My apologies. I'm shouting, I know. But a quote in last month's Wired Magazine really stuck with me and prompted this week's blog entry.
In that issue, Clive Thompson wrote a great article on the "new transparency" that is rapidly unveiling a reluctant corporate america. "I think that most of the rage people feel toward these big institutions, like government or corporations or media, is that they feel they're not listened to, that no one's there," says Shel Israel, coauthor of Naked Conversations. By seeming "basically like a normal human," a company can quickly generate a surge of goodwill."
What about this rage that author Israel observes as commonplace? In addition to high levels of caffeine, logjammed traffic and unrelenting schedules, could this 21st century anger actually be attributed to lack of listening? Perhaps the explosion in popularity of social media points us to a void being filled around the deep, human need to be heard?
I guess the proof is "you know where". Check it out today. Take time to really listen to someone. Respond to a blog. Ask to be heard. See how it feels.
Thanks for listening!
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2 comments:
It's a remarkable tale - and an amazing shift. Reminds me of an earlier shift and the birth of a new tech and industry. The Wright Brothers focused on defending their patents and telling their customers what could be done. Vs. Pacific Aero, a (open) consortium.
Now? The Wright Company - a great (dead) story. Pacific Aero is Boeing Aircraft.
CJ. Congratulations on going for it, and starting your company. Great to hear from you. I may be leaving the corporate world in the big city for slower paced mountain life, oddly enough, at a non-profit. I'll keep you posted. Katherine W.
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