October 1st, 2009
I've joined the Dachis Group
As the worlds of internal enterprise, small, medium sized businesses and partner collaboration networks evolve, an increasing level of intersection with the social media world - the conversation with end users - is inevitable.
The implications of this are enormous. While many people can grasp the immediate - and often urgent - collaborative needs of their department or division within a business, the holistic approach of uniting all the disparate needs and elements together of a larger organization so that there is a cohesive ’social’ whole is enormously challenging.
Integration isn’t really the right word - loosely coupled awareness and connectivity around what different parts of the organization are doing demonstrates the hallmarks of a business that’s firing on all cylinders. The efficiency level and purpose is apparent, like a sports team that is playing really well, but how to achieve this is of course the holy grail. It’s easy to recognize and talk about but hard to do…
Creating an ecosystem that will allow the space to grow and nurture an overarching social business vision requires entrepreneurial weight and critical mass in order to take on these larger projects. As the need for this scale of social business design increases I am pleased to announce today that I am joining the Dachis Group as a partner, to be a part of that broader vision.
I’m in Austin today with the Dachis team, and I’m very excited to be part of a multi talented group with the diverse but complementary skills required to drive innovation and growth for their clients.
Given the huge economic changes we are living through and the increasingly global economy, the need for a substantial international consulting entity which can guide clients to help their increasingly distributed workforce become ever more agile and aware has never been greater.
The fresh, clear approach of the Dachis Group around strategy and tactics at scale made this a very attractive decision for me, and I believe their ability to both unlock the value of social business and more importantly to execute to realize that value will make us a force to be reckoned with.
While there are countless books and discussions around ’social media’ ideas and apparent evidence and examples of success, lucid guidance from people who can specifically execute for clients is in short supply. At Dachis the combination of international talent on offer to make good things happen for clients is the differentiator for me.
The previous generation of trusted advisors to business - the pricey management consulting companies - will inevitably enter this space as it matures, offering rolled up innovation by others in easy to digest frameworks and packages. The reality however is that in many ways this past generation are part of the business problems now being tackled.
One thing I’ve learned consulting over the last year has been the uniqueness of the business challenges to be solved - I’ve previously discussed on this blog the analogy of cutting clothes to fit the body, to provide tailored utility that meets specific business needs. An important aspect of this is around providing compelling reasons for people to change, for them to feel that a better set of tools and conditions is being provided for them that will be genuinely useful to their careers and that their best interests are being nurtured.
Dachis Group, along with the new wave of consultants and employees who have worked hard to execute and realize innovative vision for organizations, are creating a new paradigm which is shaping the way business processes define organization and IT needs.
In life things which seem simple and easy to use are typically the tip of a deeper ‘iceberg’ of sophisticated problem solving thinking - intuitive user interfaces are an obvious example. Despite all the confusing froth and hoopla around the shallower aspects of social media marketing noise, there is real depth in cross pollinating across the different disciplines which comprise a social business.
It is still early in this development cycle, but momentum around these ideas is rapidly increasing and I believe the timing is right for the ambitious vision and intelligent thought of the Dachis Group to differentiate and provide the next generation of business efficiency for our clients at scale.
I will continue to be based in San Francisco - please feel free to get in touch at my new Dachis email address or on Twitter, particularly if you have a project you’d like to discuss!
Oliver Marks provides seasoned independent consulting guidance to companies on the effective planning of 'Enterprise 2.0' strategy, tactics, technology decisions and roll out. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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