As I currently maintain one foot in the corporate world, from time to time I come across magazines and other periodicals aimed exactly there and often find great thought-provoking articles, hidden treasures if you will.  Here are some snippets from an article in the August 2009 issue of Chief Executive, written by Soumitra Dutta, Roland Berger Chaired Professor of Business and Technology, and Matthew Fraser, senior research fellow at the INSEAD business school in France, coauthors of “Throwing Sheep in the Boardroom: How Online Social Networking Will Change Your Life, Work and World”.

“CEOs are becoming aware that the Web 2.0 explosion is not just a technical phenomenon, but represents a fundamental shift in values and perception that can enhance value.”

“CEOs have long functioned in closed, bunkered environments, operating according to an “I know best” ethos…  The Web 2.0 model assumes that the CEO does not know it all…  This requires a great deal of openness and humility – both core values to the Web 2.0 leadership.”

“Most companies regard communications as a “push” function… This form of communicating rarely provides a conduit for immediate two-way feedback…  The Web 2.0 model, by contrast, encourages proactive use of platforms like blogs and Twitter to have authentic conversations with key stakeholders both inside and outside the company…. Communicating is not a “push” function; it’s a conversation based on a two-way dialogue.  Sometimes it’s even a networked discussion.”

“Many CEOs, in a word, are structurally prevented from learning…it is easy to see how a traditional leadership role can produce nonoptimal results, if not serious dysfunctions.  The Web 2.0 model, by contrast, affirms that anybody can be a source of knowledge.”

Here’s the full article:  Why – and how – so many CEOs are suddenly embracing Web 2.0

And so can you see how this caught my attention?

I am frequently struck by the yawning gap that exists between the two working worlds I operate in, and acknowledge the leap that so many people have yet to make. I found this article very encouraging and hope I can provide similar encouragement to clients and friends who continue to struggle with the change in mindset needed to embrace Web 2.0 in their business structure.  That article, particularly being published where it was published, suggests to me that the corporate tide is turning finally.

Pretty darn exciting don’t you think?