Smithsonian uses innovative collaboration tools to reach out to public

"The Nation's Attic" is turning to "the basement of the science building" in a metaphorical meeting of the minds and a shared vision for the future.

Michael Edson, the Smithsonian Institution's Director of Web and New Media Strategy, told the Daily Debrief the amazing success of the Smithsonian's strategy can be attributed to one key decision made early in the process:

"I think we decided that time was the enemy. That if we did a traditional strategy process and we took a year to make strategy, by the time we finished, all our assumptions from when we started would be irrelevant."

After that, said Edson, they threw out the rulebook and the doors open. He said his team was faced with Joy's Law, coined by Sun Microsystems co-founder Bill Joy: "No matter who you are, most of the smartest people work for someone else."

"We realized we're a small team here," said Edson, "and most of the smart people in the web and new media space work for other people and if we could engage them in a quick, fast, high-yield process, so much the merrier."

So the combined need for speed and the desire to open up the process led Edson and his team to use collaborative tools.

"That's why we chose to develop the strategy in real time on a public-facing wiki. It's a great, flexible platform. If we needed to change something," Edson told FederalNewsRadio, "as you - Chris and Amy - and I are talking, I could go into that wiki and change it."

As a result, Edson and his team now have a comprehensive strategy composed of three themes, each with eight goals.

Edson drew a parallel between the creation of a web strategy and the creation of the Smithsonian itself. "I think if you were to start an organization today, whose mission was the increase and diffusion of knowledge, you would be all about web platforms, speed..."

Edson said there is a growing sense in the museum and research community, "that our institutions exist to make the world better. To exert some force on the culture at large. And the problems or challenges that the world is facing require fast action."

Up next for the Smithsonian's web team: dealing with the unavoidable change. The sense of urgency the team brought to the creation of the web strategy can be seen as an increasing sense of vibrancy on the website.

"Now," said Edson, "I think the strategy is just the tip of the iceberg. It's the part of the iceberg you can see above the waterline and the gigantic mass below, everything below the water, is change management. Driving change. And that's really a lot harder than writing strategy."

You can see the results for yourself at the Smithsonian's Web and New Media Strategy website.