Blended business not for the cautious
July 13th, 2004 by Bill
Seth Godin’s recent two part post, Blended and it’s follow-up More On Blended, contain the most interesting musings on the state of business that I’ve seen for quite a while.
They describe the state of things as they are now: still in flux, still a nightmare for the cautious and tradition-bound. His most interesting comment, for me, is this:
It’s not the surface flash … It’s in how we follow through. It’s in the actions we take and the way we listen. It’s in keeping our promises and doing exactly what we say we’re going to do.
I would just add two thoughts. First, try as we might, sometimes we can’t follow through on our promises. Something goes haywire; some things are beyond our control. But if Seth is right (I think he is) and "…it’s in the interactions," it’s important to remember the key interaction is the human one. While the sale may screw-up, the honesty of the interaction with the customer, the admission of a mistake and apology, and the genuine effort to mitigate the problem for them, will be key to future dealings. It’s amazing what people will forgive when they are dealt with honestly. (On-going mistakes are, however, quite another thing.)
The second thought on all of this "blended" world is about staying on top of change. It is vital to be, at the very least, a lurker. Here, I mean lurker in the sense of someone who follows conversations online in social networks, chat rooms etc. I don’t mean it literally, however. While it’s even better if we’re engaged, at the very least it is important to take time out each day to scan blogs and other sites (and non-electronic formats) to see what ideas are current and what new ideas are gaining credibility.
Blogs are especially important since, as I believe Doc Searls has pointed out, innovation begins at the fringes. We can’t afford to get onboard after everyone else has - there won’t be any seats left.
There are both good things and bad things to the blended world described by Seth. While it is confusing and scarey, it is also tremendously exciting. And that’s what I like most about it. (And the really nice thing is that, blended or not, it still needs writers.)
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