Social Media: Learning From Slime Mold

Much of the buzz about social media has been about how to utilize it for marketing.  As you might expect, there a lot of spaghetti getting thrown on the walls as people try to determine what works. For some good guidance on the subject, check out http://customersrock.net or www.thesocialgathering.net.   The numbers are astounding.  If you haven’t seen it, check out this YouTube video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIFYPQjYhv8

Convinced?

But these numbers aren’t getting generated because everyone thinks this is such a great marketing vehicle.  This is happening because of social media’s innate power to connect us to each other in ways not even imagined two decades ago.

We are interested in social media not because it offers a way to accomplish marketing goals, but because it offers organizations a way to evolve to their true nature.  One of the main points in our book is that organizations should not be thought of as machines, but as living, evolving complex adaptive systems.   Just like slime mold!  Like beehives and ant hills, slime mold offers some great lessons about adaptive systems.

One of the characteristics of healthy complex adaptive systems is that there is a seamless flow of information and immediate feedback between the individual cells, or modules.  While traditional organization structures served to stifle the flow of information, social media offers organizations a way to let the information flow uninhibited between parties.

While there are horror stories of viral communications spiraling out of control, the connections are happening whether you like it or not – you can’t control it.  However, you can embrace the potential.  Enabling your people to connect without filters and restrictions frees the organization.  If you have good people, they will do the right thing.

Learn from slime mold – let them connect.

Scott