1.
Surfing the content chaos
Marie Girard
Content strategist, IBM
http://about.me/magichopi

2.
Volume
Veracity
Variety
Velocity
We’re facing a huge wave of change, in terms of volume, veracity,
variety, and velocity of content.

3.
It feels like
the tiniest
disruption
could make
everything go
out of
control.
Video:
https://vine.c
o/v/eBgZLHw
1edT by
ExploreTheO
cean on Vine

4.
You can’t stop the waves,
but you can learn to surf.
Jon Kabat Zinn
Hokusai, The Great Wave of
Kanagawa:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gr
eat_Wave_off_Kanagawa CC BY

5.
We must learn to surf, because content is an essential enterprise
business asset.
Influence on purchase decision: Based on survey of IBM clients and
prospective clients (n=196) as of October 2014
Support call resolution: Support statistics for IBM Operational Decision
Manager, Q1 2015
Wave:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Ocean_surf#/media/File:
Boelge_stor.jpg CC BY Malene Thyssen,
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Malene
89%Influence on
purchase decision
Support call resolution
87%

6.
Content maturity model
Reactive
Tactical
Integrated
Managed
Strategic
A content maturity model tells you where you stand.
Intentional Design’s content maturity model: http://intentionaldesign.ca/2011/11/14/time-for-a-
maturity-model-for-content-strategy/content-strategy-maturity-model/
Reactive: https://pixabay.com/en/surf-child-beach-sol-mar-water-1138211/ CCO Public Domain
Tactical: http://i.vimeocdn.com/video/95411833_1280x720.jpg Frog 974 @CC · Surf at Saint Leu
Integrated: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Teahupoo1.jpg The Last Minute – Flickr CC BY 2.0
Managed: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fichier:A_surfer_at_the_wave.jpg by Brocken Inaglory
CC BY
Strategic: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jeff_Rowley_1_Photo_by_Minnie_Vuong_-
_Flickr_-_Jeff_Rowley_Big_Wave_Surfer.jpg by Jeff Rowley CC BY 2.0 Jeff Rowley CC BY 2.0

7.
Design Thinking + Agile
Empathy
Prototyping
Collaboration
Creativity
Individuals and interactions
Working product
Customer collaboration
Responding to change
over processes and tools
over comprehensive doc
over contract negociation
over following a plan
Design thinking and agile are approaches that enable fast innovation in a complex business
environment.

8.
Let’s practice When faced with complexity, let go of your beliefs and assumptions.
Wave: http://oceanenergy.wikidot.com/wavepower Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0
License author unknown

9.
Surf the content chaos
Keep experimenting
Foster interactions
Focus on user impact
To govern content creation across silos, foster interactions, and let go of managing content
creation from the top.
To detect opportunities for reuse and improvement of versatile content, keep experimenting, and
let go of monolithic models and infrastructures.
To plan your content in an uncertain business context, focus on user impact, and let go of
making long-term plans.
Surfboards: https://pixabay.com/static/uploads/photo/2013/07/13/10/47/surfboard-
157778_960_720.png CC0 Public Domain Background removed
Wave: https://openclipart.org/detail/8334/swirl by ryanlerch Creative Commons licence
Butterfly: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Blue_morpho_butterfly.jpg by Gregory Phillips Creative
Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license

10.
Groups made up of people who think in different ways can trump groups of people who are very
bright but alike.
Content professionals often hear that we must « smash the silos ».
Surfboards:
https://gl.wikipedia.org/wiki/T%C3%A1boa_de_surf#/media/File:The_Surfboards_%2884229148
14%29.jpg by Alex Proimos CC BY 2.0
Foster interactions

11.
Marketing
People People People
People
Step Step Step
Content
Development
People People People
People
Step Step Step
Content
Support
People People People
People
Step Step Step
Content
Content silos
Silos: each department, its people, technology, and processes, is organized around the delivery
of the department’s content.

12.
Content
Marketing
People People People
People
Step Step Step
Product
Content
People People People
People
Step Step Step
Support
Content
People People People
People
Step Step Step
Content
Content Coordinator
The solution?
Do we need one content coordinator at the top, with a single process?

13.
Marketing
People People People
People
Step Step Step
Development
People People People
People
Step Step Step
Support
People People People
People
Step Step Step
Content Content Content
Content
Content
The reality is more complex
Hidden interactions and feedback loops are at play between silos.
Let go of trying to coordinate from the top.

14.
Bring stakeholders together
Bring your stakeholders
together. Things will start
happening, and you will better
leverage existing resources.
Stakeholder map © Copyright
IBM Corporation

15.
Keep experimentingLet go of looking for one model or infrastructure that will rule them all.
Wave: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/70QCZPnsL6Y/maxresdefault.jpg by Balderdact CC

16.
Map pain points and opportunities
Leverage existing content
Build visual consistency
Engage customers
Keep content relevant
Map
opportunities
for
improvement
with the
knowledge you
have, even if
it’s incomplete.
Leverage
collective
knowledge.
Map ©
Copyright IBM
Corporation

17.
Select bitesize projects
Build visual consistency
Develop a shared icon library
Create agile projects for
bitesize improvement
chunks, and you will
incrementally improve the
end-to-end content
experience.
Images © Copyright IBM
Corporation

18.
Focus on user impact Let go of setting long-term plans.
Butterfly:
https://pixabay.com/static/uploads/photo/2015/07/17/06/
16/collage-848541_960_720.jpg CC0 Public Domain

19.
Map content missions
Focus on user impact: define a
content strategy that sets values and
missions for your content, and make it
possible for anybody in the
organization to make decisions about
content that will be in line with the
strategy.
Icons © Copyright IBM Corporation
Map model by Smart Insights

20.
Surf the content chaos
Keep experimenting
Foster interactions
Focus on user impact
Foster interactions, and you will reuse
content resources.
Keep experimenting, and you will improve
your content incrementally.
Focus on user impact, and you will make
better, faster decisions about content.
Surfboards:
https://pixabay.com/static/uploads/photo/201
3/07/13/10/47/surfboard-
157778_960_720.png
Wave:
https://openclipart.org/detail/8334/swirl
Butterfly:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Blue_morph
o_butterfly.jpg

21.
Find the sweet spot
Control
Best
Practices
Complexity
Chaos
Close to
certainty
Far from
certainty
Far from
agreement
Close to
agreement
Letting go is not about giving up on our best practices, it
is about moving beyond content management mastery
to surf at the edge of chaos.
Surf:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1e/20
10_mavericks_competition.jpg by Shalom Jacobovitz -
SJ1_8558 CC BY-SA 2.0
Complexity domains diagram by Ralph Stacey

22.
You are not a drop in the ocean,
you are the entire ocean in a drop.
Rumi
The hologram: you not outside of the system. You are the
system. Reach out. Experiment through concurrent
actions. Keep your focus.
Let go, and reach the sweet spot.
Drop:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e8/Wat
er_drop_impact_on_a_water-surface.jpg by Davide
Restivo Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0
Generic license.

23.
Ann Rockley: Managing Enterprise Content. A Unified Content Strategy.
Jurgen Appelo: How To Change the World
Lisa Welchman: Managing Chaos. Digital Governance by Design
Rahel Anne Baillie and Noz Urbina: Content Strategy. Connecting the dots between business,
brand, and benefits
Peter M. Senge: The Fifth Discipline. The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization
Peter Morville: Intertwingled
References