What will it take for Gov2.0 to succeed?

I just saw the following tweet: http://twitter.com/zerostrategist/status/1671893983

Have we entered a new era?  Do we now have a “2.0″ government?  Maybe we are getting there, but let’s be levelheaded about this.  A twitter feed (that follows almost no one yet), and other ways to broadcast information on Internet channels is great progress.  Let’s not declare success so soon.  Anyone can put up a twitter feed, YouTube, or iTunes channel.  See http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/09/05/01/WhiteHouse/ for more about what was announced.

Why do I say this?  It’s not that I wish this was not true — rather that I know that you cannot fake transparency or rush cultural transformation.  I very much applaud the efforts that our new administration is taking.  I don’t mean to diminish it one bit.  In fact, I’d LOVE to help out — and I can.

“2.0″ indicates transformation.  Not just at the surface, but also throughout.  I recall President’s Obama’s thoughtful and measured response to the question posed the other day during a televised press conference: “During these first 100 days, what has surprised you the most about this office, enchanted you the most about serving this in office, humbled you the most and troubled you the most?”

[...] Troubled?  I’d say less troubled, but sobered by the fact that change in Washington comes slow; that there is still a certain quotient of political posturing and bickering that takes place even when we’re in the middle of really big crises.  I would like to think that everybody would say, you know what, let’s take a timeout on some of the political games, focus our attention for at least this year and then we can start running for something next year.  And that hasn’t happened as much as I would have liked.

The realization of politics in any civic pursuit is a sobering reality. You will find it in your town, school, workplace, city, and everywhere else there is power to broker, even in your house of worship.  In fact, one way I measure the effectiveness of a community is by the emotional attachment that people have to it.  If people don’t care much, it’s not a community.  If they care a lot — great, you have something here.  But since they care a lot, there will be power, politics, and policies that get in the way of transformation and transparency.  When I was an enterprise architect at Fidelity, one mentor told me “if you have not pissed them off yet, then you aren’t talking about architecture yet; and when you do piss them off, it’s not going to be about architecture either.”

Politics is a huge challenge to “2.0″ transformation.  It is at the center of the “culture” that challenges us when we seek to change it.  One of my favorite research reports I wrote at Forrester was about culture and collaboration.  I interviewed five companies who really made significant progress and achieved cultural changes via their collaboration efforts, and I captured their thoughts on what worked and why.  It took a lot of work and barrier breaking — and it took time to ensure that the new behaviors were ingrained and part of the organization, not just the latest fad.  

I believe that a government can leverage new technology and behaviors to be more transparent and beneficial to her citizens.  A twitter feed is a very small step on a very large journey.  I’m very pleased to see these steps in motion.  But now the hard work begins.  I’m tracking it and excited to see it grow. But it will take time.

I’ll remind readers of my posts here and here, where I talk about internal consistency and authentic two-way conversation. I also recommend reading this excellent blog post by Steve Radick that highlights some essential aspects of the Government’s challenges in a “2.0″ world.