It’s a week after the US elections and I am still impressed by the speech given by Obama on November 5th as well as the campaign that surpassed anyone’s imagination. Obama is no doubt brilliant but what I find so interesting is his use of many tools and tactics we work with in the field of Knowledge Management.
Firstly, his use of Web 2.0 – online social software and collaboration tools – created huge networks of supporters, helped raise millions of dollars and shared knowledge to influence a victory for America’s top position. In future courses I give on social softwares and their uses, I will definitely focus on how Obama used these tools to have a winning campaign.
Secondly, his use of storytelling for change was exemplary . Storytelling is something I have blogged about previously and believe is an important communications technique for knowledge sharing in organizations. I will be using the jumpstart storytelling technique in a workshop next week and will give examples from Obama’s speeches to make my points.
Another blogger (The Melcrum Blog) has gone into more details about how Obama’s speech told a story. I highly recommend checking it out.
Congrats to the USA and the world – many of us are looking forward to the changes ahead. I will be keeping my eyes open for more KM tips along the way 🙂
2 thoughts on “Obama is a KM expert”
Hi Michelle,
Read your post and I couldn’t resist commenting. Obama has done an amazing job so far with social technology. Have you checked out site http://www.change.gov/ Yes, the world is looking forward to the changes ahead!!!
I wrote a similar post to yours last week. Check it out when you have a moment.
http://tiajones.wordpress.com/2008/11/06/obama-did-it-using-social-media-and-collaboration-software/
Best,
Tia
Hi Tia,
Thanks for the post and the links. The full article from Fast Forward on: How Obama is Using Web (and Enterprise) 2.0 in the US Primary Campaign (http://www.fastforwardblog.com/2008/03/05/how-obama-is-using-web-and-enterprise-20-in-the-us-primary-campaign/) is worth the read.
Where I live, people are starting to take interest however web 2.0 literacy is still quite low. When I work with more globalized workforces these type of tools are really essential. If you come across any other articles, please send them my way as I think its a great example of how the tools can work when applied with vigour! Michelle