Wow!  The more I look at IBM, the more I like what I see.  They* have smart people.  They have scale.  They have a global presence.  They’re doing cool things that help organizations perform better and cranking out patents at an unbelievable pace.  If that’s not enough, the IBM culture seems to get better all the time and they’re leveraging the strength of culture with cutting edge social networking capabilities that connect IBMers so that they are “better together.”

In recent interactions with IBMers, I’ve noticed a sense of pride about being at IBM that I haven’t seen in 20 years.  There are clear signs to me that IBM is developing the Connection Culture I write about.  Take a look at CEO Sam Palmisano’s inspiring email about the importance of IBM values and how they were developed through collaboration via IBM’s “Values Jam.”  Check out IBM’s “Beehive” social networking capability.  

I suspect these examples are just the tip of the iceberg. Stay tuned for more.   In the coming months I’ll be learning and sharing much more about IBM and other organizations that are helping their employees feel connected to their corporate identity (mission, values and reputation), to the people they work with and to their daily tasks at work.

* I intentionally use the term “they” rather than “it.” Although organizations are a legal person they are, in reality, a community of people. It’s healthier, in my view, to refer to and think of organizations in this way.

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