Changing Perceptions, Not Reality

In The Past, Only Your Relevant Experience Is Relevant

(This was a post I wrote for TalentEgg. You can find the original article here)

“I agree and disagree. You only get as much out of an experience as you put into it…

Even if you have a McJob, try and do something innovative; if you see an inefficiency or a problem come up with a solution and present it to your manager. You never know what could happen.

Bottom Line:

Sometimes you have to get a McJob; Do your best and try to create a valuable experience for yourself.”

- Daniel Axler, TalentEgg’s operations and client services manager on Why I’m avoiding fast food jobs at all costs

My dad and I were having a conversation recently about what I want to do in my future and he was telling how my current state determines my future, but at the same time, it doesn’t.

He worked lots of odd jobs and did a lot of things that were irrelevant to his career but they were the building blocks to his future. They showed his determination and integrity, and even though it wasn’t related and wouldn’t help him in his future, it eventually paid big dividends in his life.

Right now, things are not as important as they seem and you should not be afraid to change; you are not a politician so no one will condemn you for it. What you are doing today does not determine your future.

What you MAKE of today does.

Chris Anderson of Wired didn’t start in business but moved into it from a background of science. Andreas Duess of Fisheye would not be in marketing if he never took an internship at a marketing firm.

What have we learned?

1. Our past does not matter as much as we once thought.
2. Any and all experience is relevant. (To a point)

My challenge to you:

Learn about something that is (seemingly) unrelated to your field of study or work and see how you can apply to what you are doing right now.

Connect with some unusual people and try something new because you will never know how you can use it in your future.

If you think reading books, blogs and following news only in your industry of interest will give you and advantage and be able to think better, you are wrong. You will be inside the box and reading the same thing as everyone else.

Put your feet in someone else shoes and step outside of your comfort zone.

The Diffusion Of Knowledge

I finally got some time to write again, you can thank the hiatus to York University, but some good has come out of it in a very unexpected way…

One of my classes called The Modern Age: Shapers and Definers has been tackling what Modernity is and what it is not and what this means for us. Ironically enough our study of the ‘Modern Age’ started in the 1650′s. (Looking at our past shows us our future so I am going some where with this). Our first (of fifteen!) books is, On Crimes and Punishment by Cesare Beccaria and translated by David Young, is really interesting read on how law and freedom should coexist.

My favourite quote from the text comes near the end of the treatise where he says, “The evils that come from knowledge decline with its diffusion…”.

Just as this quote was true in 1764 its relevancy has only become amplified in the Digital age that we now live in where both the access and quality of information that we have at our fingertips has dramatically increased.

The top-down system of the past in areas such as information, media and thought are no longer true. We live in a time know that many have dubbed a ‘knowledge economy’ where knowledge is abundant and readily available to all those that seek it.

Large institutions and organizations of the TV industrial complex have less power and less control than they use to. The difference between those in power and those that are not is empowerment. Some one or some thing has empowered them.

Knowledge is power.

This ‘diffusion’ of knowledge has empowered everyone.

Everyone can, and should, share their knowledge and anyone can go and find knowledge. You now have no excuse for ignorance and no excuse for not gathering all the facts and making your own interpretations. Beccaria wanted people to think rationally for them-self and challenge what they have been taught all their life.

Now the business applications.

1. Make a great product. (People do not talk about average things)

2. Teach and empower people with your knowledge. (Knowledge, NOT information about you, your product or company because no one cares about you.)

3. Encourage people to share their knowledge. (You cannot tell people what to do with this power because they are self-interested, so make you share in THEIR best interests)

Knowledge and the Internet has turned the gravity that forces information down upon us has been turned off.

We Need To Build A Better Web.

I was listening to a great TED Talk by Rebecca Saxe and I was fascinated by her work but when I went to her website I found that there was no easy way to follow her studies and developments. This no longer needs to be the case because what what has happened online.

She is just one of many of interesting people that still have not jumped on the Social Media and Self-Publishing bandwagon. Herein lies the problem, quantity has skyrocketed and quality has, at best, stayed the same. (I include myself in the mass generalization)

We do not need more businesses to ‘get-it’, we need more people to. Business go where the people are and the mass majority of people still are not in digital spaces.

So, if businesses go where the people are we need to bring the people online and the business will follow. This is a win-win for corporations and Digital Marketing Agencies alike.

What if we came together are tried to get more people using Twitter and Facebook and in more useful ways, then it will be easier to pitch to corporations as to why they need to be online.

Win-win.

Everything about the web needs to be better, faster and easier to use for both consumers and producers so we can be purposefully connected.

Traditional media still plays a big role in our world because it is easier to use than its online counter parts. Buying a newspaper and turning on a TV is still faster and easier to consume than finding accurate, authoritative content online and keeping all of this content organized and accessible.

We do not need more blogs about marketing, social media or technology. We need better blogs and better ways to interact with them. By taking away the friction that comes along with going digital and by making it more useful while making it easier to use will make it more popular overall. People go, business follows

Maybe we should leave the comfort of our browsers and reach people not in front of a computer screen. Social Media has to be evangelized in the trenches, on the streets, in the cubicles, on the radio, in magazines, and in newspapers.

Maybe our ‘target’ and our ‘problem‘ is not what we think it is.

Six Pixels of Separation by Mitch Joel

Cover of Six Pixels of Separation by Mitch Joel

Mitch Joel released his book, Six Pixels of Separation today and I am very excited. I have not had the chance to pick up a copy and read it but as soon as I do I will post a review up here.
I have been following social media for quite some time but have purposely neglected to read any and all books about social media so this will be my first and that makes me all the more excited.

Just like I am you need to go out and buy copies of this book.

You can get more information here: http://www.twistimage.com/book/

The BEST Entrepreneur EVER!

Stand By Your Opinion. Be Controversial.

Stories like this one about the US Audi  President calling volt owners ‘idiots’ and then claiming to not remember the statement really irritates me.

Really?

If you are going to be controversial, and if you are going to pick a side be ready to stand by your decision. If you regret it at least own up to the fact that you said and you are an idiot for saying it.

No one cares about the middle ground. Life is lived, and opinions are formed on the fringes. Apple fanboy’s live on the fringes.

You are never going to be right no matter what side you choose because the opposite side has valid points. Your side has flaws. All that matters is that you are willing to choose a side.

As idiotic as I think Glenn Beck and Bill O’Reilly are people talk about them because they picked a side and stuck to it through controversy.

Don’t be afraid to make your opinion known. Don’t be afraid to change your mind. People learn and as they learn their opinions may change. We all do it. Don’t be afraid to admit you were wrong.