Wikipatterns

Chapter 7. Inspirational Bull****

This is the point where most business books leave you with some boilerplate inspirational words about how whatever you've just read will radically reshape business, transform economies, and change the world.

I'm not going to do that, because the wiki isn't going to change the world by itself. It needs you, and the people you work with, talk with, meet with, email, call, and IM to try it, be open to the changes it brings, and make it a hub for information and collaboration. A wiki thrives on active participation by as many people as possible, and in turn brings greater value to each individual user. It relies on transparency, trust, and willingness to share information more openly, work more collaboratively, and see information as more valuable when more people have access to it.

Transparency leads to better and more refined business practices, because people can work together to improve things in an iterative manner, instead of fixing things only when they're broken. Access to each other's information builds trust, strengthens people's relationships, and creates stronger connections between their work. Combined, these make an organization less likely to suffer bureaucracy and an inability to get things done.

Renegades Rule

Renegades are the ones who will bring in the wiki, firmly anchor it by making it central to their work, and get all their friends to use it, too. Renegades see the potential in something like the wiki and are willing to disrupt their ...