How can Web2.0 exist in the Enterprise?

Another great find from the elearningpost blog. This one points us too Shiv Singh of the BoxesandArrows blog.  Shiv nails it with this assessment:

First, Web 2.0 can change the way you reach your customers, build relationships with them, and further your brand objectives. Successful companies are using Web 2.0 concepts to encourage their customers to build communities around their products, provide feedback on products, and, in some cases, even inform strategy. But Web 2.0 concepts are not effective unless you examine how you are connecting with your customers and relinquish the idea you can dictate to them. It takes courage to let go of control, through collaborative design with the customer, or through communication within the enterprise. Rather than “aligning supply chains, communications, marketing initiatives” what if you co-create new supply chain approaches with your suppliers, or what if marketing initiatives come from the customers? While pronouncements and offerings feel safer and more familiar than participation and collaboration, the rewards are higher when you open your processes up to more input.

It absolutely takes courage to let go of the wheel and let the (perceived) chaos take over. An Intel colleague of mine once stated at the Learning2005 conference with absolutely certainty that "2005 is the year I lost control!" For others it may be 2006, 2008, or beyond. But, it is coming. And it will impact us all.