Wikipatterns

Introduction

...If leaders drive change, then collaboration powers change. It is only when people collaborate —really effectively collaborate —that they come to the best outcomes, and the best answers. And in the end, while I think it's vitally important how people build their capabilities...what will distinguish your life and your leadership, as you go forward, is less your capability and more your collaboration skills and your character, and what you choose to do.

—Carly Fiorina

This book is about change. It is as much a how-to guide for using a wiki as it is a how-to guide for making change happen. Status quo often becomes the norm when the tools available to people are difficult to use, highly structured and only meet a narrow set of needs, and don't elicit a positive emotional connection from the people that use them. The wiki is a product of the idea that change can replace status quo as the norm if people have tools that do respond to their needs, emphasize the importance of people in building and managing knowledge, and maximize the feeling that they're in charge of their own success.

In this book, you'll explore the value of collaborative approaches that emphasize equal responsibility over hierarchy, look at the key differences between Wikipedia and the wikis used by organizations, and explore what makes a wiki different from other tools used for communication and collaboration. Based on my work running large-scale wiki projects and advising organizations on their wiki adoption, ...