After reading the following article from 37-Signals entitled “You have to treat your employees like customers” I got thinking about respect, trust and cultural beliefs around social computing in the workplace.

One of the biggest human barriers to adopting anything new is fear. When it comes to the application of collaborative technologies in the enterprise this is often a fear of losing control. I recently overheard an IT manager sum it up quite nicely. He had just watched a demonstration of a leading enterprise social networking platform where he was shown, amongst other great stories, how the technology had enabled CEOs to engage with employees in a way that hadn’t been possible before. After hearing all this great stuff, his response to the person sitting next to him was “well, they’d only play on this all day and never get any REAL work done.”. He did not see the value of conversation and, more importantly, he did not trust employees to behave responsibly. He feared how they would behave.

Knowledge is power. We’ve all heard it and witnessed it at sometime during our working lives, I’m sure. Many of us also recognise that knowledge is also worthless if you don’t share it with others. So how do we overcome this fear barrier and encourage people to share and trust each other? As demonstrated above, it is not enough to say that collaboration makes good business sense. It is not enough to prove return on investment. It is much more fundamental than that. It is about change and it is about basic human behaviour.

The key to success when overcoming fear is understanding your purpose. A sense of shared purpose. Purpose is something everyone understands and relates to. Everyone gets out of bed in the morning for a reason. Our reasons may be different, often unique, but we all have a purpose and understand what that means to us.

I was once in a workshop with colleagues where the subject of why we came to work reared it’s ugly head. I remember it vividly because I was shocked by what I heard. I sat and listened while several individuals told the group that the reason they went to work was to “increase the shareholder value”. I nearly fell off my chair. Who goes to work to increase the shareholder value?? Ultimately business is looking to increase the value to it’s shareholders, yes. That is what business is about on many levels, but is that why you get out of bed in the morning if you are anyone other than the CEO? Is that why you commute for 2 hours with your head in the armpit of the person next to you on the train? I doubt it. Your purpose is much more important to you than that. At least one would hope it is.

Purpose is about identity and belief. To believe is to accept something as truth, without question. It is something that operates at a subconscious level, connecting both the left and right sides of your brain, your logical and your creative self. These beliefs and your sense of identity determine how you behave everyday, whether you are conscious of them or not.

Identifying your unique purpose brings clarity and direction. It helps bring meaning to what you do. A key premise of the inspiring-innovation techniques discussed in the Way of nowhere - Eight Questions to Release Our Creative Potential is to undertake exercises to help you identify and articulate your unique purpose. Understanding your purpose is what allows you to identify with others around you, to find common ground, be creative and be effective.

If you have shared sense of purpose your fear of others and how they behave is significantly reduced. You have a common goal; you are on the same side. You trust each other because ultimately you are going the same way, together.

We all know that innovation is paramount in distinguishing your brand from others in today’s business environment where the commoditisation of products and services is ever present. Innovation on many dimensions, not just the standard product or service path but on every aspect of your business; your business models, your brand and your people. Truly innovative places are respectful and free from fear.

Organisations who truly understand their shared sense of purpose are the places where creativity thrives and where innovative solutions to challenges are found. Spending the time to understand your purpose is critical. Make sure it is always in mind. Do this before you start. Spend time working together to understand your shared purpose, then trust your people to do a good job. Be comforted in the knowledge that they will walk towards that purpose every day…even when they are *playing* on a social network.

Suggested reading:

1. the Way of nowhere - Eight Questions to Release Our Creative Potential. Dr Nick Udall and Nic Turner
2. Purpose - the starting point of great companies. Nikos Mourkogiannis
3. Life Mapping. Brian Mayne
4. ID - the Quest for Identity in the 21st Century. Susan Greenfield.