One of my all time favorite fables from Aesop is “The Tortoise and the Hare.” The story is about a race between a swift hare and a slow-moving tortoise. During the race, the over-confident hare takes a nap and the tortoise who is initially slow to catch up, crawls slowly but steadily, and wins the race!
Despite being around since 1994, wikis have been slow to catch on among corporate users. Recent research however shows that this platform is catching up and is here to stay! After surveying 168 corporate wiki users, Majchrzak et al (2006) concluded that corporate wikis appear to be sustainable: "companies appear to succeed at using wikis beyond few-month pilot projects, into a sustainable part of their collaborative work processes" (p.101). Henriksson et al (2008) examine Finish companies’ use of wikis and found that none of the 50 companies that had started using wikis had later discarded them (p.150). Good news for wiki fans!
Top 10 reasons why wikis are here to stay:
(1) Promote information transparency within a company
(2) Encourage the uploading of credible information
(3) Provide an organizational memory through a collaborative knowledge base
(4) Improve work processes and efficiency through knowledge sharing
(5) Provide a repository of up-to-date information
(6) Promote mutual equality and is democratic
(7) Promote a participatory and collaborative work culture
(8) Enhance the reputation of contributors
(9) Promote dialogue and idea generation
(10) Enhance relationships between the organization and employees
Despite its benefits, some people feel wikis (1) are hard to adopt, (2) are impersonal, centralized and slow-moving, (3) have no clear authority, and (4) promote a philosophy of radical openness which clashes with the culture of most corporations (Szybalski, 2005).
What are your thoughts about the sustainability of wikis in the corporate world? Are wikis like the tortoise - slow to catch on but here to stay? Or like the hare who appears to be strong at first but fizzles out in the end?
I like the fable too. What a great analogy you've put here. I hear you!
ReplyDeleteThanks Jing. Just thought this fable paralleled the situation with wikis! : )
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