It seems that the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil platform was foreseeable. The workmen on the platform saw a lot of problems with the technique, but were afraid to inform the management of Transocean (owner of the platform). I won’t judge about the company and reasons of the accident (but I am very sad about it), but it shows that you can avoid problems with the right communication culture.

To discuss the advantages of Enterprise 2.0 we are talking about motivation and better processes, but rarely about prevention of problems which can harm a company strongly.

At first glance it seems to be profitable to keep some topics secret or setting pressure on employees to be quiet, but most of the times it isn’t. Cultivation an open communication culture will help to avoid such bad management decisions. Such problems guiding to a disaster will pop up earlier and needs to be fixed before a catastrophe will happen. Sometimes one person with the right knowledge or idea can help a company to survive, if a disaster can be avoided. This person can avoid it, but need a voice which can be heard by enough people.

It’s not possible to install an open culture without the right tools. In bigger companies it can be done by brown bag meetings. Enterprise 2.0 offers the right tools, but the more important part is to adopt it the right way. Things like training are needed, but it’s an important factor to involve the top management. They must support it. It’s in their own interest. Nobody is perfect. Using the wisdom of the crowd will be the attribute of successful companies in future. Enterprise 2.0 does support it perfectly.

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