Calling All CEOs: Look for the Heroes Inside (your organization)

May 15 is approaching, and we’re happy to see the registrations flying in for SOMESSO London. It’s exciting to see so many corporations – both media-savvy and more conservative getting involved with the SOMESSO concept. And our pre-event at leading corporate social computing consultancy Headshift gave us a taster of how hot the topic of social media is becoming among big corporations.

Attendees from heavyweights such as Goldman Sachs, BDO Stoy Hayward, Bloomberg, Reed Business Information, and IBM rubbed shoulders with startup founders, change management consultants, developers, social media experts and more. After I explained how far we are and how I am planning to further build SOMESSO into the leading global platform for Corporate Social Media matters (such as the launch of the SOMESSO online community, corporate consulting / banking projects, future conferences in China and Africa, etc), Headshift’s Robin Hamman took over and we had a cracking open discussion about the main social media pain points faced by corporations.

At this point I was already prepared to receive the same answer that I get most times posing such questions in front of corporate affiliates: embarrassed silence. But what happened was far more inspiring.

OK, there were a few moments of embarrassed silence. Corporates are traditionally resistant to open discussion, especially in a context where competitors, possible clients – and just strangers – are present! But the way forward was beautifully signposted by Headshift’s Lee Bryant, who opened with a summary of his views on the transitions, challenges and opportunities afforded by social media in this sector right now. So after a hesitant start the talk (no doubt helped by Robin’s excellent choice of wine) began to flow. We heard about obstacles inside companies, struggles with IT departments, the challenge of securing C-level support, and even the complexities of being someone hired specifically as a ‘maverick’.

Here are four hot topics that drew everyone in, whether startups, corporates, or consultants:

*Waging guerrilla war against corporate IT: How can corporates become more flexible in adoption of new tools when the ‘guys in the basement’ have the power to determine what a company does? Security, ‘trusted provider’ questions, more open sharing and collaboration all create power struggles between the IT department and the rest of a company.

*Nurturing the evangelist: How do corporates find the heroes inside? Many companies already employ people who are adopting new tools: how can we help identify, trust and empower these evangelists?

*Empowering experimentation: Current IT procurement typically focuses on large, expensive deployments that can often lock companies into expensive proprietary systems. How can we encourage a shift to shorter, more ‘agile’ deployments and a more open, experimental and cost-effective IT strategy?

*“Fudging the ROI”: Large corporations understandably want to see cost-benefit analyses before investing in change. How can we measure and quantify the benefits of social tools? Do we even have to do this?

Even this short conversation revealed some key messages for CEOs. The first: to deliver real benefits, new social media tools need to be championed right from the top. Start looking and listening for those rare individuals already using creative new tools inside your company, and make sure they get the support they need. And the second: by encouraging experimentation, you will begin to save money. As you move away from the old-fashioned ‘cathedral-building’ mentality of corporate IT procurement towards smaller, more adaptive spends, change and improvement will come incrementally but continuously – and without the dangerous reliance on over-powerful vendors or IT departments.

The discussion panel at SOMESSO London on May 15 will field a powerful team to tackle these questions and explore how corporations can benefit from social media to find innovative, cost-effective ways of working. I hope that – whether you are a social media expert or someone only just beginning to learn about it – you will join us there. Meanwhile, we’d love to know: what are your key topics? What would you like to see discussed? In the spirit of openness demonstrated by our pre-event contributors, we’d love to hear your views – and of course to see you at the Emirates Stadium on May 15!