Just finished reading an article on Chris Hughes, and how he helped Barack Obama build not just his online profile, but a medium to enable self- directed teams and push Obama to victory. The really interesting part of the article, “How Chirs Hughes Helped Launch Facebook and the Barack Obama Campaign“, is that Hughes advocates that technology is just the tool, not the end goal. Ultimately Hughes advocates, like any authentic human interaction, a commonality must be established.

Couldn’t agree more… As Obama’s success has shown, match authentic leadership, with the distributive and self- directing power of Web2.0, and a powerful campaign for almost any cause can be realised.

To coin a phrase from a book I’ve advocated for a long time, Authenticity: “For those that seek the real-  and find the truth.” Well, the truth and real are more achievable than ever before thanks to Web2.0. But don’t let this suggest Web2.0 is the truth or real. It’s only the medium.

Ellen McGirt, Fast Company, suggests that “[Hughes] has helped create two of the most successful startups in modern history.” Obama’s campaign. And Facebook. Hard to argue.

What really stands out is the self- directed organisation that the My.BarackObama.com tool enabled. According to David Plouffe, Obama’s campaign manager:  “We sent staff… for caucuses, and the staff was already half- organised.” The power of Web2.0 is clearly shown, by allowing users to coordinated, communicate and collaborate, without the need for traditional leadership. But as Hughes rightfully points out: “… you build around commonality. If it’s real people and real communities, then it’s valuable.” My.BarakObama.com’s commonality was the election of Obama to the presidency. Without that commonality, “… it’s just playing around online.”

It’s here companies fail. They build the tools, market them, even enforce them. But they fail to identify the commonality that is at the heart of any community. People want to connect with those of similar interests. This was true long before the advent of the interent, let alone social networking and Web2.0. Focusing on the tools, without thought for the motivators to use them, is just not how we are programmed.

“People have always communicated, organized around campaigns. We just made it easier.” ~ Chris Hughes