Juliette Powell Interview on Social Media in Organization Development: Part 1

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I recently conducted a two-part interview with Juliette Powell (author of 33 Million People in the Room) at the OD Network Conference in Seattle, just after she delivered the final keynote speech, titled “The Technology of Relationships: Social Networking and the Future of Human Communities.” This first interview gives you a behind-the-scenes look into Juliette’s take on the field of OD after delivering the keynote and meeting with OD practitioners for several days. You’ll especially want to watch if you were at the keynote or you plan to watch it on YouTube when it gets posted by the OD Network. I highly recommend you watch that keynote address when posted; her points are crucial for OD practitioners to remain relevant in the shifting organizational and media landscape.

You won’t want to miss our upcoming blog post featuring the second interview. There she clears up the misconception from the keynote address around her provocative comment regarding the demise of traditional conferences. She also further elaborates on her upcoming Leadership Engine project – an exciting new development for OD.

Here is a quick glimpse of that comment regarding the future of conferences during the keynote address

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For those interested in the future of organizations with respect to the social-technological systems that enable people to be effective in the organization, and for those interested in the future of how conferences may be organized, be sure to visit this blog for our second interview with Juliette.

I was fortunate enough to spend some time with Juliette during the conference. She is a fascinating individual who is passionate about her work and is clearly making a significant contribution to the world. Our private discussions about our own personal transparency on the web may ironically become increasingly public, in that we may continue these discussions on various social networks and in public online spaces, as they may be of interest to others (she has already challenged me to change my personal Twitter handle from @rhetor to my full name). Perhaps it is not ironic after all, but rather a small example of the greater discussion around authenticity and community that Juliette challenges us to wrestle with as we strive to be effective and happy in our organizational and personal lives. I see the lines blurring between those we used to call “public figures” and “everyone else,” and maybe that can produce extraordinary results. If you have a strong opinion on this please be sure to comment on this post. Can it be taken too far? For an extreme example of such behavior, see We Live In Public.

During her keynote Juliette tells us that those companies who are at the center of their industries are ones that gather the most information, hence achieve the best results. One of the keys to arriving at the center of one’s industry is having the most connected employees, both online and offline. I would tell those companies who currently block social networking sites at their offices to promptly purchase Juliette’s book and reconsider their policies!