The Wiki Backlash

While there's ample reporting these days about the blogging backlash, I'm not reading much about the concurrent backlash against wikis. Yet as the blogging skeptics and critics find their voice, wikis are getting bound up in the discussion. For example, TheNewPR, which has not suffered any of the consequences Mr. Ed seems to think are inherent in the tool. Internally, organizations use wikis where the collaborative nature of the tool will enhance an effort, just as IBM sought employee thinking around its blogging policy. In the strategic planning process, the goal comes first; What do we want to accomplish? In support of the goal, we create broad approaches called strategies. Measurable objectives are established for each strategy. Then, for each objective, we develop tactics that include tools. Can you imagine how the D-Day invasion of Normandy would have gone if the first thing planners had said was, "We need lots of ships. And rifles! We gotta have rifles! What kind of cool rifles can we get?" There's nothing new about the notion of a communication tool poorly applied. From the business perspective, there will be excellent examples of wikis and blogs-and examples that will make you cringe. Most of the time, planning will be the difference. There's nothing inherently good or bad about the tools themselves. Shel Holtz is principal of a shel of my former self