Yammering Together

From the NY Times: For Innovators, There Is Brainpower in Numbers:

“The best innovations occur when you have networks of people with diverse backgrounds gathering around a problem,” says Robert Fishkin, president and chief executive of Reframeit Inc., a Web 2.0 company that creates virtual space in a Web browser where users can share comments and highlights on any site. “We need to get better at collaborating in noncompetitive ways across company and organizational lines.”

How did I learn of this article? Yammer! A colleague at my company posted some information about the innovation process. Here are my comments about this kind of tool ... essentially Twitter for the corporation:

• My first impression of Yammer ... what a waste!
• My second impression ... boy was I stupid!
• Yammer introduces the unknown to me ... valuable people and ideas in my company

Let me expand. My expectation was that listening to folks ... even my colleagues post small messages a la Twitter would be a distraction, and a waste of my time. Instead I discovered:

• Via Yammer I joined groups that pertained to my job
• People from my groups who I DID NOT originally know provided me valuable knowledge

In summation, it's easy to talk to the folks you know. It's easy to seek ideas from your known peers. The big question ... how do you discover knowledge hidden to you within your own organization? My company has over 120,000 employees. So far, I don't know everyone. Yammer helps me expand my knowledge base. Thus, this experiment is worth continuing.

Finally, link to my Minnesota Yammer colleague ... and watch his overview on how to update your Yammer profile (via Slideshare).

Comments

[Chris Gammell]

Hi Rich,

Yammer seems like a promising platform. I'm thinking about introducing it at work and seeing how it pans out. I like the idea of it though: similar to Twitter...but with a purpose (finally!). It's like getting a virtual cup of coffee with your colleagues when you either don't know them or don't actually have time for that cup of coffee. Thanks for the heads up!

Chris