I recently wrote the following review on the Amazon.com entry for Andy’s book, and it has bubbled to the top of the reviews.  And my review was only based on Part 1 of the book, and I am still trying desperately to get to Part 2!  I will be in the car for 10 hours tomorrow, so maybe I’ll get some time if I can convince my wife to drive a little bit.

I was a little concerned when I started reading the book, being that I am a self-proclaimed Enterprise 2.0 “convert”, that it may feel a bit like “preaching to the choir.” But in reading Part 1, even though some pages are spent on introducing concepts and benefits with which I am already familiar, reading the book has been time well spent. And here’s why:

– Andy uses 4 real world case studies that demonstrate how Enterprise 2.0 collaboration methods can be valuable, and if you are involved with trying to drive adoption of similar tools within your organization, these case studies are great examples to recall. Also, the examples of the US government looking to open collaboration capabilities in response to some communication failures that led to 9/11 make for great reading.
– While understanding how various 2.0 style tools work and how organizations have leveraged those tools in the past is important, having the ability to analyze existing organizational inefficiencies and identify effective collaboration methods/tools to aid those problems is where you can separate yourself. Andy provides a well thought out mapping between relationships within professional networks (Strong Ties, Weak Ties, Potential Ties and No Ties) and how Enterprise 2.0 methods/tools can be applied to build/strengthen those ties in ways that can positively impact an organization’s issues. So instead of blindly throwing a wiki at a business problem, for example, you’ll have the background to identify other potential tools that may be a better fit to help a specific business problem.
– While reading, I thought to myself on multiple occasions, “That’s exactly what I have been trying to tell people, but now I have examples, human behavioral studies as evidence and a credible resource as another weapon in telling my story.” If you have responsibility for driving adoption of 2.0 tools, trying to make a business case, or approving the business case for evolving an Enterprise 2.0 agenda, this book will be very helpful for you.

I couldn’t put the book down getting through Part 1, and I am anxious to complete Part 2 having read that it is even more valuable for Enterprise 2.0 practitioners than Part 1.

When totally complete with the book, I’ll post here my plans on using the book’s key messages and takeaways to help support our Enterprise 2.0 agenda.