It’s not the tools
“It is a poor workman who blames his tools – the good man gets on with the job, given what he’s got, and gets the best answer he can.” And I suggest that by altering the problem, by looking at the thing differently, you can make a great deal of difference in your final productivity because you can either do it in such a fashion that people can indeed build on what you’ve done, or you can do it in such a fashion that the next person has to essentially duplicate again what you’ve done.
It isn’t just a matter of the job, it’s the way you write the report, the way you write the paper, the whole attitude. It’s just as easy to do a broad, general job as one very special case. And it’s much more satisfying and rewarding!”
Best Job Description
I was forwarded this so unfortunately I can’t link to the original post (let me know if you know) (Thanks, Alex, for letting me know it’s by Nilofer Merchant):
WHAT: Subversive Collaborators
The truly “kick-ass” people in our organizations, don’t wait for permission to lead, innovate, or strategize. They do what is right for the firm, regardless of status. They bring a combination of “curiosity and passion” which Thomas Friedman once said “are key components in a world where information is readily available to everyone and global markets reward those people.” There’s a different set of rules and assumptions by which we’ll thrive and succeed in this new, networked society, and it comes down to this: while you can be a rebel or a subversive without being a leader, you can rarely be an effective leader without also having a little bit of rebel in you.
Online Brand Management
In the past five years I’ve worked with a lot of brands get into social media in a holistic, useful, human way. Each of the companies had unique internal organizations, brand voice, industry (retail, software, online content, hollywood PR) and different external goals. But after working with several companies and their different needs, I began to realise an overall process that was needed before doing any kind of campaigns, marketing or expansion on – especially in case a crisis situation arose (and it always, always did in the most surprising of ways).
When I work with companies now, the following presentation is the basics of what I do (and I do mean basics!). I’m a huge believer that you don’t just “do” social media or hire an intern or someone out of school because ‘they know how to tweet’ (I remind people that if it took them 5 years to build a company, it can be undone in 5 seconds with the wrong tweet).
Before a company gets into social media, they need to ask themselves a very important question: why. Once that’s answered, they need to figure out what the brand’s online voice is (this can sometimes be a couple of months of trial and error to see what’s working & what isn’t) and then what social media channels work best for all of that and the company. Then the whole company can start to produce the right content, customer service and campaigns plus be able to receive information back from the community, grow it, and empower it.
The other big component is the Crisis Communication solution, lightly touched on here. It’s something I try to get initiated in the beginning of working with a company but generally speaking, it’s been hard to partner with PR and internal groups to get this accomplished as a lot of companies – particularly corporations – are used to working in silos. And PR, generally speaking, acts as a gate keeper of information and doesn’t seem to like partnering with social groups in solving online issues (they like to “make statements” instead of looking at the issue, understanding its online process and community, and addressing it frankly). Usually the thought of a crisis communication plan doesn’t come up until, well, there’s a crisis. Don’t let that happen to you – trust me.
Amen
“Your brand statement tells who you want to be. Your customer service says who you really are.
How you treat your customers, employees, and vendors tells the truth about your brand. Just as actions speak louder than words, there is no way you can proclaim yourself a “people company” unless you prove it by living the values that look so good in print.
Who you hire, what you celebrate, and the values you live tell more about your brand than any fancy brochure.”
A gentle guide for the New Year
I’m not one to repost but this one that I wrote in 2008 just seemed perfect for this New Year’s day when everyone is judging all that didn’t happen in 2010 and talking about what could happen in 2011.
So I offer this post again to all of us so that we can go from basking in new year’s glow of possibility to actually doing all that we can this year and beyond. I’m in if you are:
Please go out there and do. Live. Don’t be the same as yesterday. Don’t live vicariously online. Don’t use language that has no meaning or talk ideas you don’t really live. Don’t hide. Don’t copy others or live their ideas or life. Don’t fear doing your thing. Don’t fear doing. Instead of reading a decorating magazine, paint that room. Instead of thinking of baking, do up a cake. Run, walk, bike. Put that self help book down and pick up yourself.
Let go of the snark, your worries, your anger and fear and give into possibility, action, joy and life. Do. Do some more. Stop thinking about you. Stop blogging about just you and your kid and your pet. There’s a world out there to connect to, really connect to and email doesn’t count. Being of use is more important than being popular. Think about the lady down the street, the person at the drive through, the man fallen in the street, about politics, the environment, healthcare, another country and then do something about it. Never stop at thinking.
Dream big, work harder. Have lots of fun, lift a finger, do something for someone else. Cheer your friends on. Cheer yourself up. Celebrate as much as possible. Enjoy everything. Right now. It’s OK to want more and do more but be present with where you are or who you are with. Don’t rush the situation – even if it’s bad. Move on when you can. Don’t settle. Try everything you can and get over everything holding you back.
Go outside. Go outside yourself. Make a difference, make some change. Don’t complain about someone unless you’re talking to that someone. Don’t complain about a situation you’re not willing to make better. They don’t have it better and you don’t have it worse. Don’t make excuses. You’ll never see possibility if you do. And you’re smart and worth more than settling for a life of complaining and limitation.
Hope. Hope more. Give someone else hope. Get healthy and contribute to a healthy environment. Think about everything you do, you buy, you say. Only be lazy on Sunday and even then, be conscious. Rest is useful, giving up is not.
Live with a light heart. Play more. Remember what it’s like to be seven. Remember to listen to a seven year old because you just have more words and life experience, not necessarily more wisdom. Have more questions than answers and don’t put everything into words. Sometimes just feel things and be. Be quiet more often, listen harder, talk exactly as you mean to.
Strive for your best and not what you think someone elses’ best is. Follow through. Don’t let others’ down. Don’t let yourself down. You are better than your circumstances. Ask for what you’re worth. Make magic happen don’t wish for it. Don’t envy others’ lives, envy yours. Live it fully. Teach by example how to live well, how to be treated, how to be kind, how to be alive.
Do. I can’t stress that one enough. Take action on your life. Make the change. No more sulking, waiting, thinking, reading, talking about. It’s time. You’re ready.
How Inspiration Killed, Then Ate, Creativity
“If we as designers can learn to fight the urge for quick answers and focus more on unique, lasting solutions that revolve around defining problems, there’s a chance to turn it all around. Finding new appreciation for both concept and execution (and their relationship to each other) will spark greater conversation within our communitity about how and why design is important in the first place.” from Consumption: How Inspiration Killed, Then Ate, Creativity.
A note about scaling.
“Let me tell you something about scaling. McDonalds is scalable. It’s also as boring as holy hell. However, my local coffee shop, The Bean, is not very scalable but they are awesome and everyone loves them.” AJ Leon
Convergence Culture
Convergence requires media companies to rethink old assumptions about what it means to consume media, assumptions that shape both programming and marketing decisions. If old consumers were assumed to be passive, the new consumers are active. If old consumers were predictable and stayed where you told them to stay, then new consumers are migratory, showing a d declining loyalty to networks or media. If old consumers were isolated individuals, the new consumers are more socially connected.
As they undergo this transition, the media companies are not behaving in a monolithic fashion; often, different divisions of the same company are pursuing radically different strategies, reflecting their uncertainty about how to proceed.
Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide by Henry Jenkins
What part do you play in Society?
“I think we’re starting to see a fundamental shift in the way small businesses are started and the way that they’ll succeed. I’m hoping future small business owners will ask themselves what part their business will play in wider society – what impact will they have, socially and environmentally? What can they offer and what can they give back to the community in which they’re rooted? I’m convinced that those kinds of questions will assume increasing importance. And I’m wildly optimistic about their prospects for success. To me, entrepreneurs have always represented change. As an entrepreneur myself, what I’ve discovered through the years is, seeking those people out, listening to them, amplifying their encouragement, and sort of turning a deaf ear to the people who are defending the status quo, is a lot more fun and an easier way to spend your day.” Seth Godin in a great Q&A interview.
Elsewhere