Durham, NC
Bryan formerly managed the Open Organization section of Opensource.com, which features stories about the ways open values and principles are changing how we think about organizational culture and design. He's worked on Opensource.com since 2011. Find him online as semioticrobotic.
Authored Comments
Jim addresses this a bit in his recent interview on the Dave & Gunnar Show. I'll do my best to transcribe his response:
"That is a hard one, to be frank. Because once someone's built a reputation, it is more likely they will be listened to more than others. Now, if you still have a very transparent process, and you've built a culture that tries to celebrate the best ideas winning, there are a number of people who have strong reputations. And as long as the majority of those people continue to believe in the power of create ideas ([to] come from anywhere), then they're likely to self-moderate. So you may have somebody who says 'This is my idea,' but you can often have three or four other people who have really good reputations that say 'Hey, but here are five other ideas that are coming in.' So being very transparent, [having] a way for everyone to contribute their ideas, and continuing to celebrate ideas coming from anywhere I think are really, really important."
Wise words indeed. Thanks, Rebecca.
And thanks for the link, too. I'm curious: what specific tactics for "inviting input from quiet and overlooked individuals" have worked for you? I see some excellent conversation starters in DeLisa's article, but what about cases in which people just don't feel comfortable expressing themselves in group settings? Do you sit down one-on-one with these folks? Use an alternative medium for conversation?