1. I’m proud of the work I’m doing here.
2. I’m testing the Wistia video solution.

1. I’m proud of the work I’m doing here.
2. I’m testing the Wistia video solution.

And I can’t believe I’m reviewing Super Bowl ads before the Super Bowl.

If, Then works because…

It’s simple.  It’s focused.  It’s brilliant.  But when I woke up today, someone else had beat me to the punch and covered why:

The Power of Implementation Intentions

So here’s what you get instead…

Over the weekend, I thought I’d finally sign up for Pinterest and check it out.  I knew what it was before signing up, just had never seen any real value in it.  Given it’s popularity and the fact that I am sort of in the technology business with RETSO and all, I figured I should at least sign up and see for myself what I was missing.

My impression so far…

It is really possible to be too social in life.  And this coming from a guy who has been on social networks since day one.  I’ve tried hundreds of new social technologies and yet the last 2 I’ve tried have really left a sour taste.  Spotify and Pinterest are both way too social.  Before I could even set up my first Pinterest board, I had autofollowed dozens of people, received countless followers myself, plus recieved a text message and several facebook messages about my joining of Pinterest.  I had not even posted a single entry yet, geesh.

This concept of making every single experience in life as social as possible is ridiculous.

I’m not saying social is a bad idea, heck it’s actually essential for both personal and business growth today.  But I’d much prefer to earn my social credibility than gain gobs of attention and interest for just showing up.  This is probably the reason I prefer corners in a room crowded with people.  It’s why I’d rather find one or two quality people per party, networking event, conference, etc…  you can have the masses.

In conclusion…

I will keep my Pinterest account for a bit longer, because most of the damage is done for now.  But I did delete my Spotify account last week.  Yes, I know I could go in and change all the settings to make it a more private experience, but that puts work on me to craft an experience which seems counter to the software’s aim in life.  I’m not interested in swimming against the stream just to listen to music on my own terms.  There are just too many other options.
Pinterest better become amazing, else I’ll be deleting it soon as well.

Diffusion of Innovations is a theory that seeks to explain how, why, and at what rate new ideas and technology spread through cultures. Everett Rogers, a professor of rural sociology, popularized the theory in his 1962 book Diffusion of Innovations. He said diffusion is the process by which an innovation is communicated through certain channels over time among the members of a social system. The origins of the diffusion of innovations theory are varied and span multiple disciplines.

This morning I woke up with the Theory of Work on my mind.  I’m sure there has been research, studies, tests, etc… conducted but I thought I’d write before researching.  just using anecdotal evidence from my own experiences in life.  I came up with this on my whiteboard:

Your thoughts?

Which one do you thrive on?

However.
I find myself really into smaller, private social networks these days. Maybe it’s the deepening of friendships, scarcity of time, shift in values, or evolution of technology – most likely all of the above. But I think there is something to company’s focusing on building more ‘exclusivity’ into their products and services.

There is value in privacy.
I’m not saying companies should act like private clubs (although those do work well), but should allow their customers the ability to create their own exclusivity. Two services I’ve been using & enjoying lately have done a great job with just that.

Path & Givit
Both allow the user to craft personal and social content, then decide who to share it with. Of course, some of this can be done with Facebook and Google Plus, but those networks both feel aimed at the massive. Always trying to get you to share more. It’s nice to see companies doing just the opposite, encouraging people to share with less people.

Therefore.
Here’s the way I visualize my current activity on social networks:

Social Hierarchy.
Twitter is where I share the most with the widest audience. Anyone can follow me and I follow people I don’t really care about. It’s the lowest barrier to my social circles. Dunbar be damned.

Facebook is the network I’ve worked the most on this past year. Culling the friends count under 900 and trending towards 600-ish. If I’ve dumped you here, it’s because I’m working hard to focus attention on those closer to me and just don’t have time to do much beyond that. Follow me on Twitter if you want to just stalk me or have a casual social relationship.

Path is where the real privacy and exclusivity kicks in. If you haven’t been to my house or me to yours, then odds are we just aren’t close enough to connect on Path. It’s not personal, it’s very personal.

Why?
Because real friends & family in life suffer the most when social networks grow out of control. And they deserve better.

I felt proud.
April Groves shared a great message about kindness and the power it holds above anger, frustration, and cruelty. Her message is absolutely something I believe in. She was also kind enough to include me as an example.

Then reality slapped me.
Mark Goulston shared thoughts on the difference between Self-Esteem and Self-Confidence. He says, “Self-confidence is believing in your competence and your ability to do something, whereas self-esteem is believing in your goodness.” I think I have a lot of both, so I took his quick test.

I have work to do.
I scored a 22. Which was a great balance to being lifted up in April’s post. I’m honored she feels that way about me, but the fact that I took the time to write this silly blog post shows that I am still too selfish. The comments connected with my score confirm it. “You are under the belly of the bell shaped curve with the majority people. You could certainly improve, but you are also certainly a decent person.”

I must improve. Everything.

Connected Together.
Thanks to technology, as a population we are more connected to each other than ever before. Therefore everyone knows someone with some semblance of expertise or at least an opinion on just about every topic imaginable. Even better (or worse) we don’t even have to know anyone to get answers and information. We just turn to Google for that stuff. So who are the future authorities, trusted sources, or valuable resources in the information era?

The Question Askers.
Asking the right question, to the right person/resource, at the right time & place is a skill worth developing. In order to be a good service provider we must develop a skill that no machine will ever be able to master… empathy. I’ll be the first to admit that empathy has not been a strong suit of mine in the past. I now work daily to improve this skill.

A friend of mine shared an equation that has stuck with me for many months now:
Observation + Empathy = Insight
If you value real insight, we must first observe (define what it is), and then empathize (define why it is) before we can have eureka (true value/innovation/understanding/etc…).

Therefore.
I no longer seek to provide answers. I am working to ask my coworkers, my clients, my friends, & family the right questions. The ones they’d never think of on their own. The ones that involve emotion and purpose. The ones that are hard to google.

In closing.
My 3 year old has it figured out more than anyone else I know. He always asks… WHY?

But how will all this data be shared efficiently, effectively, accurately?
Enter Tangle.

Tangle is a new way to fuse interactive design, programming, and writing to make communication more transparent.  FastCo Design has a great article on the details of who made tangle, how, and why.

Okay Nerds.
You must want to see more.  Check out this example of turning brochure-speak into interactive analysis.  wow.  Interactive Infographics.  wow.

And for those still with me.
Let’s imagine a few cool uses for this type of programming…

1.  Financial Services.  wouldn’t it be nice to see the impact of rates, years, fees, etc… on every product?
2.  Real Estate.   ‘how’s the market’  just found interesting answers.
3.  Health.  counting calories, exercising, prescription analysis, etc… it all gets better.
4.  Social Media.  whatever that is.
5.  The World at Large.  If everything that can be measured, will be.  Then we’re going to need the future to be awesome as a means of coping with the data overload.