How often have you read:  “5 steps to being a social business”, “7 things successful social businesses do”, “12 ways a social business is better for your business.”  You can find over one million posts along this line.  I get it; its a great headline: “5 steps to success”

Yes, there are stages of adoption with some pretty common denominators along that journey.  There are some tracks to follow but ultimately, you will make your own path.  Social business is not a 12 step program.  Social business is a journey to be a better business….and that better business is about increasing value for your customers and your business.

When you think about it, historically, as transportation resulted in new ways to distribute goods and services or as communications opened up new ways to be in touch with customers did we talk about becoming ” railroad business” or a “radio business”.   In both cases, technologies were simply put to work to help us grow business and, ideally, do better business.

The social web applied to marketing, communications, customer support and feedback, and even as deployed inside the company to foster collaboration and innovation or break down silos, is really just a tool to be and do better business.

And in every case, depending on your product, service, customer relationships, corporate culture and values, social applications will come with slightly different flavors and nuances of acceptance and adoption.  It will be a journey….not a simple 12 step program.

But it is a journey that ultimately creates new and better value for your customers, your stakeholders and your business…if its not creating value on both sides of that equation.   It’s not working.

So rather than a 12 step program, look at all the piece parts you are implementing.  Look at what you hope to achieve that is value to the business and value to the customer, and go from there.  That’s the journey you are on….Make your own tracks in the sand.  Someone else’s 12 step program can guide you but your business is unique!

How’s your unique journey going so far?