Setting Social Objectives, Inside and Out

National governments represent a special category of large organizations: they're far larger than any company, and they're in a funny kind of business. But their talent for generating documents occasionally leads to something of value in the business world. Would you believe a strategy document that frames the relationship between social media and Enterprise 2.0 in a sidebar?

Though it's not what most people will be looking for, the new 2009 [US] National Intelligence Strategy (PDF) neatly categorizes two types of objectives for the intelligence community (IC). If you squint a little, I think you'll see how these categories could be repurposed for the 2.0 crowd:

Mission Objectives

  • MO1: Combat Violent Extremism
  • MO2: Counter WMD Proliferation
  • MO3: Provide Strategic Intelligence and Warning
  • MO4: Integrate Counterintelligence
  • MO5: Enhance Cybersecurity
  • MO6: Support Current Operations
Enterprise Objectives
  • EO1: Enhance Community Mission Management
  • EO2: Strengthen Partnerships
  • EO3: Streamline Business Processes
  • EO4: Improve Information Integration & Sharing
  • EO5: Advance S&T/R&D
  • EO6: Develop the Workforce
  • EO7: Improve Acquisition
Identifying external and internal objectives
Obviously, I'm not suggesting that national security and social technologies are the same thing. If you're not in the national security business, then "combat violent extremism" isn't your first objective. Instead, look at the framework. I think that the distinction between mission objectives and enterprise objectives might just clarify the relationship between externally-focused social media and internally-focused Enterprise 2.0 initiatives.
  • Social Media for Mission Objectives
    Mission objectives are closely linked to the overall objectives of an organization. At the enterprise level, these are measured in terms of financial success; in marketing, they're the familiar product- and customer-oriented objectives that lead to financial success. These are the kinds of objectives we see in social media discussions (especially when social media for business is interpreted as social media marketing):
    • Combat negative impressions of the company
    • Improve customer communication and responsiveness
    • Increase brand visibility
    • Enhance customer loyalty
    • Integrate market intelligence
    ...add your favorite social media objective here. The social media focus on connecting with the worldwide conversation in support of the business reflects an emphasis on mission objectives.

  • Enterprise 2.0 for Enterprise Objectives
    The E 2.0 case is even easier to make—look at E04 on the NIS list (improve information integration & sharing). Look at the list through your new technologies lens, and you'll hardly need to edit to start applying it. Enterprise objectives are about making the operation work better, so the prescriptions are generic, not specific to the organization's mission. Despite the idealistic rhetoric, improving the operation is the argument for E 2.0.
Aligning social media and Enterprise 2.0
I don't think the internal/external view of social media and E 2.0 is all that new, but I do think it's instructive to see the two types of objectives neatly linked in one document. If the evangelists of social business strategy succeed, I think we'll see more explicit alignment of these high-level categories.

Thanks to Andrew McAfee for pointing out the new document.


About Nathan Gilliatt

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  • Voracious learner and explorer. Analyst tracking technologies and markets in intelligence, analytics and social media. Advisor to buyers, sellers and investors. Writing my next book.
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