Community "Group Therapy"

Ok, I have decided after one week that I will be switching off of Windows Live Spaces.  Please go to my new location at www.communitygrouptherapy.com and subscribe to my feed to continue to keep up.  Sorry for the switch, but I thought better to do this sooner than later.  Look for a post there soon on why I decided to make the change.

 

Convincing the Unconverted, Part 4 published at new location.

 

Here's the new feed:

 

Thanks!

Sean

I stumbled across this today and thought I'd share the link as it related to my most recent post.  Have a look, tell me what you think.

 

 

Sean

In my last post, I introduced the topic of “convincing the unconverted on communities.”  I started with technique #1:  The Analogy.

Today, I thought I’d talk about: “Fear by Example.”

#2  Fear by Example

Anyone trying to win this debate in their organization should read the book Wikinomics (www.wikinomics.com).  I think the authors do a great job articulating this approach. 

Wikinomics quote:

“…2006 was the year when the programmable web eclipsed the static web every time:  flickr beat webshots; Wikipedia bead Britannica; Blogger bean CNN; Epinions beat Consumer-reports; Upcoming beat evite; Google Maps beat MapQuest; MySpace beat friendster; and craigslist beat Monster.”

“What was different?  The losers launched web sites, the winners launched vibrant communities.  The losers built walled gardens.  The winners build public squares.  The losers innovated internally.  The winners innovated with their users.  The losers jealously guarded their data and software interfaces.  The winners shared them with everyone.”

While I’m not totally in agreement with all the examples raised by the authors, I think the overall point is right.  Those who engage their users will be rewarded and those who don’t will fail.  So, it’s not about the opportunity presented by communities, but creating fear of failure if you don’t join “the social.”  The world, your users and your competitors will move on without you.

No industry is immune.  Take the following recent press release from Nike:  http://www.nike.com/nikebiz/news/pressrelease.jhtml?year=2007&month=02&letter=a

Quotes from CEO Mark Parker:

“As the market leader, we have the ability and the responsibility to take the industry and our partners to a new and better place,” said Nike Inc. President and CEO Mark Parker. “The ability to connect with consumers is the single most important competitive advantage in our industry today. Nobody does this better than Nike. Our vision is clear. I’ve never been more excited about our opportunities.”  

“In today’s world, power has shifted away from traditional brand growth models to growth driven by the power of consumers,” Parker said. “No one is better positioned than Nike to take advantage of this. We will drive growth and build shareholder value by embracing the power of the consumer and creating a new marketplace.”

The story goes on to say:

“The Internet will get more attention for building a community for consumer to make them feel more connected to the company and the sports it supplies,” … “You’ll see that move from a bit of a hobby for Nike to a massive commitment.”  

This is a good time in our group therapy for you to share your fears or related stories.  

Next Technique:  “The Data/Evidence approach”

Sean

One of the issues that has challenged community enthusiasts inside traditional corporate structures is over-coming the lack of understanding of the implications of the shift from the publish/browse web to a participation web.  Let's face it, most of those that control prioritization decisions, investment decisions, risk management decisions and strategy decisions are at this point inexperienced in the “social.”  A colleague of mine even suggested they were “too old” to even get it…and by too old I think he meant over 25!!  Ok, I’m 37 (very soon) so maybe I should take some offense, but at the same time, I’ve made a big effort to understand it…the exaggeration might not be that far off. 

So, given that we can’t roll back their clocks, a common challenge is how to make it visceral for them.  You have to accept that this is not their problem, but your problem.  Realistically, no single approach is always successful, but I thought I’d share some of mine in hopes you might share some of yours – all can be effective, the edge is in knowing how and when to use each based on your audience or the type of resistance you are experiencing. 

There are several approaches I use and over the next several days, I’ll try to explain them here.  I’ll start with what I call “The Analogy.”

#1:  The Analogy:  I use this one A LOT, especially in scenarios where I know the gap is really pure understanding.  Nearly everyone has benefited from community, but we often try to talk about it so specific to our area of business interest, that it just doesn’t resonate.  I have 3 examples I use a lot.  They are each specifically designed to appeal in different ways (hobby, personal transactions, and a non-standard selection).

·          BBQing (hobby) – This was really the first example I ever used.  One of my hobbies (obsessions according to my wife) is BBQing.  I won’t get into the passions that surround debate on this subject here, but be assured they are as strong and deep as any topic I’ve ever seen.  So, here’s the story – and yes, it is 100% true (these must be for it to work).  A few years ago, my wife bought me a BBQ for Christmas, technically a smoker (www.cookshack.com).  One of the first things I did was go online to register the product.  I immediately discovered an online community hosted at the site.  By the end of the day, I was reading post after post from a guy named “smokin’ okie.”  I was lurking like crazy all the time (and slowly starting to post).  As the months went by, I didn’t really give this a lot of thought relative to my day job on communities at Microsoft.  But, one day it hit me.  I was using this BBQ WAY more frequently than the average person uses a BBQ.  I was buying accessories for it.  I was recommending it to others (I can name 5 people I recommended it to who now own one).  I was using it in non-standard ways – things you won’t read in the manual (by the way, this really builds loyalty as you’re not sure you could do it with a competitor.)  It also dawned on me that my motivations for being in that community were very diverse.  I sought recipes, trouble shooting, tips and tricks, product recommendations, social connections, and on and on – I was really forming relationships.  Since then, that cookshack has become a center piece of a full outdoor kitchen I had built to extend my addiction to bbqing.  So, how did this relate to Microsoft for me?  Well, let me tell you, software and computers are not a lot different than BBQing.  What does every company want?  They want you to use their products more.  They want you to use a richer set of its features and capabilities.  They want you to add onto it.  They want you to recommend it and they want it to become a focal point in your life.  It’s really the dream scenario – if communities could do that for me with BBQ, couldn’t we do the same with software – another topic with massive passions!!  Now, don’t use BBQing (unless it’s true for you), but do figure out what your “bbq story” is.  What you are trying to do is create a vivid story that helps others discover their own story – then you’ve got them.

·          Buying a camera (personal transaction) – This one is simpler, but I think equally effective as most people can relate to the process.  Here’s the story.  10 years ago most people bought cameras the same way.  They went to the camera shop and the person behind the counter was an “expert” (relative to you the shopper) and that sales person held massive influence over what you bought.  Actually, many manufacturers spent lots of money on channel training, shelf placement, spiffs, etc to help move their products.  Yes, we had consumer reports, but on the whole, I think the approach above is true for the masses.  Today, how do we buy a camera?  Well, if we go into a store at all, we likely know as much or more as the person behind the counter (high quality/specialty stores not withstanding).  We already went to www.amazon.com or www.cnet.com or … and we read user reviews.  We’ve been to communities to read and listen to others.  We trust the voice of other users far more than the mfg or channel – other users are like us after all and they are unbiased (we assume).  Often time, we better understand our peers as well.  What did I hate about my last digital camera?  When I pushed the button to get the picture, the delay often meant I missed the shot.  Do I even know about shutter speed?  If I go to the camera web site, I just see performance data – no context really that I can understand.  Nothing like reading posts from other users who hated the same thing with their prior camera and now are happy with <insert product>.  In fact, it’s in this scenario where I wonder why we go to a manufacturer web site at all?  Don’t I know what it says without going (easy to use, low cost, flexible, powerful, fast, great support, etc, etc, etc)?  Isn’t that roughly what all web sites say?  What’s useful for me is the conversations with other users.  In fact, “why would anyone build a website without hosting user to user conversations” would be my close to this example? 

·          American Idol (non-standard) – I admit, I’m sucked into this show a little.  I also admit it is the first several weeks when everyone is terrible that I really like it – especially the ones who actually think they are good and are really brutal.  But, isn’t AI just another type of “community” delivered through network television (definitely managed – but none the less true I think).  It is all about user generated content and participation in the voting.  Imagine the relative cost of producing a 1 hr episode of AI vs a 1 hr episode of 24 or Lost?  What a great idea!  Not to mention, they just monetized what was once an immensely expensive process – talent discovery.

What are your favorite analogies??

Next technique: "Fear by example"

Sean

Speaking of connecting community and business/brand awareness...I thought this was on the plus side of kinda cool...what do you think?  RFID tied to an online profile delivering a local, personalized greeting.  Lots of extensions to this sort of idea when you think about how they could customize the service center or speed up the process of dropping off for service calls.

 

Anyone here have a mini?  What do you think?  Full story:

 

 

For the past year or two I've maintained a private "community site" exclusively for reaching a private community.  I've resisted moving to a purely public blog, but I've tired of the constraints of a private, by definition more limited, conversation.  Like most bloggers, I think I fear two things most about this:  1)  No one cares, and 2)  Failure to commit the time, energy and ideas to keeping it fresh.  So, with that opening, let me begin.

 

Let me start with the what put me over the edge to launch this blog.  I've worked on communities for the last few years for Microsoft.  Now, to be fair, there are MANY people who work on communities at Microsoft and in many different capacities (a community in and of itself).  As this blog evolves, I hope to not only increase the clarity of what my specific role is at Microsoft, but hopefully introduce you to others that can add to these conversations.  The short version of my work is as the global leader for the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional award program (www.microsoft.com/mvp).  Recently, this charter has grown to include how we should think about the intersection of communities and the support experience for Microsoft products.  Now, this blog is not an advertisement for that program or Microsoft.  I'm certain I will talk about these areas as the work there has greatly influenced and informed how I think about communities - so complete seperation is impossible.  That said, I want to be clear that this blog is not an official Microsoft page and represents no opinions but my own (and I suppose those of you that may post here). 

 

One more note however that is fair - I did choose to use MSN Spaces as the host for this.  I did NOT choose MSN Spaces to demonstrate any particular loyalty to Microsoft (in fact my wife's blog is on Blogger.)  But, since I do work at Microsoft, I thought "eating our own dogfood" would be informative, so I'm going for it.  This isn't loyalty - it's self evaluation and if I don't like it...I'll let you know.

 

So, back to why I'm starting this now (and why I chose Community "Group Therapy" as a moniker).  About a year ago I began a process of trying to find and connect with some of my peers in other corporations working on community.  That effort culminated in a gathering this week of Community leaders from 14 pretty well known companies.  I won't "out them" here for sake of their privacy, but they may chose to do so on there own.  I will say the group included companies as diverse as consumer packaged goods, energy, media/entertainment, large retailers, transportation, and technology.  The point of this gathering (by design) was to gather individuals thinking about communities from across many different industries to really talk about the issues, challenges and passions for growing and contributing to communities.  I commented a few months ago to some colleagues, as we talked about doing this event, that I thought it might feel a lot like "group therapy."  Sort of a cleansing and debate on conflicts and challenges we deal with as faces of community within traditional corporate structures.  And indeed it was...

 

We debated some great topics: