Comments on: Worst Practices for Managing Wikis in Organizations http://www.kinf.wiai.uni-bamberg.de/WiOblog/index.php/top-3-worst-practices-for-managing-wikis-in-organizations/ From Invention to Innovation Fri, 10 Feb 2012 03:43:11 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: Kristian Voigt http://www.kinf.wiai.uni-bamberg.de/WiOblog/index.php/top-3-worst-practices-for-managing-wikis-in-organizations/#comment-6760 Kristian Voigt Thu, 26 Feb 2009 14:41:55 +0000 http://www.kinf.wiai.uni-bamberg.de/WiOblog/index.php/top-3-worst-practices-for-managing-wikis-in-organizations/#comment-6760 In an organisation it is possible to make people share best practise (of course if you can find them) - but how will you make people share their worst practises. 'Please look at me and see how badly I failed'. I'm affraid that this won't give much credit - eventhough it can be very beneficial to others. I think you need to have a good reputation to show your dirty laundry in public. In an organisation it is possible to make people share best practise (of course if you can find them) - but how will you make people share their worst practises. ‘Please look at me and see how badly I failed’. I’m affraid that this won’t give much credit - eventhough it can be very beneficial to others. I think you need to have a good reputation to show your dirty laundry in public.

]]> By: Steffen http://www.kinf.wiai.uni-bamberg.de/WiOblog/index.php/top-3-worst-practices-for-managing-wikis-in-organizations/#comment-6698 Steffen Mon, 16 Feb 2009 08:30:36 +0000 http://www.kinf.wiai.uni-bamberg.de/WiOblog/index.php/top-3-worst-practices-for-managing-wikis-in-organizations/#comment-6698 @Dennis Are best practices the enemy of innovation? Absolutely! Copying best practices leads to just one thing: a copy. And a copy is nothing new, certainly not an innovation. Should we be talking about best thinking, then? I don't really see the difference to best practices. Slappin' on another label changes little to nothing. What matters most is thinking for oneself, thinking outside the box. I don't mean to say that best practices are necessarily bad. Neither are worst practices. On the contrary, it's essential that we look to others as well as to ourselves. What we need to realize is that while some things work for others, they may not work for us at all. Thus, it's not best or worst thinking but simply THINKING. How do we broaden the concepts of invention and innovation? First, don't think of a lineary process from invention to innovation but as a recursive process with intermediary loops, setbacks, and steps forward. Wikis are a prime example. Most organizations quickly apply some kind of structure to their wikis that resembles something they're familiar with, e.g., the departmental hierarchy in place or a project-based hyperlink structure. Over time, however, this structure adepts to the needs of its users. People link projects, put up new pages, and basically try something that hasn't been done before -- it's natural curiosity. Fortunately, a wiki is a highly democratic medium that allows for dynamic change; in a very sense, it's the complete opposite of other enterprise software such as SAP where not a single field in a GUI may change without the help of a third-party consultant. Again, I agree, the question you're posing are way beyond wikis. And we're working on the answers :-) @Dennis

Are best practices the enemy of innovation? Absolutely! Copying best practices leads to just one thing: a copy. And a copy is nothing new, certainly not an innovation.

Should we be talking about best thinking, then? I don’t really see the difference to best practices. Slappin’ on another label changes little to nothing. What matters most is thinking for oneself, thinking outside the box. I don’t mean to say that best practices are necessarily bad. Neither are worst practices. On the contrary, it’s essential that we look to others as well as to ourselves. What we need to realize is that while some things work for others, they may not work for us at all. Thus, it’s not best or worst thinking but simply THINKING.

How do we broaden the concepts of invention and innovation? First, don’t think of a lineary process from invention to innovation but as a recursive process with intermediary loops, setbacks, and steps forward. Wikis are a prime example. Most organizations quickly apply some kind of structure to their wikis that resembles something they’re familiar with, e.g., the departmental hierarchy in place or a project-based hyperlink structure. Over time, however, this structure adepts to the needs of its users. People link projects, put up new pages, and basically try something that hasn’t been done before — it’s natural curiosity. Fortunately, a wiki is a highly democratic medium that allows for dynamic change; in a very sense, it’s the complete opposite of other enterprise software such as SAP where not a single field in a GUI may change without the help of a third-party consultant.

Again, I agree, the question you’re posing are way beyond wikis. And we’re working on the answers :-)

]]> By: Dennis http://www.kinf.wiai.uni-bamberg.de/WiOblog/index.php/top-3-worst-practices-for-managing-wikis-in-organizations/#comment-6677 Dennis Fri, 13 Feb 2009 17:58:31 +0000 http://www.kinf.wiai.uni-bamberg.de/WiOblog/index.php/top-3-worst-practices-for-managing-wikis-in-organizations/#comment-6677 Are best practices the enemyof innovation? Should we be talking about best thinking? Best practices help us overcome worst practices and complacency, up to the point that thinking stops and habits of mind take over. How do we really broaden the concept of Invention to Innovation so that best thinking includes reflection, double and triple loop thinking? Seems this can be directed way beyond Wiki discussion. Are best practices the enemyof innovation? Should we be talking about best thinking? Best practices help us overcome worst practices and complacency, up to the point that thinking stops and habits of mind take over.

How do we really broaden the concept of Invention to Innovation so that best thinking includes reflection, double and triple loop thinking?

Seems this can be directed way beyond Wiki discussion.

]]> By: Yigal Chamish http://www.kinf.wiai.uni-bamberg.de/WiOblog/index.php/top-3-worst-practices-for-managing-wikis-in-organizations/#comment-6224 Yigal Chamish Fri, 05 Dec 2008 07:08:45 +0000 http://www.kinf.wiai.uni-bamberg.de/WiOblog/index.php/top-3-worst-practices-for-managing-wikis-in-organizations/#comment-6224 Great post, thank you. The main good/best practice in regard of motivation within Knowledge management and organizational learning is that executives and managers will move themselves towards the position of enablers: they should establish the spirit, the environment and the infrastructure for those who know - to meet, talk and share their stories. Now, in regard to Wiki, it will only succeed if people within the organization will feel that they can formulate and create the encyclopedia values by themselves. Great post, thank you.
The main good/best practice in regard of motivation within Knowledge management and organizational learning is that executives and managers will move themselves towards the position of enablers: they should establish the spirit, the environment and the infrastructure for those who know - to meet, talk and share their stories.
Now, in regard to Wiki, it will only succeed if people within the organization will feel that they can formulate and create the encyclopedia values by themselves.

]]> By: Steffen http://www.kinf.wiai.uni-bamberg.de/WiOblog/index.php/top-3-worst-practices-for-managing-wikis-in-organizations/#comment-5487 Steffen Wed, 10 Sep 2008 17:34:55 +0000 http://www.kinf.wiai.uni-bamberg.de/WiOblog/index.php/top-3-worst-practices-for-managing-wikis-in-organizations/#comment-5487 Unfortunately, there is no general answer to this question. Several factors affect your decision. For example, MediaWiki is a good choice: (a) Most of your employees will already know how to use it since its the engine Wikipedia uses, (b) it's highly customizable with your own CSS and thousands of (free) plug-ins, and (c) it scales really well (obviously, if you consider Wikipedia). But if you are looking for third-party tech support or you just cannot allow open source (e.g., I know a major company that does not allow MySQL as a database, and that's MediaWiki's backend), you may be better of with something like Confluence. A good place to compare wikis in terms of features is www.wikimatrix.org. Unfortunately, there is no general answer to this question. Several factors affect your decision.

For example, MediaWiki is a good choice: (a) Most of your employees will already know how to use it since its the engine Wikipedia uses, (b) it’s highly customizable with your own CSS and thousands of (free) plug-ins, and (c) it scales really well (obviously, if you consider Wikipedia). But if you are looking for third-party tech support or you just cannot allow open source (e.g., I know a major company that does not allow MySQL as a database, and that’s MediaWiki’s backend), you may be better of with something like Confluence.

A good place to compare wikis in terms of features is http://www.wikimatrix.org.

]]> By: Human Resource Consulting http://www.kinf.wiai.uni-bamberg.de/WiOblog/index.php/top-3-worst-practices-for-managing-wikis-in-organizations/#comment-5486 Human Resource Consulting Wed, 10 Sep 2008 15:50:52 +0000 http://www.kinf.wiai.uni-bamberg.de/WiOblog/index.php/top-3-worst-practices-for-managing-wikis-in-organizations/#comment-5486 What software package do you reccommend for setting up a Wiki at the office? What software package do you reccommend for setting up a Wiki at the office?

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