For the past 10 years or more I have been calling groupware products such as Lotus Notes - even e-mail subversive. These products allow people in organizations to make wider ranging contact and to communicate openly with each other in their own language about subjects of their own choosing, with no censorship.
Traditional command and control type managers (often in HR and Corporate Marketing) loathe and hate these products - their power is undermined - they can no longer 'spin' the facts and when they do - there are seen for what they are.
I think weblogs are now poised to accelerate this trend and over time completely undermine corporate power structures. Here is what Michael Fraase has to say about Radio Userland's weblog products:
For US$40 a head, any organizational workgroup can establish a community of dynamic websites and aggregate and syndicate the content from those websites. No longer will it be beneficial for anyone to hoard or hide-or even try to control-information in an organization ... Personal computers infiltrated organizations through the back door. Someone brought one in to make his or her job easier and the notion spread, like a virus. [Radio Community Server] is going to infiltrate organizations the same way.
I think he is spot on - it is only a matter of time before they creep in to the corporate world and there will be no stopping them. Its why I find them so fascinating and their use and impact on Knowledge Management.
Just imagine an organization where it was impossible to 'lie' or 'spin the truth' and where listening to and truly understanding each other and the business environment were everyday events. What a transformation!
