What if I told you there was an office-based communication system that
had the following features:
·
extremely fast operating speed
·
instant updates
·
unlimited RAM
·
specialises in exposing hypocrisy
·
inextinguishable
·
completely free!
What if I told you that?
It’s called ‘The Grapevine’ – the informal transmission of fact or
fiction from person to person at work. This gossip-fuelled system is one of the
most powerful elements of the corporate apparatus. Just because it’s
underground and unregulated doesn’t mean we shouldn’t take it seriously.
The currency of the grapevine is what people actually do at work – not
what they say they are going to do. I
used to work in Thailand – my boss lived in Australia. He would fly into
Bangkok but unlike many of his colleagues he never came directly into the
office. Instead he’d go out into what we
called the ‘field’ (normal life) where he’d observe how our customers were
using our products – in their own homes.
This meant when he eventually showed up in the office he was able to
make decisions informed by a first hand and intimate type of intelligence.
The Grapevine across most of the region had his activities monitored and
his reputation was quickly and accurately formed – he was a guy who took customers
seriously. This was in contrast to desk
bound email-wafflers who extolled the virtues of customer proximity but remained
cocooned at work.
Whether we like it or not the Grapevine is a 24-hour news service that’s
moulding our reputation – right now. We
invest so much into our lives at work we have to take the grapevine seriously –
it’s our most powerful personal brand broadcast system. We can choose to feed it with ‘activity’ or
sit back and let it write the script.
I’m
exploring this and other innovation concepts in my new book: The Science Of
Serendipity – How Large Organisations Unlock The Promise Of Innovation. To be published by John Wiley and Sons in
early November.
