Idea Storm

“It may be that just when IT tools become simple, ubiquitous, and easy to use that the exciting management challenges really begin.”

It seems that this idea comes up again and again in our class. When everyone understands how to use a tool, it starts to get boring. People want to see what’s next. They want something new. Something exciting. Or something that will make their lives a little easier.

User Innovation Communities can help companies really listen to and engage their customers. In the Dell case, we get an outline of how Dell responded to its customers through IdeaStorm. Dell developed a number of programs that helped break down “barriers to participation” including a User Toolkit that showed people how to use their products and services.

Companies who want to use social media effectively need to “develop a consistent and integrated message across a diverse set of very different social medial tools used in different ways”. Managers need to be smart and savvy. They need to develop simple yet innovative ways to get people, both inside and outside of their companies, involved and interested in what they are doing.