Community relationships
Category Lego Lotus
Bookmark :
Bear with me, this is a long one. And you might have heard the story before, but I think it needs telling. I'll start with something dear to my heart; Lego.
Not so long ago, Lego was in trouble. Big trouble. They were rapidly loosing market share and money. In fact, it's been said that Lego was within 12 months of going under. This, from a world leading company with a history going back over 50 years. In fact, things were so bad that some tough decisions were made and a re-organisation had to be undetaken.
One of the main reasons Lego was loosing its' customers was that it was failing to understand them. At this point I'll give you some background. There is such a thing in the Lego community as an AFOL or Adult Fan of Lego. I'm one, and so are many, many other people around the globe. In fact, AFOLs have probably been around since Legos' first customers reached 16. AFOLs have more income than kids, so we spend more on our hobby. We're also passionate, vocal and interested in the cause. We have forums and blogs and closed communities and open communities and software downloads and standards, etc etc.
As Lego sales went down, AFOLs and kids were unhappy. You see, Lego had digressed from its' original ideas. Sets were no longer boxes of bricks, but contained many special parts. This was designed to make them easier to build and hence lower the entry age - but it wasn't working. AFOLs and kids alike saw these sets and didn't like them. They wanted their boxes of bricks. So, we all stopped buying and carried on using what we already had. No need to re-purchase each year.
So, what did Lego do? Well, they had a re-org (always a good idea when things aren't looking so good) and split up the company into 3 main divisions - Markets and Products, Operations and Community, Education and Direct. Of course, lots more was done, but the short story is that the products changed back, they targeted markets and Lego are doing very well now, thankyou. I want to talk about the Community division though.
You see, one of the problems Lego had, is that although it was aware AFOLs existed, they didn't know who they were - or what they were buying. They didn't know what sets were popular with them and what weren't. They didn't know how their target market would react to something until they had already done it. The Community division were tasked with fixing this. One of their main roles was to work with the community at large and find out what they wanted to buy.
Today, Lego have 2 people (just two) working full-time as Community Development Managers. Their job is focused solely on working with the community. They go to local events all over the world. They start up customer focus groups and design groups. They run the First Lego League (a global teenage robotics championship). They bring in their best customers to help them plan new product lines - right from the outset. They have even employed a number of their best customers, as Lego realised that their customers were better with their products than some of their own people. They listen, they involve, they placate, they explain, they facilitate.
It turned out that those AFOL's actually made upto 15% of Legos' market. Not the majority of course, but a very sizable chunk. Of course, these AFOLs were spending much more per capita than children - perhaps many thousands of dollars per year. So, Lego tried new things. They brought out large, complex, expensive sets that only adults would buy. But they bought these sets in their droves, and soon a whole range of these sets came out, designed by ex-customers in many cases, and selling incredibly well.
Lego listened to their community, and it brought them away from the brink. Now, just imagine what a company that's already doing well, with a strong community, could do if they did the same?
-----------------------------
You'll probably guess that this isn't really about Lego, it's about IBM Lotus. Well, you'd be right - because yet again the community is up in arms, angry with things that are happening, angry that they weren't involved, and for those that are involved - they feel put upon. I'll call it out and say it - IBM, you need to understand the community.
I'll be honest here. We're make much more noise than we make money. We're quick to anger and difficult to please. BUT, if we are pleased, we shout it from the rooftops. We fight trolls, and bad press and competitor FUD. We hate not knowing what's going on, and we really hate being told to do something.
But, who are IBMs' Community Development Managers? Who are the people that help Paul organise ILUG, or sit in OpenNTF meeting shouting 'STOP!, you'll been shot down for this!'?, or take cool new software to influential bloggers and twitterers and show them cool, new stuff? Who from IBM is knocking on Stephen Frys' doorstep saying, 'Can I show you this?. Who is it? It isn't anyone. And I know it isn't anyone because I've never seen them.
I know IBM's answer to this is 'everyone plays their part'. And I know that Ed and Mary Beth have done a brilliant job of this for years. But it isn't their job. Their no.1 concern is not keeping the excitement alive and placating noisy bloggers. And guess what? The current approach is NOT working. Why the hell should we even be up in arms about a software repository that give everyone access to free code? I'll own up to throwing wood on the fire to see if it would burn - but I really get the feeling that there was no-one there at the start thinking 'this is a community project, how will the community react to this?' If they did, they sure as hell didn't get it right. All that's now happening is other IBM promises are being questioned, such as aircover etc.
What I find incredible, is that the leading provider of community and collaboration software in the world, doesn't have anyone whose job it is to work that community and get the best out of it.
Just think of what IBM could do if it really leveraged the community, instead of fighting against it.
Bookmark :
Bear with me, this is a long one. And you might have heard the story before, but I think it needs telling. I'll start with something dear to my heart; Lego.
Not so long ago, Lego was in trouble. Big trouble. They were rapidly loosing market share and money. In fact, it's been said that Lego was within 12 months of going under. This, from a world leading company with a history going back over 50 years. In fact, things were so bad that some tough decisions were made and a re-organisation had to be undetaken.
One of the main reasons Lego was loosing its' customers was that it was failing to understand them. At this point I'll give you some background. There is such a thing in the Lego community as an AFOL or Adult Fan of Lego. I'm one, and so are many, many other people around the globe. In fact, AFOLs have probably been around since Legos' first customers reached 16. AFOLs have more income than kids, so we spend more on our hobby. We're also passionate, vocal and interested in the cause. We have forums and blogs and closed communities and open communities and software downloads and standards, etc etc.
As Lego sales went down, AFOLs and kids were unhappy. You see, Lego had digressed from its' original ideas. Sets were no longer boxes of bricks, but contained many special parts. This was designed to make them easier to build and hence lower the entry age - but it wasn't working. AFOLs and kids alike saw these sets and didn't like them. They wanted their boxes of bricks. So, we all stopped buying and carried on using what we already had. No need to re-purchase each year.
So, what did Lego do? Well, they had a re-org (always a good idea when things aren't looking so good) and split up the company into 3 main divisions - Markets and Products, Operations and Community, Education and Direct. Of course, lots more was done, but the short story is that the products changed back, they targeted markets and Lego are doing very well now, thankyou. I want to talk about the Community division though.
You see, one of the problems Lego had, is that although it was aware AFOLs existed, they didn't know who they were - or what they were buying. They didn't know what sets were popular with them and what weren't. They didn't know how their target market would react to something until they had already done it. The Community division were tasked with fixing this. One of their main roles was to work with the community at large and find out what they wanted to buy.
Today, Lego have 2 people (just two) working full-time as Community Development Managers. Their job is focused solely on working with the community. They go to local events all over the world. They start up customer focus groups and design groups. They run the First Lego League (a global teenage robotics championship). They bring in their best customers to help them plan new product lines - right from the outset. They have even employed a number of their best customers, as Lego realised that their customers were better with their products than some of their own people. They listen, they involve, they placate, they explain, they facilitate.
It turned out that those AFOL's actually made upto 15% of Legos' market. Not the majority of course, but a very sizable chunk. Of course, these AFOLs were spending much more per capita than children - perhaps many thousands of dollars per year. So, Lego tried new things. They brought out large, complex, expensive sets that only adults would buy. But they bought these sets in their droves, and soon a whole range of these sets came out, designed by ex-customers in many cases, and selling incredibly well.
Lego listened to their community, and it brought them away from the brink. Now, just imagine what a company that's already doing well, with a strong community, could do if they did the same?
-----------------------------
You'll probably guess that this isn't really about Lego, it's about IBM Lotus. Well, you'd be right - because yet again the community is up in arms, angry with things that are happening, angry that they weren't involved, and for those that are involved - they feel put upon. I'll call it out and say it - IBM, you need to understand the community.
I'll be honest here. We're make much more noise than we make money. We're quick to anger and difficult to please. BUT, if we are pleased, we shout it from the rooftops. We fight trolls, and bad press and competitor FUD. We hate not knowing what's going on, and we really hate being told to do something.
But, who are IBMs' Community Development Managers? Who are the people that help Paul organise ILUG, or sit in OpenNTF meeting shouting 'STOP!, you'll been shot down for this!'?, or take cool new software to influential bloggers and twitterers and show them cool, new stuff? Who from IBM is knocking on Stephen Frys' doorstep saying, 'Can I show you this?. Who is it? It isn't anyone. And I know it isn't anyone because I've never seen them.
I know IBM's answer to this is 'everyone plays their part'. And I know that Ed and Mary Beth have done a brilliant job of this for years. But it isn't their job. Their no.1 concern is not keeping the excitement alive and placating noisy bloggers. And guess what? The current approach is NOT working. Why the hell should we even be up in arms about a software repository that give everyone access to free code? I'll own up to throwing wood on the fire to see if it would burn - but I really get the feeling that there was no-one there at the start thinking 'this is a community project, how will the community react to this?' If they did, they sure as hell didn't get it right. All that's now happening is other IBM promises are being questioned, such as aircover etc.
What I find incredible, is that the leading provider of community and collaboration software in the world, doesn't have anyone whose job it is to work that community and get the best out of it.
Just think of what IBM could do if it really leveraged the community, instead of fighting against it.
-
Comments
Posted by Ben Poole At 11:23:57 On 25/06/2009 | - Website - |
---* Bill
(Just waiting for the inevitable 'You contribute nothing to the community', 'how dare you criticise the benefactor', 'just get out of the community if you don't like it' style flames from the attack kittens)
Posted by Bill Buchan At 11:34:51 On 25/06/2009 | - Website - |
Posted by Frank Docherty At 12:51:18 On 25/06/2009 | - Website - |
@2 - Positive thoughts, Bill. Bitterness is not good for you.
Posted by Lars Olufsen At 13:07:00 On 25/06/2009 | - Website - |
Posted by Thomas Lang At 13:10:18 On 25/06/2009 | - Website - |
The closest person to this definition I've met in recent months is Erica Topolski who has done a fabulous job liasing with the community for Lotus PR. But... She's just moved on to a new job elsewhere in IBM. Typical!
Posted by Stuart McIntyre At 13:11:12 On 25/06/2009 | - Website - |
Posted by Ed Brill At 13:27:47 On 25/06/2009 | - Website - |
Posted by John Head At 13:34:42 On 25/06/2009 | - Website - |
IBM build software for geeky people because IBM is geeky.
I feel that when the shine wears off that IBM doesn't commit adequately to finishing features before following the next shiny whimsy.
What's left over is often over-engineered and underdone. I'd argue the new Notes client is guilty of being both. I've not seriously looked at xPages yet for that reason. I want it to mature before I stop learning Flex (for example).
Turning to the community...
I'm not sure that IBM should, necessarily, listen too hard to those that Blog and Tweet loudly.
I think they should listen harder to real customers in offices big and small that use Notes day to day. If they did that I'm sure they could easily produce software to rival the usability and popularity of Outlook. Listen to people who struggle with the complexity of the Notes client.
Very nice post Warren.
Posted by Jason Hook At 14:05:22 On 25/06/2009 | - Website - |
Great post, Warren.
Posted by Gregg Eldred At 14:10:43 On 25/06/2009 | - Website - |
The difference to Lego is that Lego admitted that they have a problem, they thought what could be done differently and then acted accordingly. IBM has officially never said that there is a problem with the IBM Lotus division. Maybe there isn't one anyway. I don't know.
Posted by Henning Heinz At 14:12:15 On 25/06/2009 | - Website - |
@9, Jason, I don't think IBM should listen too hard either. But given the size of IBM, a little certainly wouldn't hurt - and could stop the bitch fighting. (I agree with your other point too)
@11, Henning, Yes - Lego had to do it and I'm really thankful that IBM don't *have* to. It doesn't mean that they *shouldn't* though.
Posted by Warren Elsmore At 14:37:23 On 25/06/2009 | - Website - |
Posted by Carl Tyler At 14:39:04 On 25/06/2009 | - Website - |
Posted by Mike Poole At 15:26:40 On 25/06/2009 | - Website - |
IBM has two major problems:
-1st they always try to beat Microsoft...for what?? try to sell what you are good add?
2nd IBM has a terrible sales model. Our local IBM does not care about a 10.000 user company migrating away form Lotus Notes....but they do care about a new 100 user company...this is madness. Not to speak about licensing models.
I try to fight this for years....but without succes.
Posted by Sannie At 15:28:45 On 25/06/2009 | - Website - |
Posted by Chris Blatnick At 15:37:44 On 25/06/2009 | - Website - |
Posted by Andy Donaldson At 15:37:55 On 25/06/2009 | - Website - |
Your points, Warren, are certainly understood and I can absolutely empathize with your frustrations as a fellow yellowbleeder... but they are working on it. Consider the recent efforts of the Lotus Technical Information and Education team, who just this week had another community meeting with guest speakers Mac Guidera and Stuart McIntyre.
I guess *my* biggest frustration is those shared with the OpenNTF Advisory Board: there are people complaining about not being involved in community efforts that don't answer the call-to-arms open requests asking for participation.
Nathan had to flame his fellow boardmembers in a post and "embarrass" some into contribution while IBMers and I have reminded this same passionate community through Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, BrightKite, developerWorks, and various other spaces.
The result? Almost total lack of participation, which as the non-IBMer "Lead Community Advocate" of the Lotus Technical Information and Education initiative absolutely frustrates me.
I absolutely agree that resources at IBM should be allocated to more and more community involvement and empowerment initiatives, but I also - being an active member in this community - understand that it's going to take some involvement from my end.
Consider - if you will - where those Lego community programs would be if the AFOLs just didn't show up to events or provide their passionate and enthusiastic feedback?
Posted by Chris Toohey At 17:05:22 On 25/06/2009 | - Website - |
Some people were. And some of us were invited to, but didn't realize what was at stake at the time. I was one of the latter.
Posted by Nathan T. Freeman At 17:22:19 On 25/06/2009 | - Website - |
Let's put OpenNTF aside for the minute. The fiasco there is a symptom, not the cause.
In fact, lets make some things QUITE clear. A number of well respected BP's, ourselves, included offered help around OpenNTF, back at Lotusphere. None of us were taken up. The whole community is now presented with a fait a compli, and most of us don't even know where to start sorting that mess out. I know John's working on it, and I feel his pain. ALSO, bear in mind that most of us have real work to do, so just because we're not on conference calls, doesn't mean we aren't involved. Throwing your hands up, saying 'Help!' doesn't work. Asking for specific contributions from people who already work in that area does. So that's why we're not knocking your door down.
Anyway.
If there is a 'Lotus Technical Information and Education team' - and it's really working with the community - then why don't I know about it? Why doesn't EVERY commenter on this post know about it?
I'm looking at the LTIE blog and listening to the podcast of the kickoff meeting now (which I never heard ANYTHING about, possibly my bad), but it seems to be all about learning and education. I'm NOT talking about education - I'm talking about marketing/awareness/product development/roadmaps.
And in answer to your question - 'where those Lego community programs would be if the AFOLs just didn't show up to events or provide their passionate and enthusiastic feedback? ', the answer is nowhere. So Lego took it upon themselves to make sure that didn't happen. THEY put the work in.
Posted by Warren Elsmore At 17:27:09 On 25/06/2009 | - Website - |
Posted by Rob McDonagh At 17:38:37 On 25/06/2009 | - Website - |
IBM is so conflicted with its channel, strategy and market presence it truly saddens me but one day in years to come a business archeologist will come along and say 'IBM - it never succeeded because it had too many brains telling it to forage in different directions and it eventually died out due to business starvation'
Posted by Ian White At 17:49:28 On 25/06/2009 | - Website - |
Posted by Antoine Leboyer At 17:49:50 On 25/06/2009 | - Website - |
Second specific request - we are going to start the licensing discussion after the US 4th of July Holiday. Please provide feedback once we put out those proposals.
Third specific request - if you don't care about the IP stuff, no worries. There is a strategy forum that covers ideas for OpenNTF.org to take up - contests, "red projects", etc. If what you want to do is work on that side of the house, go in there. EVERYONE is invited to do so.
I will try to be more specific and direct on the help and actions I am asking for going forward.
Posted by John Head At 17:54:53 On 25/06/2009 | - Website - |
I've not been clear on that point - thanks for clarifying it to everyone else.
My beef (and many others') is not with the steering comittee members, or even connected to OpenNTF, but with the complete hash of things made, because no-one inside IBM stopped to think - or had the authority to make people stop.
For once, we're on exactly the same lines
Editing my own comment - I want to make one thing clear. THIS IS NOT A POST ABOUT OPENNTF. That's a SYMPTOM, this post is about the CAUSE.
Posted by Warren Elsmore At 18:05:15 On 25/06/2009 | - Website - |
There is certainly a real need for growth in their community initiatives - I absolutely agree - from not only driving the message to and beyond the community but to also establish those initiatives in the minds of all participants in this community and beyond.
This is evident by the number of "hear hear!" comments you've received on this post (which I think is warranted to an extent btw).
However I have to believe that some if not most of the comment authors to this post know about initiatives from the LTIE (esp. Stuart, who just spoke at the last meeting), My developerWorks, the Lotus product family Wikis, extended involvement in the blogger communities and invitation/inclusion of Lotus Community bloggers in Lotusphere, interviews with Lotus VIPs, etc.
And while the LTIE is foremost about educating customers about their technology investment (hopefully if I'm wrong someone from the team will hop on here and set the record straight), it constantly solicits information from participants for ways to better the communication of the message.
A while back, my questioning through my blog and multiple social networks regarding establishing a specific Twitter account that could be monitored to address end-user customer issues, complaints, and such was an idea that was presented in one of these open community meetings.
The response we got from that question was great and helped us evaluate a better strategy for reaching out to the masses far beyond the "yellow bubble".
And that's just a single example of the many initiatives that have been put into play and are in-plan for bettering community involvement that *I'm* aware of...
We absolutely do need to do a better job of getting the word out. We need to establish some solid strategies for doing so and not simply jump into action.
That being said, I invite everyone who is unfamiliar with at least one of the established community groups to "suit up" and let your voices be heard:
Lotus Greenhouse Group:
{ Link }
Facebook:
{ Link }
LTIE Blog:
{ Link }
Feel free to also check out the screencast from our last meeting @ { Link }
Posted by Chris Toohey At 18:10:07 On 25/06/2009 | - Website - |
Posted by Henning Heinz At 18:12:29 On 25/06/2009 | - Website - |
However, as Chris 'True Believer' Toohey has just demonstrated, by rubbishing Warren on Facebook, it wouldnt take long.
It seems that presenting at the View, Lotusphere, and organising a 500 user 2 day conference here in the UK isnt enough to get respect from Chris.
---* Bill
Posted by Bill At 18:16:21 On 25/06/2009 | - Website - |
... Dude, what are you talking about?
Here's the ONLY thing that I said re: this post... which I posted to Facebook to bring awareness on this topic:
"Warren brings up some interesting concerns and points of interest in this letter to the Lotus Online Community and IBM at large, but I suggest you read the comments (including those from me - True Believers) to get a weighted exchange of concerns and an alternate viewpoint."
"True Believers" is a reference to Marvel Comics, which Stan Lee would use to refer to his readers...
The rest of this reads that Warren brings up some interesting concerns and points and that I provide "weighted" comments (as I am the non-IBM Lead Lotus Advocate for the LTIE and thus have some "weight" behind my comment other than "yea" or "boo").
Not too sure if this was taken in another way... which apparently it was.
Posted by Chris Toohey At 18:33:09 On 25/06/2009 | - Website - |
Posted by Nathan T. Freeman At 18:41:08 On 25/06/2009 | - Website - |
In one of the comment responses, you stated:
"If there is a 'Lotus Technical Information and Education team' - and it's really working with the community - then why don't I know about it? Why doesn't EVERY commenter on this post know about it?"
That points to the core of the problem we "fans" are facing. You mentioned Ed and Mary Beth, and pointed out that they have done excellent work in "keeping the fans happy"; and you are right in that this is not their job.
IBM/Lotus needs to appoint / hire / promote / transfer / create a small team (2 - 5 people max) whose entire job is to do nothing more than be a direct conduit of information between the community and the elephant. This team needs to be known, accessible, and have be able to speak directly to upper management, without having to go through the chain.
The critical things here are Communication, Collaboration, and Coordination. Hmmm, that sounds familiar. Wonder where I've heard it before?
Posted by Devin Olson At 19:51:39 On 25/06/2009 | - Website - |
Posted by Bob Balaban At 20:32:59 On 25/06/2009 | - Website - |
Posted by Volker Weber At 20:42:11 On 25/06/2009 | - Website - |
Posted by Ed Brill At 20:44:04 On 25/06/2009 | - Website - |
Posted by At 00:43:39 On 26/06/2009 | - Website - |
@30; Nathan, Coming from the personal attack king and on-demand astroturfer ('I prefer my bridges unburnt') within the community, I'll take your criticism as a huge compliment.
Namaste.
---* Bill
Posted by Bill At 05:16:36 On 26/06/2009 | - Website - |
Posted by Nathan T. Freeman At 18:49:06 On 26/06/2009 | - Website - |
The points Warren brought up, as well as the OpenNTF discussion, are important for the community. It shouldn't be cluttered with your vendetta that doesn't belong in a forum like this in the first place.
@Warren: Good Post
Disclaimer: This Comment was written with all due respect for the contributions to the community of the addressed persons
Posted by Thomas Holtgrefe At 07:24:56 On 27/06/2009 | - Website - |
Too many people want to make it about themselves or one particular point in the original post (eg openntf). As Warren has repeatedly said, look at the CAUSE - look at the overall problem.
@Chris - I was asked to be involved in that, but instead of meetings and education stuff, how about some staff dedicated to working with the community. Warren also put it great when the smarter planet spam went out "IBM I wont do your marketing for you"
Posted by Paul Mooney At 13:35:55 On 27/06/2009 | - Website - |
@Warren, any chance we could include you in our next meeting? I'd love to get your frustrations (which are felt across this community) as a discussion topic for our next meeting from their source.
Drop me a line if you get the chance, I'm certain the team would be more than happy to schedule something around your schedule.
Posted by Chris Toohey At 22:15:49 On 27/06/2009 | - Website - |
I was extremely active in the community for a number of years, and keep one foot in the pool just to see if ever warms up. I bailed out primarily because of IBM's lack of incorporating community feedback. I felt that I was accomplishing nothing and my input was being ignored.
I agree completely that the OpenNTF situation is merely a symptom of a much, much deeper cause. IBM has the same philosophy AT&T did in the 70's: "We don't have to care. We're the phone company!" AT&T eventually recovered over 20 years later, but that was mostly because of regulations they bend to work in their favor. IBM has on regulatory benefactors that I'm aware of.
I applaud John for finally clarifying the stance on participation, and John, Bruce and Nathan for being incredibly responsive and for their efforts with OpenNTF to date. It sounds like the Steering Committee was handed the ball late, too, and now that I know that I'm willing to cut them a lot more slack and help them however I can. One thing I would ask is to get the website issues sorted before you start asking for help. It's borderline unusable as it sits (or as it was on Friday, at least).
@Chris - I've never heard of this LTIE group, either. I'll admit I'm only marginally involved and don't do much to keep up with what's going on, but if someone like Warren doesn't know about it that tells me there wasn't a lot of effort made to get the word out. I will ask the four people I'm on IRC with who work with Notes and Domino on a daily basis, but I can pretty much guarantee that none of them had heard of it, either. That's not a dig or a slam, I'm just countering your statement about most people being aware of it.
Posted by Charles Robinson At 16:18:07 On 28/06/2009 | - Website - |
{ Link }
… or maybe I'm just being overly sensitive.
Posted by Ben Poole At 08:48:35 On 29/06/2009 | - Website - |
Posted by Ben Poole At 12:56:57 On 29/06/2009 | - Website - |
Posted by Darren At 14:08:27 On 29/06/2009 | - Website - |
Posted by Kerr At 16:45:53 On 29/06/2009 | - Website - |