E20 goal: Intimacy solves the problem of Anonymity

Over the past months, these two words have been dancing around my mind: Intimacy. Anonymity.

• They relate very strongly to my decision to become self-employed
• I can perfectly use them to describe the assignments I liked versus those I didn't like
• But, last but not least: they determine my state of joy of being employed

Why is there an Enterprise 2.0, but no Small Business 2.0? Or Entrepreneur 2.0? And why is @Headshift's bio better defining Social Business Design than Dachis's?

In the currently undergoing #e2conf in Boston, people are claiming that collaboration is the goal for E2.0. A similar thing happened last November and brought forth Dachis' Social Business Design. Been there, done that: here's my definition of E2.0 and its goal which will hold for the next decades to come

If you're intimate, everything's alright.
Deb Lavoy tweeted this just one minute ago on the -once again- overloaded Twitter:

I love that when I call papa johns they know I want delivery to the pool

That's Intimacy right there. Huge. Papa John's has over 3,000 restaurants worldwide, and yet when Deb calls, they know her (and they should, but not for reasons known to them)
Note: in a situation where usually anonymity is expected, Deb is treated with intimacy. And liking it

If you're anonymous, everything's alright.
A colleague of mine and a fellow Tweeter told me they want to be anonymous on Twitter, because their political, religious and whatnot views may not concur with their employer's.
So one of them tweets whatever he wants to because he's hiding his true identity, and the other isn't (either)
Note: in a situation where usually intimacy is expected, this (not-to-be-named) Tweeter is treated with anonymity. And liking it

Deb is enjoying the fact that anonymity for her turns into intimacy, because she isn't really looking for anonymity. She's just looking for great pizza and pizza delivery - and really happy to receive great service as well; the service of intimacy
Why? It's good to get what you expect, but it's really great if you get what you want - simple as that

But it's a great slap-in-the-face to deny people what they can expect. You worked hard all year, reached all your agreed-upon goals and more, and there suddenly is this new manager giving you new goals while claiming the old ones are not relevant. You built this intimate relationship with your boss over a few years' time, and suddenly he gets replaced by someone else who lets you know it's only a temporary thing for him. You're coming back from holiday to find out you've been removed from the project - by getting told so when you show up for work.The same applies from the customer's point of view. You just have this great relation with this account manager, and suddenly he gets replaced by someone who doesn't know the business nor is very personable. You call the helpdesk because your application isn't working, only to be told that you're not on their list of customers. You keep getting direct mail for your colleagues that died (long ago)

Proximity creates intimacy as distance creates anonymity. The bigger a company gets, the greater the distance in between people. Add reorganisations, physical movement of people, desks and departments, and it's easy to see how every attempt for Intimacy is easily smothered in big orgs. Is that bad? Yes it is

• A lack of intimacy is what leads to divorces
• A lack of intimacy is what creates conflicts and wars
• Abundance of anonymity is what drags the neighbourhood down
• Abundance of anonymity is what lets you kill your neighbour in times of war

I've worked for an enterprise for over 13 years, and will be an entrepreneur in a few months. I expect (and aim) to be intimate with my customers on a professional basis.
I might grow into a small business, with a dozen or so employees. Still, I'd expect (and aim) to be intimate with my customers on a professional basis, and of course I'd be intimate with my employees on the same professional level.
No rocket science there, I think. And that's exactly why there's no Entrepreneur2.0 nor SMB2.0. There's plenty of intimacy for them

In my Maybe your company is just beyond social I also point out where there is not enough intimacy left in order to introduce E2.0. And that's exactly why there's no Bureaucracy2.0 either. There's too much anonymity for that

C'mon guys. E2.0 has nothing to do with tech or tools or 'collaboration'. It's all about trust, humanisation, and employees. If your employees are happy, your customers will be happy. It is THAT simple