye on personnel. If someone is not working out, she has to deal with this.
Part of her power comes from her appointment. She has been selected by the “Club President”. She can escalate and does over personnel and budget issues. But she settles organizational issues from her position. But not all her power is delegated from the President. She has her own power based on her own achievements. For the coach is also rooted in their own talent. She has deep skills in a key area - Community Engagement. She has a track record of her own in getting tough jobs done well.
Finally we have the club president. He is responsible for the financial envelope - which provides the boat etc. This is a separate role to that of the Coach or the Cox. But in most organizations this person does all of this.
This is what I mean by Top Down organizations being political. They tend to be like medieval courts, where factions compete for influence and power. All the work happens in the corridors or in secret. Little is really visible. All in the end is decided by the King.
What is happening at KETC is that all the key work is now taking place in a process that is fully transparent. The President can look at the boat in the water and see all the workings. Accountability is clear.
- Each rower has his or her part and they have to be visibly working with the rest of the 8.
- The cox’s ability to get the boat running optimally in each race is clear to all - especially in the boat itself.
- The results of the boat belong to the coach - her role is clear.
- The resources for the club are the President’s role - and he is delivering and he also sets the tone.
The President in our case, asked the team for it all. He wants Gold in an Olympic setting and he asks for nothing less. In asking for all, he is getting it.
So that’s my metaphor. If you run your organization like a rowing team, if you set up the key roles as you find in a rowing team, you can make the shift inside from 1.0 to 2.0.
The irony is that the 2.0 world is more disciplined than the 1.0 world. But as you can see much of the discipline happens because of visibility and clarity. It’s like being in a small town. What you say and what you do can never be a secret. So your word and your actions define you. In a small town you also have to help each other.
In the 1.0 world of the huge city - there is little social pressure. All is anonimity. So there have to be rules and policemen and gaming the system.
Installing the kind of Project Management Process that we are using at KETC gives you a good shot at making this shift.
by Rob Paterson
July 18, 2008 at 7:35 am · Filed under
KETC, Politics, Public Media, Public TV, Public radio, Relationships, Social Media, TV, Trust, Trusted Space
Social Media for what? As the shadows lengthen, I am seeing that the new role for public media is not simply to bring you Jane Austen on Sundays - though that is worthy - but to use the trust evoked in a generation public TV and radio to help us as citizens help each other face terrible times.
The mortgage crisis is now clearly not just about a few people who should have known better, as many like to see it, but is a crisis so deep and wide that it has the power to doom not only individuals but cities. As houses fall, so do streets, the blocks then neighborhoods and then entire cities. Loss of taxes will shutter schools, loss of taxes will neuter governments, loss of mobility and loss of value will shut down people. So the financial cancer spreads until maybe America comes to a halt.
So what to do? This is where social media will I think play it’s most important role - that of empowering people to come together and to help each other. This is I think where the history books will tell the story - not that Facebook or My Space were cool, not that business finally got it. No I think the story will be that Social Media enabled the rise of Community Power and that it was Community Power that helped America through these times. That it was Community Power that replaced machine Democracy and restored the Republic.
Big claim! So here are some early signs - you can see this great power stir before your eyes
KETC, a client of mine, the Public TV Channel in St Louis, has been chosen by CPB to test how well a public TV station can be in Convening the wider community of its city to come together and help each other cope with a giant crisis. Here is a link to the background.
I am writing today to offer up an early report. This week we held the first on air/web town hall meeting.
For the first time St Louisans could see that they were not alone. The room was full of all sorts of people. St Louisans could see the enormous amount of help that was there for them. They could hear stories of all the things that could happen for bad or good. They could feel hope.
The show (links part 1 - part 2 - part 3 - part 4) was masterful. First of all it set the context - it gave the whole story. Then the full range of risks and remedies were explored.
As I watched this show, I felt as I had after Robin’s cancer diagnosis when we met the wonderful team of people who saved her life. I felt that while the situation was dire, that I might lose not my home but my wife, that we had the benefit of a great team and of the best that medicine could offer - we knew what we were up against. We knew that we had a chance. We had hope whereas before we had only fear.
I thought that I knew it all before the show. But I didn’t. In an hour, Ruth had covered the full story. No sound bites here. The full story!
The last segment was for me the most gripping. Here the show is opened up to the audience, to callers and those on the web. Here the voice of the community spoke. The dignity of the people and the panel was something to behold. The barriers between the helpers and the helped were eliminated. Something important happened.
The full impact was also revealed.
This is much more than a person losing their home. This is about the ripple effect that kills blocks, kills communities and in the end can doom the city. The ripple effect affects us all.
Next week we have a second show. This time we will focus on the the ripple effect - how can St Louisans work together to protect their communities? How can the people save their city?
Of course what you see on TV is merely the surface. If you look at the video, you will see The Swan - You will see the show but behind the scenes the feet are paddling hard under the surface.
The guys at KETC are paddling like fury all over the city and the state connecting people to help and more important connecting the help to the help. Have a look at the credits at the end of part 4.
This is the hard graft - many organizations, I call them Nodes of Trust, are meeting each other for the first time and seeing how much they can do to help each other do a better job.
Many are also seeing that the mortgage crisis itself is only part of a much more dangerous threat, the Ripple, that has the power to take the entire city down.
This is why I make the claim I do. I can think of only one way to dig our way out of this mess - to connect the people so that they can take charge themselves. Social Media and stations like KETC are the way to make these connections.
Many are starting to see that many who got caught were not foolish but unfortunate or worse exploited.
St Louisan are starting to feel that they might have a chance of beating this - a chance not because of false hope or exhortation but hope drawn from meeting other good men and women and seeing that together they can make an impact. Seeing that they are not helpless.
I think that KETC is on its way to prove out the hopes of CPB - that Public Media can be seen as a powerful force for good in their community. For who else can do this work? Who else can act as the convenor in these tough times?
by Rob Paterson
July 14, 2008 at 9:45 am · Filed under
Bryant Park Project, Enterprise 2.0, NPR, Public Media, Public TV, Public radio, Relationships
It was announced this weekend that NPR will have to cancel their new News program The Bryant Park Project for cost reasons. The NYT story is here. The BPP site with comments on the closing of the show is here. You can see that I was not the only fan nor am I the only one who is upset!
Laura called me this morning for an interview on how I felt. Obviously I am very sad. But she also asked me for what I thought might be some reasons. It is only day 1 - but I do have some ideas. They are only mine and they are my immediate reactions. As I have promoted the show and its apporach to the web so much, I think that I owe you some reasons as well.
I think a couple of things are becoming more clear to me. The show was seen as a Radio show with a strong social web element. This is I think the key error that drove the costs and the expectations. If you want to do the new today - you have to break away from the costs of the machine - if a paper, no press and no paper! I would have launched BPP as a web show with a bit of radio. No small distinction.
So much of what BPP did on the web - the use of Twitter to build community - the use of Facebook to give us a weekly review. The use of video on the blog. All this broke down the barriers of power/distance and time. Many of us felt part of the show. Our ideas were heard and acted upon. We even went on the show now and then.
A lot of what pulled us in was the personal. We learned about the food obsessions, the drilling, we chatted 24/7 with the staff and with each other. We met and made new friends.
The NYT mentioned that in April and May they had a million unique visitors on the web. This is brilliant.
As a web based show you can build the audience until you have enough momentum to add more radio. I would also have made it easy for “members” to donate to BPP. What about the stations? I would have had a split. Try the new economics for real all the way.
So what went wrong? The show was conceived as Radio!
In St Louis, many of the best staff of the Dispatch left the paper and started a new one. The one thing they did not consider was using paper!
This is a picture of the pride of the RN in 1860. Called HMS Inflexible, she looks modern. She has a “website”. She is made of steel. She is driven by steam. She has big guns in turrets. But she was not modern. Because, she was set up to fight as Nelson’s wooden ships were. The culture was to engage closely. The culture was that those dirty engineers had to stay away from command roles.
HMS Inflexible was a hybrid. Looked new but was in reality based on the rules and the culture of 1805.
This is HMS Dreadnought.
Launched in 1906, she was the complete vision of the new in its reality. She was designed to fight at 10 miles. She was designed to be led by people who understood engineering. She had the power to sink the entire German Fleet at the time. In launching her, Admiral Fisher knew that he had made all the RN’s fleet of Hybrids obsolete overnight. But he could not afford not to go to the new. His concern was that Germany or America would beat him to it.
I think that this where we are in media on this sad July morning.
It’s all the way or not at all. Just as the presses and the paper is a cost that is killing the Newspapers, so the transmitters are killing TV and Radio.
All that can remain for a while are the established shows such as ME and ATC.
But if you want some thing new that will scale and make you money - it’s the web all the way. Look back at what BPP did so well there and know that they paved the way for you.
