Octavio B.
Global Thinker ★ Corporate Strategist with focus in 2.0 Technologies
Why are you willing to share in Linkedin inquiries about management that you would hardly talk about in your organization?
One of the key collaborative features of Linkedin is its ability to connect effectively a myriad of professionals from different countries, diverse disciplines and dissimilar perspectives, which have now the chance to share their appreciations, doubts and inquiries, by using the beautifully designed Linkedin’s Answers feature.
If my personal experience could serve you as a reference, I found very enjoyable the possibility to share with folks having similar interests, but different point of views, essentials about management, professional life and personal life, that may be analyzed and discussed applying a fresh and multidimensional perspective, due to the multicultural and diverse character of the potential audience of networkers, willing to participate with their thoughtful and insightful responses.
Paradoxically, is not ever easy nor perhaps politically acceptable discuss our philosophical and conjectural doubts about management and other business topics, in the limited and restricted corporate ambit, where restraints emerging from corporate culture and stereotyped values are most of the time inhibitors that prevent us of being free to share knowledge, discuss about topics of our concern, and at last and not least important, solve many of our philosophical issues that worry and hesitate us about the science and art of being manager.
On the other hand, in social networks like Linkedin, due to the potentially massive, diverse and asynchronic character of the possible human interactions, fears and judgments about our desired and expected behavior tend to disappear quickly, helping us to feel more confident and secure to inquire and learn from our collective network intelligence.
Your appreciations and thoughts are welcome.
Good Answers (6)
Sheilah E.
Owner, ★SME Management:.......... Business Management and Accounting Consultant
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I think many people a safeness in opeing up here on this forum. Although many may also be surprised who from their work is also reading their words.
I think the main advantage to sharing here is those answering are not involved and less biased towards or against the person asking. At the same time our answers are limited because we never have all the facts.
I believe that if people would open up in a respectful way at work it may lead to changes they want or need. The problem is most are afraid to go against the grain. No one should have fear being fired for bringing things to management's attention, but it can happen.
I think linkedin allows an outlet that most never had before. The diversity of the site is an added asset and allows for far more perspectives.
Sheilah
David C.
C# / ASP.Net Web Developer
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I think there is are many insights that can be thrown at this question.
Here's mine...
People are by their nature group animals. We enjoy sharing our lives with each other. It makes us feel not so alone. It lets us learn from other people's wisdom. It makes us feel alive.
However, if we were allowed to do this in the workplace, we might start seeing each other as people. And if this happened, we might band together, over throw management and turn the company into something that works for us, rather than some torture camp that is designed to make the shareholders richer.
Hence management tends to frowns on people opening up to each other. And to stop this, it creates environments of fear and suspicion.
For example, we might all have an example of the whistle blower or the free thinker who was who was fired because of what they said or believed.
But outside the business workplace, on blogs, wikipedia, forums and sites like Linked In, people freely share their thoughts and insights - because it makes them happy.
(This, incidentally, is the real power of Web 2.0 - freedom to speak and be heard - and it will shake the world to its very core)
Tom F.
Editorial Director at Information Security Media Group
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Octavio:
I haven't discussed anything here that I wouldn't talk about in my own office. But what makes it easier to talk openly here is:
1) You can speak generally about the issues and conflicts w/o having to embarrass anyone by naming them or having people easily figure out their identities (tough to accomplish inside your own office),
2) The answers are all in response to specific questions. People are *asking* for our insight -- that makes a world of difference when it comes to sharing.
best,
Tom
Bruce B.
Newhorns Cattle and Sheep Co - Looking for another adventure - No suit and tie profile pic this time. LOL
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Actually I do not and would not bring anything to this board that I would not bring out into public at work.
I have a moral and ethical requirement - albeit a very personal one - to not discuss issues in one place that I would not discuss in another.
Bruce
Jack V.
Knowledge Management and Operational Excellence Professional
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I think it has something to do with the difficulty of talking about "issues" within an organization where everyone knows what those issues are. You get defensive responses from the people involved, or the same old responses that haven't worked. Seeking input from the outside, done ethically, is a great way to expose the issue to a different set of eyes.
Jose Antonio M.
Experienced consultant + speaker + trainer in Marketing 2.0, Social Media and Strategic Business Development.
The most important reasons would be:
+ New approaches: Much more points of view than in your own office.
+ Honesty: Anonymity and distance ensures straightforwardness.
+ Boldness: People has a different attitude when approached as 'experts'.
+ High Level: Top executives make LinkedIn community.
Anyway, I would treat LinkedIn interactions like an on-line brainstorming session, taking very good care in processing these ideas and pushing them into my work environment reality.
