The Dark Arts of Content Leadership

Joe Gollner@joegollner

Houston, We have a Problem!

@joegollner Gnostyx.com 2

Commentary: Fundamental Information Problems

Homer Simpson is quite happy withthe information he is accessing onhis tablet but whatever he is accessing is disconnected fromthe problems that are happeningbehind him. When the contentprocesses in an organization break down, these types of mismatches become common.

Fragmented Content becomes more Fragmented


Course Materials

Documentation

Specifications

Collateral

Requirements

Un

coo

rdin

ated

C

on

ten

t Si

los

Un

coo

rdin

ated

C

ust

om

er

Exp

eri

ence

Knowledge Base

Proposals

Training

TechComm

Engineering

Marketing

Product Mgt

Support

Sales

Magneto – Control

Control hasbecomea primaryconcern

…the effects of which areambiguous

@joegollner 5

Control is a Double-Edged Sword – Cuts Both Ways

Old adage with more than a little truth behind it

You get what you measure

Measurement is a vital management tool

But the danger with measurement is the potentialto become an end in itself & dissociated from reality including from ongoing changes


Mystique - Misinformation

The truthcan become an early victim

Spin becomesthe norm


The Truth about Information

Information The meaningful organization of data

that is communicated in a specific contextand for a specific purpose

It can be mis-information Framed with the intent of deceiving an audience

It is not always an asset It can be a liability (e.g., evidence of deception)


CONTENT

INFORMATION

The Truth about Content

ContentIs what we plan, design, create, reuse & manage so that we can deliver effective information transactions

Content is potential information (an asset)

Information is a transaction(an action) that contains & delivers Content


Trask – Technophilia

Organizations exhibit a strangelove / haterelationship withtechnology

The silver bullettypically wins! @joegollner Gnostyx.com 10

Technology as an Addiction

Technology Acquisition Is generally a weak point in organizations

Implementing requirements that are not understood

Generally hijacked by the most aggressive vendors

Silver bullets appear to offload responsibility

Failure has a strong fan club Information Technology groups find expanded work

Vendors get to sell replacements

Consultants get to perform more studies

People can stick to what they already know


What is to be done? Learn from the Past


Integrated Content

Commentary: Integrated Content

For us, the most important thing about the early examples of double-entry book-keeping isthe fact that the balancing entriesare matched with textual explanations that provide the fullcontext of the transaction.

Enron would not have survived thisunder this accounting approach.

Case Study: Content on Top (Lavacon 2013)


Example of a largeorganization thatneeded to re-integrate theirfinancial data withexplanatory contentso that it would be:a) validb) understandablec) authoritatived) legal

Professor X – Strategic Vision

It’s the Content…

Content is a core asset

Like money,it connectsall businessactivities@joegollner Gnostyx.com 15

Approach Content as Content


Content

Channels Data

Expertise

Goals

Messaging

Audiences

Content is created by leveragingmultiple inputs

This is the daily challengefor professionalcommunicators

Content istherefore a

complexcomposite

Artifact

The whole isgreater than

the sum ofits parts

There is a Bi-directional Relationship


Channels Data

Expertise

Goals

Messaging

Audiences

Content

Content provides thecontext that is typicallymissing insources

Poor contentpoints topoor sources

Contentcan changeits sources

for thebetter

Poor contentmeans that

there is no wayfor sources to improve

Content tells you a lot about an Organization


CONTENT STRATEGY

Analyzing the Unconscious Organization

Commentary: Presentation from Confab 2012

This presentation, Content Strategy:A Dangerous Method, delved intowhat happens when you reallystart to peel back the informationlayers to see where the contentreally comes from and what businessdrivers it is related to.

As with psychoanalysis, you can runinto more than you bargained for.

Content Solutions as a Strategic Response


ContentSolution

Technology

ResourcesControlMetrics

Knowledge

Domains

BusinessStrategy

ProductBranding

Market

SegmentsLack ofintegrationis the centralchallengeof the modern enterprise

ContentSolutions

offer anattractive

way tosolve many

integration problems

Content Solutions as an Agent of Change


Technology

ResourcesControlMetrics

Knowledge

Domains

BusinessStrategy

ProductBranding

Market

Segments

ContentSolution

ContentSolutionsput thepiecesbacktogether

Adds avital tool

back into theenterprise

integrationtool box

Storm – Mobilization

Assemblecontent specialistsfor the hard job of integratingdata & expertiseinto persistent& reusable assets- Content@joegollner Gnostyx.com 22

A Content Lifecycle Model


ContentAcquisition

ContentManagement

ContentDelivery

ContentEngagement

How content is created, converted or licensed

How content is selected, assembled & published

How content is changed, controlled & protected

How content is improved by user feedback

Content Strategy: A Plan of Action for Improvement


ContentAcquisition

ContentManagement

ContentDelivery

ContentEngagement

ContentStrategy

The Content / Information Feedback Loop


ContentAcquisition

ContentManagement

ContentEngagement

ContentDelivery

ContentStrategy

InformationProduct

UserTask

Guidance

Feedback

A managed store of content assets can be used to publish a variety ofhighly specific information events that specific users will apply in specific contexts

Rogue – Integration

Integration is hard

Very hard

It calls for makingconnections acrossthe enterprise

It is also essential@joegollner Gnostyx.com 26

Reaching Out to Stakeholders

Some Interesting Angles

The personal dimension Relationship building

The tool dimension Working at the same level

The exchange dimension Making win-win deals

The Customer dimension Making a difference to the

product end users


ContentTeam

Information

TechnologyBusiness

Intelligence

Engineering

Sales &Marketing

Support

Training

Content is special


Iron Man - Content Technology

Content

Channels Data

Expertise

Goals

Messaging

Audiences

ComplexCompositeArtifact

Building Scalable & Sustainable Content Solutions


Business Requirements

Budget Realities

Political Factors

User Needs

Demonstration Capability

Model Implementation

Production Deployment

Continuous Improvement

ContentTechnologies

Content Standards Best Practices

Open Source Tools Commercial Products

ContentStrategy

LeanPrinciples

Discover Design Develop Demonstrate Deploy

Lean Content Processes

ProcessStep

ProcessStep

ContentRules

Validation & Analysis

Content Assets

ProcessRules

Anatomy of aContent Solution

Integrated Content Management


ContentAcquisition

ContentManagement

ContentDelivery

ContentEngagement

ContentStrategy

InformationResources

Web Content

Management

Enterprise Content

Management

Learning Content

ManagementIntegated Content Management

Would the real Content Managementplease stand up?

Commentary: Content Technologies

While Content Technologies are onlypart of the overall story, they are animportant part.

There are many good content technologies and most organizationsmassively under utilize them.

This means they are working too hard.

Wolverine - Implementation

Touching content meanschanging manyfundamental things

It’s a bigger changethan we ever expect@joegollner Gnostyx.com 32

Change Management calls for Genuine Leadership

The Fundamental Challenge Changing the way an organization creates, manages &

leverages its content hits many organizational nerves

The responsibility for making these changes falls to the content team who have never had to deal with organizational pressures on this scale

The content team needs to change dramaticallyin order to effect the needed organizational changes

This is your challenge


Wolverine – Resilience

Key is the ability to recover from set-backs

…and there will be set-backs

Persistence pays off


Content Leadership


Commentary: Content Leadership

The story about the hard-nosedUS Army Sargent who came toaccept the fresh new Lieutenanttells us something about the true nature of leadership.

It tells us that leadership is aboutaccepting absolute responsibility and putting both the mission and the team before yourself.

Commentary: Content Leadership

Content Leadership is thereforeabout tapping into the unique &special nature of content to helporganizations do better at what theydo and to serve their customers inbetter ways than they have.

Focusing on the content helps organizations get back in touchwith their real purpose.

Making Connections

Joe GollnerManaging DirectorGnostyx Research [email protected]

Twitter: @joegollner

Blog:The Content Philosopher

www.gollner.ca


Internet

The Dark Arts of Content Leadership