Category: think

Working Yourself Out Of A Job (And Other Bold Public Statements)

Do Something That Matters

In two years time I will no longer be the Social Media Manager for CORE Education.

It’s not due to a limited budget or a time-specific contract but making a public statement like the one above focusses intent. Creates an end. A cut off point. A window to get things done.

Of course there’s danger in this. The idea that in two years time my approach would have succeeded, all the tasks will be completed and the organisation will be social media superheros, one and all (especially in this fluid space), is a bold forecast.

The reason for this strategy can be summed up in one word: sustainability.

Some of you will be old enough to remember working in places which had ‘typing pools’. A group of (usually) women whose soul task all day was to type unending letters and transcribe recordings of meetings from others.

With the advent of cheaper technology/software, the distribution of these new tools plus the burgeoning rise of professional development in the workplace, meant typing became a skill which quickly dissolved into expectation and one which now isn’t even questioned.

Social media managers are typists. A function which will soon become obsolete as the understanding of tools/platforms, adoption of practises and their execution become commonplace.

Any approach has to have a sustainable core and a comprehension that the measure of success is not how awesome my job is but how awesome I make other peoples jobs (through their elevated appreciation and use of social media).

This is what matters.

And I have two years to do it.

How much time have you given yourself?

Wisdom from Hugh MacLeod.
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What Does A Social Media Manager Do…?

“The best leaders… almost without exception and at every level, are master users of stories and symbols.”
Tom Peters

The above just got sent out to the 100 or so employees of CORE Education as an attempt to introduce their new social media manager and my approach to the role (YouTube version).

Like any newbie I’ve been busy for the past month acting like a sponge, taking it all in, finding out who’s who, where are the opportunities, the needs, the toilets, and stuff like that. Now it’s time to earn my wage.

This morning I presented the above to the exec team along with other initial ideas of social media adoption, exploration and management. One of the things they agreed was allowing me to share on this blog the whole development and implementation phases of what I’m doing here, the likes of which will include :

  • baselining—creating a clear benchmark plus track and review process of social media activity and its impact relative to the overall aims and goals (quantifiably and qualitatively plus some other big words)
  • gamified training—skilling up the employees in a funky, systematic way (using game theory as a model)
  • ambassadorial networks—finding and establishing champions and creating hubs of knowledge around them (especially relevant as our colleagues work nationally across nearly 30 different geographical locations)
  • creating a social permaculture—basically working myself out of a job in the next two years whilst ensuring sustainability
  • productising our approach—hoping to transfer the learning and successes across to MediaSnackers at some point to package and sell on further

Over the coming months this is what will appear here and would love to hear from you, especially if you’re a new or established social media manager, head of digital content, director of educational technologies, online communication leads, chief bloggers etc. on your approach, pitfalls, mistakes and successes. Does the above sound like a good ‘start’?

Big thanks to the picture takers : plindberg, cousinali, vatobob, jb-london, x-ray_delta_one, kurtxio, azrainman, andrewmorrell, simonehudson, melissaadret, redroom, rosauraochoa, neilrickards, olpc, dantaylor, torley, birgerking, _fabrizio_, booleansplit, 40006794@N02, 94801434@N00, findyoursearch, markwalker, pip_r_lagenta, ref, gareth1953, jaako, 25023895@N02, ryanr, bossco, chrisdlugosz.
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The Gates Foundation | Inspiring The Grant Givers

gatesfoundation

This time last week I was in Seattle delivering some social media goodness to the Education programme team at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

I presented for 90mins on the shift of the media landscape (with particular attention to young people) and explored how social creates many opportunities to engage with a wider audience. After that I lead a 90mins roundtable with the senior exec team to talk strategy adoption, and finally a half days training to about thirty of the staff (at their newly opened campus).

The feedback was positive:

It was a good day.

There was lots of discussion with individuals / groups about how they could use some of the ideas / platforms directly in their work—here’s a few of the ‘big’ ideas shared :

  • it’s more reveal than conceal—a challenge to share the process not product of the organisations endeavours;
  • be human—the brand is so well known it has a danger of becoming faceless through some of its communication;
  • engage—I challenged them to think about the following : what if all you could do was comment on other content out there (adding weight and value to it) rather than creating your own? This would in part enable more directive messaging plus leave lots of digital breadcrumbs;
  • play—how, as an organisation, are they creating the time and space to learn by stealth

Obviously, all of the above could apply to many sectors / organisations / brands.

Personally, the biggest takeaway was that size doesn’t matter when it comes to exploring the social landscape. Sure, the context is slightly different between clients but the aims and mechanics are the same. It comes down to one thing, your appreciation and insight to anything is greater increased if you become an active user rather than a passive observer.

My function is to either move people closer to that outcome and / or lower the barrier to entry (based on their attitudes and ideas to embracing it).

It was an stupendously humbling experience to work with a collective with brains / pedigrees the size of planets and here’s hoping I get a return invite…

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Reach Beyond Your Grasp

make something awesome

The following message I wrote to myself after a thirteen hour flight from LA to Auckland, just after 6am in the morning and still digesting the fact I had just emigrated to the other side of the planet…

“It’s time to to be the humble-peaceful-hungry-for-life-warrior you deserve to be; this is the place to become that bonfire and dare the world to put you out!

To be open to new experiences, to give people all the goodness you have, to treat smiles as the currency needed and to challenge yourself to always reach further than your grasp.

Be mindful of your actions (and others) and their intents. Be graceful and aim to make others shine (even if it dulls your own talents).

Above all, make people think / smile.”

Image taken during a tour of the Googleplex
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