Today’s Economy is No Place for Control Freaks
I had a driveway moment this morning in the Panera parking lot. I was just about to turn the ignition off when Scott Simon (NPR Weekend Edition Host) mentioned that his next interview was going to be with Jared Cohen, the State Department’s point person on social media and youth issues. This interview took place in Mexico City, where Jared is currently at the Alliance of Youth Movement Summit. So there I sat…driveway moment. And I got my payoff toward the end of the interview with this quote from Jared Cohen:
“The 21st Century is a bad time to be a control freak.”
Every business owner needs to take heed of these very wise words because this has been unfolding for at least the last ten years and the world wide web has woven itself into every minute of our lives.
As much as you might be afraid of social media and it’s fractious nature, the level of connectivity that social media tools provide are here to stay. You can go ahead and call Twitter and Facebook a fad. That’s fine. I might even agree. Maybe a few years from now Twitter and Facebook will be gone. But rest assured that the democratization of information flow that they provide will stay.
Not only will our ability to reach out to masses of individuals to whom we are only virtually connected increase, it will increase at an exponential rate. In fact, Jared Cohen’s other powerful comment came toward the end of the interview when he countered the argument that much of the developing world could still not afford this technology. He said that we should not be measuring how many people had access as much as we should be looking at the exponential rate of adoption that is happening all around the world. For example. “In 2001, Pakistan had 750,000 mobile phone subscriptions. By 2008, it had just over 78 million, which is an astronomical jump.”
The lesson for marketers is to understand that we have to be adaptable to new technologies. But more importantly we need to always be aware that the need for authentic honest communication is a basic human need. Be prepared to provide it, participate and manage in this environment. Kiss command and control good-bye.
That’s good to know, because I’ve never been one who craves “control”, though I could benefit if I had more of a balance. I do wonder if certain industries that are run by people who are control freaks genuinely have no need for social media to begin with. Maybe the traditional path is what really works for them.
@Carla: Maybe the traditional path is comfortable for people. I think you are spot on for that one. The interesting thing with this “trend” or situation is that it is happening and we get to make the choice about how we want to manage it. I see it much like a change in the weather. Will we dress appropriately?
I recently went to an event by the Computer Association of Sweden in Gothenburg. You could sense the fear by the participants from not having the “control” over the new media landscape.
@Martin – We are all creatures of habit and it can be hard when you tell yourself that social media means that you don’t have control. But the wonderful thing is that you can also make it mean that you actually HAVE control. In fact, everyone has more control. I like to look at this as a new opportunity and a new way to leverage communication. I guess it depends on your perspective.