Lean In

I recently finished reading Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg’s book Lean In. I’ve also researched and read many of the criticisms of the book. Some criticism is well-reasoned and some knee-jerk reaction. A growing meme of mockery is subtle in use of the phrase “lean in,” and while this seems surface positive, it’s not too difficult …

Review: The Connected Company by @davegray

One common approach to dissecting social business into its key components is separating people, process, and technology. You can find plenty of discussion out there about technology – just read TechCrunch every day. There have been a couple of good social business books written about people, like Open Leadership and Empowered. In The Connected Company, Dave Gray has written a book that brings it all together with an engaging and lucid right-brain perspective.

Customers are connecting. Are you?

Reviews of Social Business By Design

Social Business By Design has been out for a couple weeks and we’re hearing great feedback on the book:

#SBBD

  • “If you work in social media you have to buy a copy.” – Forbes
  • “For those trying to sell their companies on why social business makes sense, passing around a few copies of this book would be a good way to start.” – Information Week
  • “The graphics in this book are worth the price of the book alone.” – ZDNet

Sharing “Social Business By Design” #SBBD

Today is the official publication date of Social Business By Design. It’s been a whirlwind three-year journey from the original blog post that introduced the world to “social business” to a full book describing how to make strategy and tactics succeed.

#SBBD

  • If you’re a seasoned social business practitioner, you’ll find value in the frameworks, outlines, and visual thinking. As one early reviewer wrote, “the graphics in this book are worth the price of the book alone.” We relied on the information design talents of our colleagues formerly known as XPLANE to help make the 30+ graphics make sense, in addition to the decades of strategy, technology, and marketing experience incorporated into our thinking.

We’re happy to share parts of the book with you in this excerpt in Fast Company and a download of Chapter 5. If you want more, the book is available at Amazon.com and 800-CEO-READ (< best price).

Simon Mainwaring: We First

I was intrigued by the outreach for Simon Mainwaring‘s new book, We First. It’s not your typical social media book and I wanted to learn more from Simon about why it matters. Q: What are the drivers behind We First? What are the key factors that make this an important book to read today? One …

Charlene Li on Open Leadership

Last week I discussed the updates to Groundswell and I’d be remiss if I didn’t highlight the continuing work of co-author Charlene Li. Charlene has been a trusted advisor to marketing leaders for over a decade, helping make sense of search and portals in the early days and then building awareness and understanding of social …

Groundswell and social business: moving towards maturity

Current state. Yesterday I covered general updates to Groundswell and specifics around Twitter. The other major update to Groundswell focuses on attaining social maturity and provides a model where companies can self-identify and determine what’s needed to progress further. Most companies are clustered around the middle of the bell curve when it comes to maturity, …

The Groundswell rises again

The update. Forrester Research releases an update today to Groundswell, which continues to serve many marketers as a how-to guide for thinking through social business. Groundswell is now available in paperback and contains two new chapters: “tapping the groundswell with twitter” and “attaining social maturity.” I was an analyst at Forrester when the book was …