Review for Andrew McAfee’s Enterprise 2.0 book.

Flying back from Germany yesterday gave me the quiet time to read Andrew McAfee’s new book called Enterprise 2.0: New Collaborative Tools for your Organization’s Toughest Challenges. I read it cover to cover and used lots of highlighter.

First a disclosure: I was given the book by Harvard Business Press’ publicist to review knowing that I’m a blogger and would want to blog about this. I believe that this is a win-win-win relationship between me, HBP, and you – my community of readers. I offer my honest opinions below about a topic upon which I hold strong opinions.

McAfee coined the term Enterprise 2.0 and as such he has an incredibly important perspective on the topic. Although it is interesting to notice that this book does not really echo the conversations you hear in the E2.0 blogosphere, and does not show any attention to the vendors in this space. It’s a book about management and future trends in the science of information.

Let me ask — which is easier: to find information on the Internet using Google or to find information in your corporate intranet? If you say that finding information on the Internet is easier then this book is for you. If you said the opposite, then you are probably lying (and I bet you are a salesman for an intranet search company too). It seems illogical that your intranet (which you pay good money to have) fails to perform nearly as well as the public Internet (which costs you nothing). Enterprise 2.0 by Andrew McAfee explains why corporate information sharing has failed to live up to our expectations – and more importantly what you can do about it. Read this book to learn what companies are doing that fundamentally changes the way they view their information, their intranets, and the teams of people who come to work every day to turn that information into business results.

Enterprise 2.0 is a book about the definition, motivation, challenges, and direction of a movement that many companies are taking to rethink the way information is created and shared within the corporate structure. The change in thinking is inspired by a change in the way we use computers in general. Whereas we once viewed our computers as a terminal connection, a publishing station, or a emailing device – the explosion of social networking behaviors in the personal lives of many are causing many businesses to consider the potential for harnessing analogous social behaviors (of documenting work activities, asking questions publicly, and reaching beyond to people you don’t know well – but can trust by virtue of their reputation of connections to people you do know.) The discussion frequently references Facebook, Wikipedia, Twitter, and Delicious – but the topic of the book is squarely focused on business, not social activities.

The first half of the book is anchored by four very different (US based) case studies that each illustrates examples of where an organization had a business problem that could not be solved any other way than with an Enterprise 2.0 solution. Through the lens of these four cases (and a German case mentioned in less detail) McAfee explores the unique and compelling way Enterprise 2.0 can improve and indeed transform the workplace into a place of greater trust and access to information. McAfee gets into enough detail to be perfectly clear. But this is not a technical review the topic. This book is for a thinker who is willing to be challenged to think and be challenged.

It is primarily a management book that discusses IT-related topics from a non-IT perspective. But IT thought-leaders should read this too. The book directly addresses three audiences: The primary reader is any line manager, director, VP, or business leader who is involved in working with groups of people in large office environments. If your employees use computers at work to create and share information, you’ll want to read this book. But there are two other reader-types that will get direct benefit too: Anyone involved in the Enterprise 2.0 industry (Chapter 6 in particular, also Chapter 7). And I think that any CEO, firm partner, or senior executive will benefit greatly from Chapter 8.

Andrew McAfee has the perspective and reach that few in our industry enjoy. The fact that he holds positions at Harvard Business School and at MIT indicates impressive credentials. This alone, not the reason I recommend this book. Rather it is the consistent manner in which McAfee provides one more level of insight than you might expect for everything he says. So even if you think you know a lot about this topic, you’ll finish the book knowing much more. And yet, the book is targeting people who don’t know what term “Enterprise 2.0” means.

What really worked for me:  this was a thoughtful, conversational exploration.  It’s not hyped at all, but McAfee shares many opinions too.  The topics discussed are strongly anchored in fact and practice.  The views expressed will challenge the reader to think harder.  But the message is quite positive and forward-looking.  Most impressive though was that McAfee does not just list information — he explores why the information is relevant, why the reasoning matters, and how this impacts business.

What challenged me:  Some topics required me to reread the section a few times.  Take your time and read it carefully.  McAfee uses some examples that are extraordinary, and thus many will have a tough time relating.  For example, one of the cases studies is about a company that uses Facebook as its corporate intranet.  McAfee is not advocating that all companies should do so — but I’m concerned that readers and reviewers will not understand the point he is making.  McAfee derives lessons from this case study to illustrate the point – and thus chose this case because it makes the point in the extreme.  But he is not saying that Enterprise 2.0 means you move your intranet to Facebook.  Similarly, McAfee discusses prediction markets and Twitter to demonstrate their extraordinary features.  So I would have been a bit more explicit about the cases where the boundaries are being pushed, and the mainstream E2.0 cases that are developing in the new open space — well within the new boundaries.

Another challenge: Chapter 8 really blew me away, and I think that McAfee really has the making of a second book based on this chapter alone.  I hope he develops the relationship between E2.0 and Model1 and 2 behaviors more.  In fact, I’d love to see this area develop significantly.  It needs some new language though, because it’s very difficult to convey.  But it’s the big “aha” of the book for me (read it to learn what I’m talking about)  and it’s found 7 pages before the very end of the book, where McAfee reveals why he is interested in Enterprise 2.0.  I think this should be the start of the next volume.

Note:  If you are a business leader and you read this book — I welcome you to reach out to me and let me know what you think about it.  You can comment below and share your thoughts publicly, or contact me by email directly (gil “at” gilyehuda.com).  I’m interested to learn what you think this topic means to your company and welcome a conversation where we can share some insights about this.

Tagged as: book, collaboration, Enterprise 2.0, expert, intranet, success story, writing