What do Tropicana and Facebook have in common? One product is physical and has been around for 60+ years. The other is digital and 5 years old. Both tried changes – brand image and privacy policy without involving customers in the decision making process. Have we forgotten New Coke’s experience already?
Here is a heads up. If it involves me, I need to be part of the decision. A simple principle of human behavior. The principle is procedural and distributive justice.
Research in legal decisions and with sales force members and marketing indicates that even if the outcome is in my favor, if I have had little or no inclusion in the process I am still discontented. Check out research by Thomas Brashear, professor of marketing at U Mass. Similar data indicates massive failure of most organizational change processes due do lack of inclusion of the affected parties.
In case it slipped by your radar, PARTICIPATION is what drives the connected world.
Technology has given voice to procedural and distributed justice. Call them what you will, social media, web 2.0, or enterprise 2.0, ignore participation at your peril.
This is why colleague Jenny Ambrozek calls her self a "participation architect" and why we created:
to help organizations implement the shift.
~ Victoria G. Axelrod
