Cutting Through cites an interesting statement from Stowe Boyd that I take issue with, on the uptake of Social Networking Systems within organizations. Below is Stowe's thought on why the uptake has been slow, and following are my thoughts on where I feel there's a disconnect.

Management would rather use techniques that don’t work than techniques they don’t understand. Social networking often causes unsettling situations where it’s the junior people in the organisation that end up with the most karma / whuffie / swarmth. Social systems are often rejected because they’re perceived to be uncontrolled

While I concur with you that the NIH syndrome is alive and well in many organizations, you give short shrift to the actual decision making process in all but the smallest, most nimble of organizations. What your asking for is a behavioral change. For one salesperson to adopt social networking as a more effective way to do their job you run a 'high possible', but 'low probable' simply because most salespeople are creatures of habit, and innovation is not on top of the agenda, especially when there are existing sales systems, quotas, and metrics in place that govern their behavior.

Which, brings us to the management end of things. Understand the much social networking already does exist in orgs, though not through the tools like LinkedIn or Friendster. What does exist is an informal, outside-the-org-chart network that speeds the corporate process along for those that are connected. Many of us who’ve spent time around corporations, know, at the drop of a hat, the answer to “what does this manager do?”