In keeping with the preamble to this review, I think that Semple's key insight is that managers' authority is being replaced by the need to influence.  Throughout the book Semple delivers useful guidance to leverage social media to achieve just that.

My one criticism of the book is Semple's tone and vision, which I would classify as idealistic, and overly so to boot.  Perhaps Semple takes extreme positions as a counterbalance to the other extreme of organizations prohibiting the use of social media altogether or viewing them as a huge waste of time.  Not everyone will capitalize on the promise of the social web because they do not have the capacity, desire or personality to engage and share experience, and organizational structures may not be flexible enough to bear the strain of new ways to communicate to drive action.  These circumstances are not likely to change any time soon, a fact acknowledged by Semple when he indicated that he thought it would be fifty years before the full consequences of the web are reflected in our institutions and society at large.

All that said, Semple's book is a must-read for managers, particularly those struggling with making sense of the social web and how to capitalize on it to make organizations and staff more productive, and to improve the work experience.