IBM formally released Lotus Connections – their version of MySpace, FaceBook for the Corporate world. Through a suite of integrated components, Lotus Connections is designed to unlock the hidden pockets of knowledge by exposing one's expertise, skills, knowledge, 'what I subscribe to', 'what I'm working on', etc to the rest of the organization. With Lotus Connections, users can easily find subject matter experts in profiles, create and join like-minded communities, and exchange ideas and resources through blogging and shared bookmarks. A  demo from IBM is here (no reg required).

Sounds fantastic - I no doubt believe senior executives see the power of Lotus Connections, especially inside those organizations where it’s difficult to have downward visibility into ‘who really works for us’. As someone who readily shares, I definitely see where Lotus Connections will make my life easier and make me more effective. For organizations where knowledge is instrumental for a competitive advantage, Lotus Connections will definitely help. But is right for you?

Your Culture Could Hold You Back

Unlike most software, Lotus Connections derives its core value from the 'the more people that use it, the better it becomes principle'. The more people sharing knowledge, the more connections that can be made - the more value it can potentially generate. It’s not the same as providing the entire organization with personal productivity software like Microsoft Office or OpenOffice – people can become productive on their own.

For high-trusting (“Open and Honest”) corporate cultures who readily share information already - adding Lotus Connections will only expedite those excellent behaviours. If this is you, then they’re ready for Lotus Connections. However, those cultures where power is derived from your position in the hierarchy (think Manager vs. Leader here ...) and where knowledge workers have a hard time trusting their managers, Lotus Connections will probably fail as an initiative.

The Challenges are ...

The idea of sharing knowledge and expertise is nothing new - think back to the Knowledge Management days of the mid-1990's. The central issue that prevented most Knowledge Management initiatives from flourishing was the whole Content Ownership. Many authors became frustrated by the amount of time involved and the lack of sharing amongst their peers - creating a sense that they were getting very little in return for their hard work.

While Lotus Connections is definitely a quantem leap forward from a technology perspective, it doesn't address the fact that some people (firmly) believe that 'Information is Power' and that ‘it’s not what you know, but who you know’. If you're the 'Go-to person' for X, why share it with others so they can become experts in X as well? If I’m the only person that knows X, doesn’t that make my job safe? While we can debate whether this personal strategy is relevant in today’s business world, the fact of the matter is that if you get enough of these people inside your organization, they are a barrier to a successful Lotus Connections deployment, and may ultimately sink it.

Before rushing out and implementing Lotus Connections, look at your business to see if your business processes and systems are ready. Don’t guess or assume, know. Ask questions like: Is our financial reporting affected by the cross-pollination of people across teams (How are P&L owners treated if their people cross-pollinate to work on new projects, new areas ...)? Do we promote, incent and reward sharing? Is there a connection into performance reviews and merit increases for those that share? How are we going to handle people who refuse to share? Are we prepared to remove them from the organization, if necessary? Can we remain viable with them in the organization? If Lotus Connections can ‘find’ all the experts for one particular project, do we allow them to come together to execute? What if they’re involved in other projects? Lastly, are we prepared to expose this information so readily to the entire organization?

Don’t get me wrong – I think Lotus Connections is a game-changer. Executed properly, and people will be exposed to information they didn’t think or know they had access to (ie ..“Has anyone worked in X Industry/environment? Does anyone know anyone in Company A? Has anyone ever had to deal with Z?.. etc). This could enable an organization to gain an upper hand to win more deals or market share, improve their R&D, create new products/solutions faster and/or increase the sense of belonging to the organization (thus reducing turnover).

You just have to ask yourself – “Are We Ready?”