Changing Intel
posted by Josh Bancroft on November 27, 2006
Hi! I’m Josh Bancroft, and I’m a geek, disruptor, technology evangelist, and blogger. I mostly post over at my own blog, www.tinyscreenfuls.com, but the nice folks who run blogs.intel.com invited me to post here, too. I’ve owed them an “introductory” post ever since they added my bio to the site, and I’m finally getting around to it after a nice, relaxing weekend of turkey, family, and playing with gadgets.
I’m going to forego the standard “who I am” post - if you want to know that, go read my blog. What I want to mention in my first post here is why I even care about this blog, and blogging at Intel in general. I’ve been very involved in trying to promote the “new web” - blogging, podcasting, wikis, etc. - inside of Intel for the last couple of years. I work with amazing people who pull off amazing feats in this realm, and I like to think that we’ve made a difference in making Intel more of a “Cluetrain” company. Keep reading to find out how…
When I was at the Wikimania 2006 conference earlier this year, to talk about Intelpedia (Intel’s internal wiki - I’ll post more on that in the future), Brewster Kahle of the Internet Archive Project said something that really stuck with me. He told us to have a huge, lofty, ambitious goal, so that you can always be making progress towards something. For instance, Wikipedia’s mission is to provide free access to the sum total of human knowledge to everyone on the planet. Lofty, eh?
My “lofty” goal, the reason I’m constantly talking about and agitating for adoption of “social media” tools that help people connect with each other is that I want to change Intel into a Cluetrain company. I want every human being that works at Intel to have (appropriate) access to the sum total of knowledge about the company. Not just what they need to do their job, but access to stuff that will stimulate creativity, fun, ideas, and connections with the other humans that work here. I want people at Intel to hyperlink with each other, the way information on the net does, rather than be bound by the imposed hierarchy of an org chart. I want to change Intel into the best company in the world for smart people, who live and work and play on the net, to work at. And I believe that will cause Intel to stay on top, and continue to make the most amazing, technologically-advanced, and world-changing products that humans have ever made.
See, I told you it was lofty. ;-)
More on this later. One note - I’m extremely accessible if you want to share your thoughts. You can post a comment here, find my personal email address and cell phone number on my blog, or just post something mentioning Intel or my name on your own blog, and I’ll find it. This is a conversation, not a soapbox, so use your voice!
Comments (5)
tagged: change, cluetrain, collaboration, disruptor, Intel, josh
Comments
Nov 27 | Mirko Zorz said:
First off, I’d like to say that the fact that a huge company like Intel is using a blog shows how the Internet is finally changing the way companies communicate with their users. I’ve been reading posts for a while and their content is refreshing and not filled with the same boring marketing phrases one can read at other company blogs. Furthermore, the opportunity to comment enables us to have our words read by the people that matter, the same people that would be off-limits in a company that users traditional methods of getting in touch with people on the outside.
Josh, what you are doing within Intel is a huge transformation that has already been done, or is in progress, at many companies and organizations. People are beginning to understand that the availability and centralization of information within an organization can give them an advantage. I’m sure this will forever change the way that employees within Intel communicate, for the better.
What I’m interested in is the way that content is managed. When a few individuals contribute to an internal company Wiki, it’s relatively easy to manage, make sure the quality is at a certain level and that the correct person has the security clearance to view certain material. It must be quite a challenge to oversee all the content in a large project like Intelpedia.
Nov 27 | Josh Bancroft said:
Mirko, thanks for the comment!
You’re right that it would be a huge challenge to “oversee” the amount of content in Intelpedia (11000+ articles and growing fast). But we take the same approach as Wikipedia - the community are the moderators.
I’m always encouraging people to simply fix the errors/mistakes they find in the wiki, rather than “report the problem to the appropriate authority”. This is big mental shift for a lot of people - the traditional hierarchy says you do your job, and don’t worry about other people’s mistakes. But Intelpedia’s quality is only as good as we collectively make it.
Sure, it’s got mistakes in it. That’s because it’s made by humans. To quote from the Cluetrain, it’s always going to be a little bit broken. “Quality” is a subjective term, if you ask me. ;-)
Dec 04 | steven e. streight aka vaspers the grate said:
Very cool Josh, admirable goals, and I love the part about all employees getting info about the company, even if that info is not based on “Need To Know”, but would be interesting or fun or inspiring.
I agree. And CEOs should talk to the mail room guy and receptionist and retail clerks, etc.
Dec 31 | intel software said:
What I’m interested in is the way that content is managed. When a few individuals contribute to an internal company Wiki, it’s relatively easy to manage, make sure the quality is at a certain level and that the correct person has the security clearance to view certain material. It must be quite a challenge to oversee all the content in a large project like Intelpedia.
Jan 08 | Michael said:
Business blogging signals a new era of enhancing relationship between clients and businesses. It’s soothing to know that Intel, one of the most respected and influential companies in the world, now has its own blog site that can serve as venue for a more dynamic human interaction. As a quick note, just last year, Adobe also launched its own blog. I am positive that more Fortune 500 companies will widen their doors for their clients by integrating unique blog sites.