Last week I’ve make a blog post about social business 
nightmare. One way to avoid it is related to change management (THE WORD, even if now it is not the same concept than during the 90’s), to support your organization transformation, so a a change of mindset and a cultural evolution toward social business.
Most of the time, though leaders or consultants  show social business/ enterprise 2.0 as the model of the next enterprise, the one which make match successful business and well being for the employees in a win-win mode. Are you sure ? Usually this issue of social business is focus on the enterprise social network, and that’s just a tool. So the result is related to what you do with this tool. When you see how ours organizations currently run, are you undoubted that we go in the right way for a better world, or a worse one ?
Often inside enterprise, collaboration existing through communities inside an enterprise social network. Quickly, one of the main governance issue is about the opening communities process. The two main models are top-down approach (the decision is at a steering committee level) or a bottom-up approach (anyone can open a community without asking to anyone). Whatever the process, related to the company culture, here is a list of question to ask yourself before opening communities.
Many influenceurs of the enterprise 2.0 (as I a part of), seem to give the impression that things could be easy with the right person and the right methodology. Guaranteed success. Â Of course not, there is not THE methods, and no one can say, ok I am hundred percent sure what it will run. You so many issues like organization culture, management, willing of a real transformation into a social business organization…
So if the social business seems to be an answer to many issues that the enterprise has to deal with, it doesn’t mean that your organization is ready to transform or accept the challenge for many good or bad reasons.
I am not use to do that, but this post is a kind of answer to Cecil blogpost Social Business Vs Social Status. In fact in his post, Cecil explains that it is very hard to embed middle managers in a social business project, even if as anyone knows, they are key players for a real enterprise transformation. Because it is what is it about, not just emplement an enterprise social network, but really transform the organization with its business process and management way. I’ve already written things about this issue fews years ago and more recently. But it is still topical, and last week during a conference dedicated to management evolution, someone ask me at the end of my presentation about Leadership in network organization, how to embed the middle management. Here is a beginning of answer, even there is no one way or one solution.