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Apr 07 2010

Building Social Networks of Trust and the Challenges of Dysfunctional Teamwork

[This post is a response to Steve Woodruff's post: Out of the Bud, into the Flower]

Steve, you nailed it here "how we can transform people and society and business using new tools and approaches."

And assembling the like-minded folks to build the co-operative network of the git-r-dun future is all about social, all about business, and mostly about TRUST. Chris Brogan may have put the term squarely in the social media consciousness, but Pat Lincioni in his massive work The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team really nailed the problem/opportunity of working in teams.

The core foundation of a team, any team (virtual or localized), is Trust. Without Trust we cannot argue effectively. Without Trust we don't venture new ideas that might be shot down. Without Trust we might not get PAID.

In the year since I left Dell to charge after all things social I continue to believe we need a "wuffie" scale, or some way of calculating someone's Trust Karma. LinkedIn profiles and endorsements are good, and a person's social media participation is better, but the BEST indicator of someone's TEAM VALUE is a personal connection to someone who has worked with that person before.

As we go more and more global and more virtual with teams we will never assemble in the same room, EVER, we have to work harder to become trustworthy. We have to deliver on our promises. Launch when we say we are going to launch. Show up for meetings on-time and prepared.

When someone who has worked with you for 15 years recommends you for a new position at a company, or as part of a team, that is the highest endorsement you can get. Over the course of your relationship with this person, they have seen you challenged, most likely they have seen you fail, and more than anything they have seen you earn your Trust stripes.

And when you have that connection, when you have that Trust with someone, the endorsements and opportunities to work with them and with people in their networks is exponential.

So what can we do to build a better network of Trust Agents? What's the platform for Trust? I'm working to find out, and hoping that all of us are successful at creating our own path to Trust and Success.

Thanks for the spark.

@jmacofearth
permalink: http://bit.ly/trust-nets

Related Topics on Uber.la:

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Mar 03 2010

Why Google BUZZ Does NOT Matter: 3 Reasons to "Turn Off Buzz."

image: google buzz inside G-Mail - what's the value?

[3-4-10: It's been 20 days since I looked in my Google Buzz folder. Am I missing something? What? Now, if you want to jump on a WAVE with me, I'm all fingers and toes.]

How Even the Mighty Google Fails Sometimes. Maybe you can call me Anti-Buzz, or Buzz-Kill, but I am not excited about Buzz at all. Here's why:

Can you tell me one thing Buzz does BETTER than the other tools available? We talked about it at a company dinner last night (and these are smart social media-y kinda folks) and nobody could say why BUZZ was even interesting. Three points of interest might be:

1. Google-always-does-killer-apps? Nah. 2. Plugs into G-mail? Not that interesting. 3. Has a fantastic mobile app? Er… No. I can't wait until the first person asks me, "Did you get my Buzz?" I savor the moment.

So what if these are the struggling throws of a fumbling giant? Google! So strong, so innovative, launching all these pet projects that have no integration and no coherence with one another. How does WAVE tie to Buzz. How does Orkut or Jaiku or Google Profile for that matter, have ANY connection or benefit from a BUZZ link?

Okay, so if I sound frustrated, it's because I am. Buzz is a big miss! We are spending valuable resources and time trying to figure out why we need another tool that really doesn't do much beyond the tools we have.

At Dell, the story goes, when Michael Dell looked at the prototypes of Dell's 2008 entry into the MP3 player market, he asked, "What does it do that the iPod doesn't?"

I think the Google developers need to ask themselves the same question. "How does this tool/project/platform/service provide something that does not exist? Or at the very least, "How does this product kick butt over the other products available?"

When the answer comes up "I dunno!" Perhaps even mighty Google should pause and ask, "Is this product going to move the Google Brand, the Google Application Suite, forward?"

As the Goo-Giant lumbers forward, even BING is getting some love because we kinda want Microsoft to return to some sense of sanity. I mean many of us depend on Windows products to make a living.

Score some HUGE wins for Google: Voice, Sync, Apps, Chrome (browser), Android.

Score some BONERS for Google: WAVE, Buzz, Orkut.

And a few TBD for Google: Caffeine, Real-time search integration, Twitter indexing.

So I'd like to see Google did what Apple did for their Snow Leopard update to OS X. No new features only FASTER, MORE STABLE, and REFINEMENTS. Imagine.

Here's how my G-mail tab looks now that I've killed Buzz.

Screen shot 2010 02 11 at 6.30.29 PM Why Google BUZZ Does NOT Matter: 3 Reasons to Turn Off Buzz.

And here's the link I clicked to kill it: "turn off buzz" will be a trending topic more than "turn on buzz" as shown below.

Screen shot 2010 02 11 at 6.31.36 PM Why Google BUZZ Does NOT Matter: 3 Reasons to Turn Off Buzz.

@jmacofearth
permalink: http://bit.ly/why-buzz

Product Review News: Looks into Buzz for a Clue

Yesterday's Anti-Buzz Rant from Uber.la: What's the BUZZ Tell Me What's Happening with Facebook vs Google Buzz?

Update and push back from some: Why Google Buzz is Brilliant by Christopher S. Penn.

google buzz with chris brogan and christopher s penn

And my response:

Okay, I'll be happy to disagree with this one Chris. It's not that I don't like where you are going with your post here, but I think the process of "pruning back hard" is important on Facebook and Twitter and not just a part of adding yourself (or not adding yourself) to the buzz. You are spot on about the clatter and churn washing up within social networks. Even LinkedIN is getting kind of spammy, don't you think? So what are we to do? Join the Buzz-wagon?

I think what we must do, on whatever networks we happen to be fond of, is cut back against the spammers. Box off the trolls. Delete the snipers. Use apps like Disqus to silence the cr*p that makes it across all of our blogs today as "conversation."

There are awesome tools to help you cull your spammers on Twitter. I am sure there will be similar apps for Facebook and perhaps Buzz. But the problem is not solved by adding a new app, the problem is solved by behaving in a new way. By building better habits, purging our "followers" and not just the ones we follow we get more REAL with the social part of the networking.

I love seeing the picture above of you guys. See Brogan is a workin Geek like the rest of us. Sometimes his writing is so damn good, and his approach is so damn real, I forget he's just sittin at the table trying to do better like the rest of us. Rock On CB! And Rock on CSP!

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Jan 03 2010

Twitter Killed, Long Live the Statusphere: Why the 10% Solution will Fail

dead tweet Twitter Killed, Long Live the Statusphere: Why the 10% Solution will FailI have not been kind in my assessment of Twitter the Company. While I love "tweets:" the concept of short open/public IM updates, I have no love of twitter.com or the fail whale cycling. For all the trumpting of Twitter's value, and how they turned down uber-billions from Facebook, I don't think Twitter the Company is a winning investment. Here's why:

  • No one company can OWN a format, or messaging protocol.
  • Only 10% of Twitter's server load is a result of people actually using Twitter's site.
  • There is nothing unique about a 140c text message.
  • Twitter has not figured out how to make ANY MONEY. (Exhibit a: Executweets; b: "Verified"; c. ad revenue model)
  • Twitter does not have any control over tweeting. (Exhibit: a. Twitter's new ReTweet funtionality vs RT; b. managing followers and friends via a 20-user-per-page interface; c. fail whale sightings continue)
  • Google has very few fail whales with G-mail. (Imagine if g-mail had a 5% "unable to connect" reputation.)
  • If you could export and import your TWEET-centric addresses into a more stable system, that worked exactly the same but more reliably, would you?
  • Is the brand of Twitter positive or negative?
  • Is anyone making money by Tweeting? (besides DellFactoryOutlet and Chris Brogan)

So let's start with the  term "microblogging." Rather than blogging, and actually rather than TWITTER.COM (as a company) the concept of sending out 140 character messages to your friends, colleagues and families is not new. Yes Twitter put some of the process into a nice package, gave the "update" a public brand and identity with the likes of Oprah and Aston and Robert Scoble. But the idea that Twitter will OWN the "update" infrastructure is one that will be dismantled this year. (2010)

What we know of as Twitter, and fondly referred to as the Twittersphere, will become something more clearly described as the STATUSPHERE. While Google WAVE didn't exactly rock the world, the shots have been fired over Twitter's bow. Without a clear revenue model, what will keep us going back to Twitter.com for anything?

There are apps and websites that do Twitter much better than Twitter. And a lot of the "improvements" the Twitter execs and designers try to make are rejected by the users. Just as Google can't OWN email, Twitter.com and Twitter the Company will not OWN the Statusphere. They will own Twitter.com and a proud trophy in the history books of social media in the late 2000s. And maybe folks will still continue to use Twitter the Company's services in 2011, but my guess is there will be better funded, better designed and better monetized "status" applications.

Perhaps the WAVE v2!

@jmacofearth
permalink: http://bit.ly/dead-twitter

Poking at Twitter from the beginning:


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Jan 03 2010

Just Click It: 1-3-10 (Sunday Lazy Sunday)

Category: just click it (links),social mediajmacofearth @ 6:41 pm

twitter types infographic, guy kawasaki, twitterTomorrow is the first work day for many of us in the new year. wOOt! I anticipate that I am heading into the best year of my career. A new job that is supported by good business models, good clients, growth and people I really like working with. The decade is out of the gates folks. Let's make it a better one.

7 Creative and Interesting Infographics about Twitter
With over 54 million users worldwide and close to 7 billion tweets being posted, Twitter is the world’s most popular micro-blogging platform, fueled by smartphones and online bursts of 140 characters. 2009 is the year of Twitter. It soared to lofty heights over the past year, all thanks to the active presence of celebrities such as Ashton Kutcher and Oprah Winfrey. The San Francisco-based Internet company isn’t a social networking website like Facebook or MySpace. Instead, the main focus of Twitter is about real-time information of the things you care about — work, industry, company, news.

Examples of online communities in the TV industry
There is a lot of talk about the way ‘old’ and ‘new’ media combine – how newspapers are using Twitter and how television broadcasters and production companies are working with online media. So this week we take a look specifically at examples of online communities in the TV industry

Why Twitter Will Endure
I can remember when I first thought seriously about Twitter. Last March, I was at the SXSW conference, a conclave in Austin, Tex., where technology, media and music are mashed up and re-imagined, and, not so coincidentally, where Twitter first rolled out in 2007. As someone who was oversubscribed on Facebook, overwhelmed by the computer-generated RSS feeds of news that came flying at me, and swamped by incoming e-mail messages, the last thing I wanted was one more Web-borne intrusion into my life.

Apple iSlate specifications revealed
We have just received some images of what seem to be internal Apple documents, revealing the Apple iSlate specifications. And what specs these are! A 7.1-inch multitouch display with fingerprint-resistant coating, 2.26GHz Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB DDR3 RAM, 120GB hard drive, built-in projector… actually you can check the list yourselves. We cannot be sure if that information is to be trusted, but if we are lucky enough… boy, won’t the iSlate just rock?!

Design a Light WordPress Theme in Photoshop
In this tutorial I will create a new wordpress theme with a web 2.0 look. Sometimes the simplicity of the theme will bring you more readers. The light wordpress themes seams to keep your readers more on your blog.  From my experience is very important to create a good place for your readers to find quality content on a well designed theme.

Lenovo unveils ThinkPad design with AMD chips
The addition of AMD Neo chips to the ThinkPad family will let Lenovo offer lower price points, the company said. "ThinkPads running on chips from Intel Corp will still be offered."

10 Ways to Get Serious About Social Media
If this is your year to buckle down and tackle a social media strategy, it’s time to get serious. The time for oohing and ahhing is rapidly drawing to a close, and instead your efforts have to become about practical, methodical application. Here’s 10 ways to get serious about social media this year.

How to re-negotiate with your customers — and not lose a single one
“When I was at BuildOnline (my first company) and things went ‘pear shaped’ we called all of our customers and said, ‘I know that we signed contracts with you. The reality is that the market has changed and I need to change to the new realities. We committed to product features. I can’t ship those as promised. I’m sorry. Do you like our product & service? Yes? Ok, thank you. Listen, I know that if you like what we do then you’ll want a healthy supplier/partner.

Top 9 Internet memes of 2009 (msnbc says)
Ima let you finish reading this year-end list, but … Last September, Kanye “CAPS LOCK” West brought the nuttiness previously reserved for his Web site on stage at the MTV Video Music Awards. Crashing Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech for Best Female Video 2009, the hip-hop auteur took the microphone from Swift’s hands and issued the words that made him the most hated man of all time. Ever.

Hate to pop your so cool Apple tablet hot air bubble but …
I’ve pretty much tried to stay out of this whole Apple fanboy daisy-chain lovefest over the possibility of some super duper tablet being announced this month. Except Robert Scoble just had to go and add his two cents worth about the glory that will soon be in our shaking hands (emphasis is mine).

Use GoToMyPC  (or Mac) Only After You Have Read This
Although I love GoToMyPC and use it every single day when I am traveling to connect to my home and work PC, there are a couple of things I wish I knew before I started using it! In all fairness, I still would have ended up using GoToMyPC, every bit as much as I do today, but it’s not something the company or anybody points out to you.

A new consultant mentoring program
As we go into 2010 I am planning on launching a consultant mentoring program by the end of the first quarter. This would be aimed at anybody who sells, markets or executes B2B services or products.

Ten things thou shalt not tweet
A funny, cautionary webcomic: Ten things you need to stop tweeting about.

Never Stop at a Gas Station Again
That would be how it works if you drove an electric vehicle. Your refueling would be done in the garage at your house, in a parking space at work, at the places you shop and dine.

A Ponzi scheme that works
The greatest strength of America is that people want to live there.

Social Media – Popular Sites to Consider: Get Connected in 2010
Social media is here to stay! The days of gossiping around the water cooler at the office have morphed into texting friends, family and business associates from any and every location. There has been a virtual explosion in the amount of people using the social media platforms available on the web.

13 resolutions for social media in 2010
What would a new year be without resolutions? Here’s what some pals of sOCial sunday told us they’d be working on with social media in 2010 …

You Should Attend Social Media Jungle in Las Vegas
I just realized that I am not going to be flying into Las Vegas in time to honor my speaking gig at Social Media Jungle, put on by Jeff Pulver. But I am not getting in until about seven hours after I was supposed to go onstage. For some reason, I thought everything was on the 7th, but then, I have calendar problems without lots of help from Diane (and I hadn’t run this event through her, so I blew it, yet again).

@jmacofearth
permalink: http://bit.ly/just-click-it-6

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Next Page »


social media innovation group

future posts

A Collaborative Space: WebEx, Go-To-Meeting, Skype, Basecamp (Teaming/Meeting Tools)
Twitter Problem: How do you find enough interesting people to follow? Then how do you keep up with them?
The Agile Mind: Construction, Evolution, Care, and Feeding Instructions for Mental Flexibility

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