The Flurry Blog

We are all enjoying changing workplaces. Some of you are working from home a few days a week.  You may even bring your dog to work. Thanks for the hair by the way. (just kidding, I love dogs). We all are benefiting from the changes in the workplace. Bob Cratchit would be envious.

The man with the boots at zappos

Why is it then that some leaders are openly embracing these changes behind office doors but try to portray a different culture to the outside world.  They go to length to hide behind a facade of old school professionalism. They want the outside world, including clients and customers, to think that everything is ties and cubicles all around.  This is a result of fear.  What if our customers think we are slacking off?  What if any sign of staff enjoying their work comes across as lackadaisical?  Fear is driving survival. I stumbled upon one of my new favorite quotes today re-reading Seth Godin’s Linchpin.  “Survival and success are not the same thing.”

So what? As long as you are the best in your industry and your services are remarkable, none of it matters.  Loosen up. Show some skin (or boots). You might be surprised.  You might even get lucky and blow your competitors away.

Popularity: 6% [?]

Growing up I learned a great deal about how things worked in the physical world from working outdoors with my father. Most days we would have at least a few hours to work on our property using a bright orange Kubota tractor. My job was linchpin keeper. If you change a part in the machine, you have to make sure you replace the linchpins or the whole thing will eventually fall apart. Seth Godin’s latest book is entitled Linchpin. A linchpin is indispensable and this title instantly made sense to me.

Linchpin is his 12th book. This one impacted me almost as much as his ninth book The Dip. In his most recent book, Tribes, he encouraged us to lead. In Linchpin he goes further, pleading with the reader to be the indispensable member of a tribe.

In our society linchpins are those individuals that hold things together. Yes, organizations might succeed or thrive for a while without them, but eventually as pressure is applied and structures are tested, things will fall apart. Mr. Godin clearly illustrates that we are in a critical time of history. The age of cogs and factories worked for a while, but everything has changed. A new breed of worker and leader are now required. We need linchpins to solve our problems, keep us connected, and inspire us with art. People who are linchpins are creative, good at connecting with others, and able to see solutions like no one else. They truly are indispensable.

As Seth Godin explains this concept to his readers, he turns their minds upside down in order to convince them that they are in some way capable of being one. It can be a bit disconcerting that he refrains from handing us a roadmap, since we are a society reared on self help books. Instead, he explains how we got here, criticizing the public education system for creating cogs to fill factories and consumers to buy what they produce. He quotes Woodrow Wilson in his argument that we get exactly what we focus on. In the end we wind-up with drones that do what they are told.

There is no shortage of pundits today that criticize the flaws of our education system, but few will offer a solution. He challenges teachers to inspire student to think instead of follow rulebooks and ace tests. He even goes as far as telling us to give ourselves a D for the rut we have fallen into.

In his chapter titled The Resistance he leaves the reader very unsettled and challenged to no longer be ruled by anxieties and everything that holds us into complacency. Throughout the book I could not help but reflect on the story told in the movie Apollo 13. Three linchpins stand out, each one indispensable to the mission. Astronaut Ken Mattingly puts away his frustration from being pulled from the mission to spend hours in the simulator to solve a problem and bring his friends home. Nasa Engineer and master innovator John Aaron works endlessly with Mattingly. In the film Gene Kranz played by Ed Harris makes the ultimate call for his linchpins to do what they do best, “Let’s work the problem people. Let’s not make things worse by guessing.” We love stories like this because we don’t really grow up hoping to be conveyor belt operators or stuck in cubicles doing meaningless work. We dream of changing our world.

Linchpin could be Mr. Godin’s greatest work so far. He treats the subject with history and sociology as well as a compelling mix of fact, story and philosophy. Using examples that will both shock and inspire, Linchpin leaves you feeling like you have no choice but to reassess your current situation and make the changes he so eloquently urges us toward.

I want to hear about linchpins you know. Leave a comment telling me about them.  I will choose my two favorite stories and send the authors a free copy of Linchpin. I can’t wait to read them. I will announce the winner in a few days.

Popularity: 10% [?]

I  am always surprised to discover what people value most in a blog post.  You never know what people are going to enjoy reading and thus comment or spread.  I really find it amusing that some of the posts that were actually knee jerk reactions, written in a few moments, actually ended up being the best conversation starters.  So here are my posts from this year that had the most conversations.  After all it is simply about community.

• Filtering Your Tweets
  

This one was interesting.  I never realized this would be a hot topic.  I still believe we need to have our own filters.  I still use the ones mentioned here.  @lessallan ’s response and reaction blog post was the most interesting.

• Folding when the taking is still hot.
  

I was accused by a friend of using scare tactics to get restaurants to use new media in the midst of the downturn.  That really was not my intention.  I came from a restaurant family.  My father started his career way back with Sambo’s in Santa Barbara and eventually founded Shari’s Restaurants.  Restaurant owners have a special place in my heart and the tools at their hands are simply amazing.

• A guide rather than an expert: navigating social media
  

This is probably my favorite post from the year.  With the glut of “experts” we are all getting good at spotting the snake oil and those that sell it.  Luckily I have been able to become friends with people who are genuine guides.  We are even talking about starting a Social Media Brigade of sorts.

• All the news that’s tailored to read
  

Getting my news in a way that I feel is efficient and effective is still a work in progress for me.  I am using google reader more these days, and I have to admit that I still get most of my articles from either twitter or facebook.  I trust my friends to bring me the headlines instead of CNN.

• Why Ning, Why Now
  

I continue to be passionate about tribes.  Helping others build community or find a nascent tribe is still what I enjoy most.  Ning is still the most powerful tool for organizations to mobilize their followers.  I am curious what will emerge in 2010 though.

Let me know your favorites.

Popularity: 4% [?]

The kindness of strangers by Ed Yourdon used under creative commons license from flickr

I could go in so many directions with this topic.  This last part was the hardest for me to write. We have covered shutting up and focusing, but being a good listener eventually boils down to action.  Action indicates to the other person that you have actually heard them.  However, sometimes the best action is to do nothing.

So you have actually heard what the other person has said.  Now it is your turn.  Most likely they will give you a chance to act.  The action required of you depends on the conversation.  Did they ask your advice? Did someone post a blog and end with a question?  They are prompting you for a response, so turn up the value meter and act.  We all have something to say, but is it of any use?

I asked one of my best friends and mentors, Rick Herbert to chime in on the topic and he nailed it.  Here is what he had to say:

So Action – To Act or not to Act, may be trite but true… does this conversation provoke or require more than words? Is there something I need to do, for this person with whom I have been listening? After hearing their point of view, their concerns, their information, what do I need to do? Purposeful action is determined in the context of the conversation.

Converstaion – convesari is the Latin root.  It means “to live with,” “to keep company with,” “to dwell upon,” “to move to and fro,” and “to turn oneself about.”

Since Conversing is much more than words, we must listen to one’s life and internal movements in order to engage in their lives… we determine our purposeful response based partly on their life and words and partly on what we choose to say, to do or even merely to be in the context of that information.

I have been moved to tears because of conversation.  I have been moved to acts of charity or compassion due to conversation.  I have chosen to become a different person based on what I’ve seen and heard in others.

Purposeful action – always! Regardless of my awareness of reasoning, there is always some compulsion…

Wow, I could not have said it better.  Thanks Rick.  So there you have it. Act.

Popularity: 5% [?]

Be yourself, be remarkable, be unique. This past week I had the chance to meet a few people from Keen Footwear. Keen’s CEO gave the keynote at the Willamette Innovators Night (WIN) 2009 and did a great skit.  The main point of James Curleigh’s skit was to be an innovator…not an imitator.  I was first introduced to the company by a friend who had a great customer service experience. I am now a big believer in Keen and a recent convert after finding their shoes were the only ones that did not give me pain while I am recovering from foot surgery.  To say the least, they have left an impression on me.  When I came home that night from WIN 09, I posted a few things online about my experience. As I usually do, I look for  a company’s or individual’s twitter account to either engage them in conversation or reference to them in a post on twitter.  It took a bit of digging to find Keen on twitter since there was no link on their home page or blog.  This surprised me at first but, then again, Keen does not do things like anyone else.  I finally did find Keen.  They had one post and a little over 200 followers*.  Their single post is a request for feedback, a great start; “heard a lot about this twitter phenomena – want to know what the “tweeple” want us to tweet. Ideas and suggestions are very welcome”.  In true form they are asking their followers what to do next. So here is my suggestion. Don’t copy anyone.  I hear this all the time “I am on twitter now what”?  I tell people, “be yourself”. I love the movie Hitch. In it Will Smith plays a relationship/dating coach. He guides men through the dangerous world of relationships with women.  His tried and true method has been to drive out the individual and get them to conform to a few key principle that will land them the girl. Like any good PR pro, he teaches them to pose. What he eventually realizes is that true happiness comes when a woman falls in love with a man for who he really is (if he is genuine, kind and honest).  The same works for businesses and personal brands.  Be who you are and no one else (even if it is a bit ugly at times).  Anything else is posing.  A company like Keen has an amazing product to stand on (pun intended) and a great following to go with it.  All they really need to do is find that tribe and join in on the conversation that is already happening.  And like anyone, they are finding ways to reach out to their community with true innovation.

Don’t be mistaken.  While Keen has obvious fans, so do you. I just saw someone comment tonight on Facebook that they have no fans.  I beg to differ.  It might take some digging (not much on Keen’s part) but everyone, if they have a web presence, has some following . When it comes to finding great followers, you are your best researcher .  The ones that will shout the loudest will say the most via the web. We have the greatest search engines at our fingertips.  I look forward to Keen’s next move.

*Looking further I found Keen’s active twitter account @Keen_Shoes via Keen founder @MartinKeen

And a quick side note to Keen – don’t be like everyone else and hire a marketer with 10 years of traditional marketing experience…which would likely result in you doing exactly what everyone else is doing.  Invest in someone that will encourage and guide you in just being you (even if that results in still doing the “Q-tip”), help build on your incredible community, and encourages you to invest in continuing the tradition of developing remarkably innovative products.

Want to know more?

Seth Godin’s Tribes and Purple Cow
Using a social media framework to grow your tribe
Go watch Hitch

*Looking further I found  Keen’s active twitter account @Keen_Shoes via Keen founder @MartinKeen

Popularity: 7% [?]

At the top left hand corner of every New York Times front page you will see the words “all the news that’s fit to print”.   A college professor  of mine Robert Sahr once pointed out  how ridiculous this statement was.  There is no possible way you could fit all the news worthy of print in a hundred papers, let alone into one.  Each news outlet chooses what stories to pursue. Fewer ones make it to print.  I love the New York Times, and I used to be a junkie.  But I began to find that I was increasingly being affected by the stories I was reading.  Did I really need to know about crime and mayhem around the world? Local papers and news outlets are even worse.  Turn on the 11 o’clock news anywhere in the US and you will soon be depressed.  Max Lucodo in his book Fearless tells about Frank Furedi’s study of the increased use of the word risk in British newspapers.  In 1994 risk appeared 2,037 times increasing to over 8,000 times in 2008. A psychologist friend once stated the obvious, “we can not as humans handle all the worlds bad news”.  So I have stopped watching, listening and reading.  I still need to know what is going on in my world.  -My WORLD-  is the key phrase.  That is why I like tools like Alltop.com, Twitter, Google Reader, and yes occasionally Facebook.  I can peruse these news sources -yes I did say sources- and find the news I need for the day.  Rather than going through a media source, where an editor picks my stories for me (and today for not such pure reasons) I can choose my own stories from people I trust. This has revolutionized how I digest news.

About a year and a half ago a friend told me that he does not read papers anymore or watch CNN.  It seemed odd at the time because I knew him to be someone who likes to keep up on current events.  He then went on to tell me that he gets all of his news from twitter.  If it is a story that his friends are talking about, he will click on their links and read for himself.  At the time I thought he was nuts, but I have now come to do the same.  I follow people in my network whom I trust.  Most of them have similar interests as me.  If they begin to talk about a story they will usually have a link associated with it for me to learn more.

Beyond this I have what I like to call my own personal newspaper using My Alltop.  It changes every day and the topics range from fly-fishing news to publishing news.  Alltop is one of many ways, and currently my favorite, for people to gather rss feeds into one place where they can digest all of it.  I like Alltop because it has the major blogs that I like most.  I can hover over a headline and easily see the first few lines of the article.  It is also a great way for me to answer people’s question “what blogs do you read.” With one link they are reading what I read.  Of course not all blogs are on Alltop, but they can easily be submitted.  I use Google reader for ones that are not on alltop. There I can also share my favorites with others.  The bottom line to all of this is we can now be back in control of what news we digest.  Instead of depending on an increasingly conglomerate run press for our information, we can search out our own sources.  That is priceless in today’s world.

You can create your own Alltop page here.

Popularity: 8% [?]

This is what I wrote on a co-post with Chris Nordyke on WeLoveCorvallis.com

I am not a member of a local chamber of commerce.  I do see the worth of new contacts and networking opportunities that my local chamber might offer me though.  I do think the chamber’s goals in helping business and community are essential.  My whole business is built around connecting with others and helping businesses connect with their communities.  So how do I see the mission of the chamber being fulfilled?  Well it is happening outside the chamber’s control.  The Communities they serve are going beyond what a program heavy chamber does.  Things have changed.  With social networking and the explosion of tools for our community to connect and engage we now are seeing spontaneous, organic community involvement like we have not seen in over 200 hundred years.

I witness every day something remarkable.  Business friends and community members see a need or opportunity and take it upon themselves to initiate change.  It did not take a new committee or a board’s approval.  Usually it only takes a quick phone call (usually now a direct message via twitter or facebook), a bit of collaboration and creativity, and the new thing is born.  This past week I looked over the organizational chart of our local chamber.  As I scanned it I instinctively began crossing off duties deemed the responsibility of a chamber staff.  These services were in many ways already being offered via the community. Many others could easily be handled by individuals or groups that are passionate about a service.  If the chamber allowed many of these services to grow organically (which I would argue that they are regardless of the chambers permission) then they could ease the burden of the member dues as well as give the staff time and resources to fulfill their mission better.  Will I become a chamber member?  I guess it depends on what changes the chamber is willing to make.  Only time will tell.

Like I said before.  I am writing this from an outsiders mindset. I would encourage you to convince me either way.

Popularity: 5% [?]

I found this video via @jdale and @tshuttleworth and I had to share it with you.  I have had several people this week ask me if Social Media is a fad.  Well my simple answer is no.  In fact I agree with the statement in the video that “it is the biggest shift since the Industrial Revolution”.  It is changing our habits, how we digest media, how we connect and engage with people and our description of community.  Socialnomics09 did a great job pulling together my favorite quotes and statistics. Enjoy. I would love to hear your comments.

Popularity: 6% [?]

A few days ago Kevin Miller caught my attention.  He posted a message to Chris Brogan on twitter asking where he could get a deal on a box of 20 of Chris’s latest book, Trust Agents.  He wanted to send them to a few friends.  I can only imagine what will come of Kevin Miller’s gifts.

A while ago I was unexpectedly laid off from work.  I was pretty shaken.  I remember dusting off my tools and putting my carpentry skills back to work to pay the bills.  It was the rainy season here in Oregon, but I felt that I had no choice.  I needed to continue working in some capacity as I waited to see if my job would exist when the lay off ended.  It was a very discouraging time.  I started to reevaluate everything from life goals to job satisfaction.  Throughout the process my good friend, Jon Dale, was there to encourage and listen.  Better yet, he sent me a book.  After opening the surprise package and reading the first chapter, I knew he had seen a perfect opportunity to share a hopeful message that would change my perspective.  He had followed through with action.   The book helped me launch into everything I am doing today.

How often have you read a book and told a friend about it only to find out many months later that they still have not taken your advice and read it?  I do it all the time.  Someone suggests something, but I just don’t have the time to follow through.  On the other hand, I have read every single book that a friend has sent me.  There is something profound about a statement followed up by a package from Amazon.  It says, “I think you need to hear this message so much that I put money behind it”.  We have the power to help others change their lives and perspectives, change their world, and carry on that change.  We have the opportunity to help those around us in a time when bad news abounds and dreams are being dashed.  I’ll bet the pay off will far outweigh the cost of a few books and shipping.

Go ahead.  Give a book away.

Popularity: 9% [?]

A few weeks ago my friend @loyan asked me to post on why I promote the Ning community tool.  I have been using Ning.com for a couple of years now as a community proponent and connector to help individuals, organizations and companies gather their tribe and give them the tools to build networks.

Over the years we have all seen situations that call for communication and connectivity within a group.  Whether you went to a conference or needed information on a special interest, you probably have had the opportunity to join a web forum.  These sites worked great for simple idea sharing, but they were very limited in scope and usability.  It was difficult to post a video, and your information page was limited to a few links to your webpage and text.  Also, on forums there is a tendency for individuals to hide behind avatars and screen names, taking away from transparency and authentic community participation.

So why do I use Ning? Here are a few of the reasons:

Great tools for admins and members:

Along came the Ning platform.  With Ning a site administrator/leader can easily give their tribe all the tools that they need to build a thriving community.  Ning has integrated video, WUSIWYG (what you see is what you get), chat rooms, extensive profile page customization and tools, as well as ways for groups to form within the site.

Promoting new sites:

When you create a community site, Ning keeps a badge at the bottom showing the site creator’s picture, and a link encourages others to create their own communities.  There have been cases where clients have asked if we should remove the link.  My answer is no.  Keep that control in the hands of those in the community.  Building your own simple site is simple and fast.  If you need to take it to a higher level you can come to us.

Website integration:

Ning has built their platform in a way that allows communities to build their site with the built in features using the Ning provided skins.  Users can go a few steps further by tweaking the css code, paying premium services to remove ads, and linking to a designated domain. Ning has also allowed advanced editing and programming access to firms like us.  We are able to take a client’s Ning site and fully integrate it into their current website.

Ning just keeps getting better every day with new features.  Just this week they released an app that allows for event registration within a community site. Check Ning out for yourself and give your tribe a place to connect, share, and grow.

I am curious about your reasons for using Ning.  Please feel free to add them as comments.

Popularity: 8% [?]