Every now and then I start thinking about things that may not fall within the formal purview of Social CRM or enterprise software. But what makes Social CRM such an interesting field is the width and breadth of scope that those of us involved in it get to exercise. Because there is so much social psychology and cultural attributes that need to be considered when it comes to crafting customer engagement strategies, it actually can pay to muse about culture and life - one well spent or not - and still be able to justify the thinking within the field.
What in god's name am I talking about? Are these the musings of a madman or someone who doesn't know how to focus or poseur pretending to be erudite.
If I were judging me, I'd say say yes to all but the madman - though you probably could make a case for that too.
What triggered this oddly named post was the two days of consulting I just completed at Jive - one of the leading social business software purveyors for the enterprise. It was intense, fun, busy from dawn to night and hopefully valuable to them. I know it was valuable to me. But what I found at Jive is not for this (or any) discussion but the one between me and them.
However, that caveat aside, there is something to discuss about how company culture impacts the decision making and direction of a company and how it is shaped and shapes the area that the company resides it - or at least that's the case here.
Jive is in Portland Oregon, a city that I had heard terrific things about but had never been before. Someone I spoke to said the city vibe was "retro-chic" and that describes it perfectly.
If you hang out in downtown Portland you see something very much akin to a U.S. version of Amsterdam. There are tree lined boulevards, coffee houses everywhere - sometimes two three to a block. In fact there are so many coffee shops that Starbucks doesn't seem to have nearly the deep footprint it has in most of the cities it is present.
While I was there I stayed at "The Nines" hotel - one who's name I presume came from the expression "dressed to the nines." Meaning really maxed out at doing something. In this case the name was justified. The room fit the retro-chic image of the city with a sort of modern but not "W" hotel-like, decor, and furniture selection in the rooms. The way I felt being in the room was that it was "really cool." And comfortable.
Portland is also a foodies paradise - a place for those who are into it, to find fair trade certified, organic versions of pretty much any cuisine imaginable and, in fact, multiple fusion cuisines - both in food and drink. (check out this Imbibe Magazine article on the Portland food and drink scene). For example, The Nines restaurant, Departures, had about 15 choices of saki and something called a Yuzu martini which I had and "yum" is all I can say. They had a totally eclectic version of a Japanese menu with an emphasis on organic quality with Steelhead trout and Kobe beef as part of their "offering."
The buildings in Portland are not contemporary - though there is some of that glass look sprinkled here and there on its streets. They have instead that charming old style brewhouse look with contemporary takes on 19th and early 20th fonts and architecture. Interwoven with these very comfortably interesting buildings is a very cool looking, highly effective public transportation system with above ground subway cars that look like they belong in the late 21st century - or Tokyo - that go whizzing around the tracks that are set in a spiderweb throughout downtown Portland. If you can span widely enough to take it all in, you feel that you've just become embedded in something really....interesting.
Jive is one of the few software companies that has its headquarters in Portland and that's a pity. Software companies, which tend to be comprised of Gen X and Y aged employees, have available to them in this city, an almost perfect "scene" for the kinds of cool, laid back discourse that they love as part of the life that they lead. In this city, geekdom and also philosophical discourse lives in the discussion at multiple coffee shops and restaurants that serve non-toney versions of California eclectic cuisines.
Which brings me to Jive and its culture.
For those of you who don't know Jive you can see what I said about them here as far as the company's offering and position in the marketplace. When I wrote the piece for the watchlist, they clearly deserved to be on it. My visit only corroborated that in spades.
Briefly, they are a company that provides "Social Business Software" (initial caps all their doing). That has historically meant that their focus was around what those of us who are totally hip call "E20" - okay, totally geeky. What that means is that they have been historically focused around "social software for the workplace" and they've done an amazing job at it. What is also clear is that they are well on their way to being players in the Social CRM space also. I'm going to leave you with that blanket statement since why that is, is not the reason for this post.
What impresses me about Jive is the same that impressed me about Neighborhood America back (now INgage Networks) back in 2006 though for different reasons. That would be the culture of the company. Throughout my extensive meetings with senior staff and other employees during my two days several things stood out.
First, the corporate culture was as laid back as the city of Portland. Second, the level of intellectual discussion was as high as I've ever seen in a company that still was grounded in reality. Discussions with me and that I heard ranged from of course how to deeply improve their solutions to the value of German Critical Philosophy (Hegel in particular) - though not for improving their solutions. I even met someone who was better than me at sports trivia too (Bob B. their SVP of Services) - which, believe me, has never happened.
What made this eclectic discussion fascinating was the willingness of senior management to engage in it and let it go on throughout the workday. The honing of minds was seen as something valuable, not a distraction from software development and sales.
The key to all of this is this latter statement. Even the acquisition of Filtrbox was subject to this kind of scrutiny. DId the Filtrbox team fit the corporate culture that Jive had constructed so well? The product, from my standpoint, was functionally pretty good (I had used it for a bit to play with it) and highly malleable - which makes it attractive to companies who are looking to mold the acquired assets to their liking. But also important to the selection was the nature of the Filtrbox team - which several of the senior execs made the point of saying, "were good guys."
This high-toned but loosely constructed atmosphere leads to a product development environment that had exceptionally well thought out and realistic approaches to the development of their solutions. Without stepping out of school, suffice to say, I found the staff who made the presentations to me and who met with me from senior management to younger middle management to be, for the most part, highly articulate and well informed and well versed in the concepts that drove the features and functions included in the SBS suite.
I was also impressed by the level of preparation that they had. Not only had several of them read my book - they had completed reading it before I got there. I'm not saying this because of my book per se. But keep in mind they read 660 pages and thus had some terrific questions that kept me thinking throughout the experience. Not only that, I was astonished at how much they knew of me personally - picking up nuggets ranging from the age of my mother to my college history to my travels. They were impressively ready and as serious - possibly even more serious - about Social CRM than any company that I've run across including my Big 4 buds.
What was also fascinating was how integrated into the Portland retro-chic culture they were. We conducted several extraordinary discussions sitting in the cafes and restaurants of Portland, which were vibrant and lively - that means both the discussions and the locations. The vibe that drove the city drove the company as well.
Some of this is hard to convey because it was a feeling. But that goes to the heart of this. A good culture that is supported and even enhanced by its surroundings can engender creative efforts that leave the involved parties simply happy.
You may be able to buy software, but you can't buy that feeling. And its the ability to continually produce that feeling and reinforce it that makes good companies good and the inability to foster it in whatever form it should take at a company is what makes bad companies bad.
Here's to the good vibe. You can ask Hegel about that.
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