Jim Coplien at Øresund Agile 2008

1) Jim, some of us have seen that social network analysis is a hot issue in the business press
at the moment, there was for instance an article about the subject in Wall Street Journal quite recently.
Why, in your opinion, has this issue come up on so many companies’ agenda now?

I think that as we come into the V Generation’s conquest of the workplace, the workplace itself is transforming. I have been working with some CTOs recently who are puzzling on how to capitalize on the new modes of communication of Generation V. These challenges have led them to focus on something that in fact always has been important to an effective, lean workplace: a good environment for communication. Social networking is a tool with direct insight into this area. We’ve been using social network analysis tools for more than 15 years, but they’re just now coming into fashion in management circles.

2) Which parts of this “Social Network Analysis” that they talk about in the newspaper articles
will you cover at your workshop in Copenhagen?

We will describe how social network analysis is done and what kind of results it will give. From there we will move on into practical application of the results in everyday workplace settings.

3) What would you say, would be the major benefit that leaders and managers from software
companies would get from your workshop?

I think it will help managers see communications at a whole new level: at the level of large-scale patterns of communication in their own enterprises. Too many managers focus on the small-scale communication issues through personal development programs, not fully appreciating the communication leverage that comes with effective governance, organizational design, and their shaping of the value system. This stuff goes deep — and we hope to touch on that at Øresund Agile.