What does the much discussed movement from Web 2.0 to Enterprise 2.0 -- and now Government 2.0 -- mean you should be doing about "massive collaboration"? Should blogs, wikis, social networking, and more powerful search and prediction markets, etc. become front-burner items for you?

The short answer, as for many new technology applications, is "perhaps" or even "probably," but not always. What you need is a good framework for sifting and prioritizing your options, and stacking those up against the status quo.

A short framework-oriented report from our recent Collaboration Roundtable has been posted on the Governing Magazine website. It argues that the priority for collaboration:

1. increases with benefits from the wisdom of crowds and the increased commitment and legitimacy that come from active engagement and inclusion, but
2. decreases when those benefits are outweighed by additional complexity and sub-group conflicts.

Finding the right mix requires knowledge of the specific community/problem under consideration. We can often find the right collaboration rather easily by "bottom-up" exploration. This approach is made easy by the low costs of the new tools. This is what is getting the most attention and action.

What we haven't done much of so far is explore on a more strategic "top-down" basis for collaboration on critical "cross-boundary" challenges like health care, counter-terrorism, the green agenda, etc.

More on this can be found here in the brief article at the Governing website.

And here is a good blog on related issues from our colleague Andrew McAfee. Andy has explored Enterprise 2.0 (his term) for some time and in depth. 

All the best,

Jerry

P.S. What do general managers in government need to know about massive collaboration and other technology-enabled innovations? To learn about this, come work with us at Harvard on April 14-16. Here's more.