Do You Remember the Pre-Internet “Managing By Walking Around” (MBWA) ?

… which I think was a term coined by Ken Blanchard of “The One-Minute Manager” fame.

I was a panel member on “The 22nd Century Corporation” at the CIO Summit in Toronto in November 2003.  Don Tapscott was the lead-off presenter.

During my turn on the panel, I suggested that the then-current interest in MBWA for relatively-more-open organizations might come to be seen as “managing by blogging around” or some variation thereof … in other words, more listening and less commanding, and using a quick reading of RSS feeds and pertinent subject / issue / market intelligence-providing blogs to stay up-to-date efficiently  (as well as providing additional stimulative or catalytic input to managers’ and executives’ decision-making).  

I suspect that back then I was seen as a fruitcake, someone that was slightly deranged or in need of stronger medication.

However, I think that it’s still pertinent and a good idea, given the relatively minor uptake in MBWA and the enormous increase in the presence and use of IT, networks and the web in the workplace and in business generally.

Here (below) is the listing of the session from the 2003 CIO Summit, just to prove I am not bullshitting and that I was actually thinking about this Enterprise 2.0 stuff as far back as 203.

Why do I feel a need to “prove” that ?  I don’t know … chalk it up to a character flaw on my part if you want to.

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THE 22ND-CENTURY CORPORATION — CAN WE BUILD IT?
10:40 am-12 pm

Panel discussion sponsored by EDGE Magazine
This esteemed leaders panel will address the key issues and concerns that exist in today’s business world and how to create and sustain a lasting organization, one that will, in fact, live and grow well beyond the next century. What does it take? How does the technology management role contribute to the critical leadership issues for the future?

It will be hosted and led by Michael McInerney, who will stimulate a frank and open dialogue between the participants in a talk-show format. Much of the content is drawn from “The Future of Organizations,” a research initiative conducted in mid-2003, which brought together more than 100 key thinkers and business leaders to discuss and debate this very question.

Moderator
Michael McInerney, Founder and Partner, Crossford Consulting Group

Panel
Paul Frederick, Executive Vice President, Human Resources and Business Transformation,
TLC Vision Corporation
Dr. Cindy M. Gordon, Chief Executive Officer and Founder, Helix Commerce 
International Inc.
Jon Husband, Founder, Wirearchy
Dr. Gareth Morgan, Chairman NewMindsets Inc., and Distinguished Research Professor, Schulich School of Business, York University 
John J. Rankin, Chief Operating Officer, Ontario Division, Canadian National Institute 
for the Blind (CNIB)

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