The Wisdom of the Social Media Crowd

In his blog post A Story Culture, Michael Lopp, author of Managing Humans (check out the book's great promotional website), used the intriguing phrase “connective information tissue” to describe the value of tweets (status messages sent via Twitter).

Information Hierarchy

Challenged by his editor to better understand what information is, Lopp starts with the definition of the Information Hierarchy provided by Ray R. Larson at Berkeley:

• Data – The raw material of information
• Information – Data organized and presented by someone
• Knowledge – Information read, heard or seen and understood
• Wisdom – Distilled and integrated knowledge and understanding

Lopp then examines how information ascends this hierarchy using the perennial vehicle designed for its transmission—the story.

Shattered bits of narrative

“The traditional narrative,” explains Lopp, “has been shattered into bits of well-indexed information.  Google wasn’t the first indexing tool, but it’s certainly the best.  Still, Google is powerfully dumb.  Yes, I can find whatever piece of information I’m looking for, but what’s more interesting are all the related pieces of information.  How do you query for knowledge via Google?  How about wisdom?”

Constructing (or reconstructing) a meaningful narrative from shattered bits of information requires a human storyteller.

“There’s no replacing,” explains Lopp, “a human being combing through seemingly disparate pieces of information to evaluate, interpret, and combine it into something unexpected; into a new work.  Into a story.”

What tale can tattered tweets truly tell?

With their 140 character limit, tweets are certainly capable of being classified as shattered bits of narrative.

However, according to Lopp, “the point of Twitter isn’t knowledge or understanding, it’s merely connective information tissue.  It’s small bits of information carefully selected by those you’ve chosen to follow and its value isn’t in what they send, it’s how it fits into the story in your head.  There are great stories to be found on Twitter, but you have to do the work.”

Case in point—it was the tweet sent by Rob Paller that lead me to the blog post I am trying to write a great story about now.

Of course, as Lopp acknowledges, Twitter is not an isolated example. 

Information continues to be shared in smaller and smaller bits in accordance with our shorter and shorter attention spans. 

“Paradoxically, it’s never been easier to share or meaningfully interact with more people with less physical, in-person effort,” explains Lopp.  “Your ability to compose and convey information as well as express yourself through your fingertips is a skill that is only going to increase—and increase in value—as people become more comfortable with their place in communities that span the planet, and as the tools to connect them become more commonplace.” 

As social media's conversation medium continues to supplant traditional media's broadcast medium, it is enabling a world that fulfills James Joyce's vision in Finnegans Wake: “my consumers, are they not my producers?”

In other words, we are both consuming and producing the connective information tissue that forms our collective intelligence.

We are all storytellers

Even before the evolution of written language, storytelling played an integral role in every human culture.  Listening to stories and retelling them to others continues to be the predominant means of expressing our emotions and ideas.  Writing (and reading) greatly improves our ability to communicate, educate, record our history, and thereby pass on our information, knowledge, and wisdom to future generations.

We are now living in an amazing age where the very air we breath is literally teeming with information.  Digital data streams are continuously transmitted across the globe at near instantaneous speeds.  We need storytellers now more than ever. 

However, storytelling is neither an esoteric skill possessed by only a select few, nor is it the sole providence of writers. 

“The construction of a story,” explains Lopp, “has very little to do with writing.  It has to do with the semi-magical process of you taking disparate pieces of information, combining them into something new, which includes your experience and understanding, and then giving them to someone else.”

In a story culture, we are all storytellers. 

Storytelling may not be as simple (or as fun) as playing a game of Mad Libs.  However, it is important to realize that the very act of thinking is a form of storytelling.  The thought process is your brain collecting the shattered bits of information whirling around in your head and weaving them together into a narrative that, at least at first, might not make sense—even to you. 

The thought process isn't always simple and it isn't always fast.  Especially when all those voices in your head talk at once. 

My own thinking often feels like I am herding cats or—thanks to the “semi-magical process” makes me describe it—as if I am “full of broken thoughts I could not repair” (from the song Hurt originally by Nine Inch Nails and covered by Johnny Cash).

Eventually, you assemble a tale actually worth telling.  But even though you may be certain that the force is strong with this one, your tale is not a story yet. 

“Just like information isn’t knowledge until it’s understood,” as Lopp thoughtfully explains, “your tale isn’t a story until you give it to someone else—until they have a chance to see what they think about your inspiration.”

The Wisdom of the Social Media Crowd

One of my favorite books is The Wisdom of Crowds by James Surowiecki, which was originally published in 2004 (i.e., 2 B.T.E., two years “Before the Twitter Era”) before the real rise to prominence of social media.  Aspects of social media (such as blogging) were already prevalent at the time, but most of today's leading social networking tools were still in their nascent phase.

However, I believe many of Surowiecki's insights are very applicable to social media.  Take for example the four conditions that characterize wise crowds:

1. Diversity of opinion
2. Independence
3. Decentralization
4. Aggregation

Returning to Lopp's concept, it is social media's small bits of connective information tissue, gathered from diverse digital sources, acting as independent agents, lacking any centralized information authority, aggregated with your own knowledge, which you then construct into a story and share with others—that is The Wisdom of the Social Media Crowd.

Related Posts

The War of Word Craft

Will people still read in the future?

Brevity is the Soul of Social Media

Follow OCDQ

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You can also follow OCDQ on Twitter, fan the Facebook page for OCDQ, and connect with me on LinkedIn.

Maybe you're just not that into your data?

This Sunday is February 14—Valentine's Day—the annual celebration of enduring romance, where true love is publicly judged according to your willingness to purchase chocolate, roses, and extremely expensive jewelry, and privately judged in ways that nobody (and please, trust me when I say nobody) wants to see you post on Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, YouTube, or your blog.

Valentine's Day is for people in love to celebrate their love privately in whatever way works best for them.

Valentine's Day is not for data. 

However, when was the last time you showed your data how much you care?

Data needs love too.

Tainted Data

Sometimes, I am sure that you feel you've got to run away, you've got to get away from the pain that poor data quality has driven into the heart of your organization.

The data you share throughout the enterprise seems to have lost its light, for you toss and turn, you can't sleep at night.

Once you ran to data—you ran—now you run from data—this tainted data you've been given.

You feel you've given data all a person could give.  It's taken your tears and that's not nearly all.

Oh, tainted data—tainted data.

You really want IT (if you're with the Business) or the Business (if you're with IT) to make things right.

And you think data quality just needs a one-time cleansing project for someone else to play.

But I'm sorry, data quality doesn't play that way.

Don't ignore data, please. It cannot stand the way you tease.  Data loves you though you hurt it so.

Data doesn't want to pack its things and go.

It's not your data, it's you

The majority of data quality initiatives are reactive projects launched in the aftermath of an event when poor data quality negatively impacted decision-critical information.

Many of these projects end in failure.  Some fail because of lofty expectations or unmanaged scope creep.  Most fail because they are based on the flawed perspective that data quality problems can be permanently “fixed” by a one-time project as opposed to needing a sustained program.

Tactical initiatives will often have a necessarily narrow focus.  Reactive data quality projects are sometimes driven by a business triage for the most critical data problems requiring near-term prioritization that simply can't wait for the effects that would be caused by implementing a proactive strategic initiative (i.e., one that may have prevented the problems from happening).

Even when a reactive data quality project is successful, it's success will only be short-lived. 

Another project will be necessary when the organization is forced into triage once again during the next inevitable crisis where poor data quality negatively impacts decision-critical information.

One reactive project at a time will never do data quality right—because one is the loneliness number that you'll ever do.

Maybe you're just not that into your data?

Across the vast digital landscape of the Internet, I see you rolling your eyes because you know what's coming next—the talk.

That's right—it's time to talk about your relationship with data, about your need to take responsibility for data quality.

I see you hesitate.  After all, nobody has a data governance ring on their finger, do they?

Data governance establishes policies and procedures to align people throughout the organization.  Successful data quality initiatives require the Business and IT to forge an ongoing and iterative collaboration. 

Neither the Business nor IT alone has all of the necessary knowledge and resources required to achieve data quality success. 

The Business usually owns the data and understands its meaning and use in the day-to-day operation of the enterprise and IT usually owns the hardware and software infrastructure of the enterprise's technical architecture. 

The Business and IT must partner together to define the necessary data quality standards and processes.

But maybe you previously attempted a data governance program or other initiative requiring Business-IT collaboration.

Perhaps harsh words were spoken, promises were broken, old wounds were opened, and collaboration walked out that door. 

Are you too proud to make up?  Are you ready to break up?

Or maybe you're just not that into your data?

I don't know much

Look at your data, I know its poor quality is showing.  Look at your organization, you don't know where it's going. 

So many questions still left unanswered, so much that's never broken through. 

But the Business and IT were made for each other.  Just like Data Governance and Data Quality were made for each other.

Just like you and your data were made for each other.

I don't know much, but I know data needs love too.  And that may be all I need to know.

I had to say I Love Data Quality in a Blog Post

Well, I know it was kind of strange.  I hope it made some sense to you.  But what I had to say couldn't wait. 

I know you will understand.  Every time I tried to tell you, the words just came out wrong. 

So, I had to say I love data quality in a blog post.

Maybe every time the time was right for you to start your data governance program, all your words just came out wrong. 

Maybe you'll have to say you love data quality and you need a data governance program using this blog post?

Happy Valentine's Day to you and yours. 

Happy Data Governance and Data Quality to you and your data.

Related Posts

Data Quality is Sexy

Social Karma (Part 5)

In Part 4 of this series:  We discussed some of the recommended blogging best practices and general guidelines for creating useful content in your own unique blogging style.

In Part 5, we will continue discussing the basics of developing your social media strategy by reviewing some other recommended best practices and general guidelines for engaging your community—beyond the pages of your blog.

The Talk Nobody Wants To Hear

If we're honest, then we have to admit, when we considered getting involved with social media, we all had the same question:

“What's in this for me?”

It is a perfectly natural and totally legitimate question.  As we have discussed throughout the series, more than anything else, effectively using social media requires a significant commitment—mostly measured in time. 

Without question, the “opportunity cost” of social media is high, so you are right to question your return on investment (ROI). 

This series is about using social media in a business context.  Therefore, ROI is about far more than simply measuring the quality of your experience.  I am not going to lie to you—measuring the ROI of social media is very challenging. 

However, before we can even attempt to measure ROI, we  must honestly evaluate why we are investing in the first place.

The primary reason I started blogging was to demonstrate my expertise and establish my authority with regards to data quality and its related disciplines.  As an independent consultant, I am trying to help sell my consulting, speaking, and writing services. 

You and/or your company are probably considering using social media to help sell your products and services as well.

However, the only way for any of us to accomplish our goals is—first and foremost—to focus on helping others. 

This is the talk nobody wants to hear: 

“Social media is NOT about you.”

Home Base = Connection, Outposts = Engagement

In Part 3, we discussed establishing a blog as your home base (where you have complete control), which is connected to your outposts (where you don't have complete control) that provide a presence out in other parts of your online community. 

We also discussed how “connection is the message of social media's medium.”  This is true.  However, effective community participation is about extending connection into engagement—and this actually occurs mainly at your outposts.

As this trend analysis chart provided by PostRank shows, off-site (outpost) has surpassed on-site (home base) for engagement:

“Shift happens,” explains Shawn Rogers.  “In the past many of us relied on the metrics of trackbacks, comments, forum posts, and other on-site interactions to determine the level of engagement we have with our online community.  Over the past 3 years, there has been a noticeable shift in these numbers.”

I believe true community engagement has always occurred off-site, but what has changed in recent years is social networking sites (outposts) have rapidly evolved into truly effective services. 

On-site (home base) connection is important and will continue to be—and true engagement can occur on your home base.  However, because you are in control, it can sometimes seem like it's all about you—despite even your best intentions. 

Therefore, effectively using social media requires that you go to where the conversations are occurring—your outposts—and participate without always trying to invite everyone back to your home base.

Outpost engagement best practices include the following:

• Promote the content of others far more often than you promote your own content
• If you use Twitter, then re-tweet more than you tweet (Note: a future part in this series will discuss Twitter in detail)
• Leave meaningful comments on other blogs—and only include a link to one of your blog posts if it is truly relevant
• Try to respond as promptly to a message left on one of your outposts as you would to a comment left on your blog
• If you blog about conversations that originated on one of your outposts, then properly attribute the others involved  

Quality is more important than Quantity

How many followers do you have on Twitter?  How many friends and fans do you have on Facebook?  How many connections and recommendations do you have on LinkedIn?  How many visitors, subscribers, and comments do you have on your blog?

Social media can sometimes feel like a popularity contest. 

This is one of the many reasons that measuring social media ROI can often feel like you are searching for the Sasquatch or the Loch Ness Monster.  No, ROI is not an urban myth.  However, in social media, quality is more important than quantity.

Your outposts and listening stations (Part 2 and Part 3) provide excellent feedback loops allowing you to determine if you're effectively getting your message out and more important, if you're creating a noticeable online presence. 

But true ROI is not measured in followers, fans, recommendations, subscribers, comments or other feedback.  Although this analysis is useful and its associated metrics are meaningful, it is important to realize that this only measures connection.

True ROI is about measuring your engagement with the online community. 

Engagement is about going beyond simply establishing a presence and achieving active participation.  Are you adding value to the community by creating useful content and contributing something meaningful to the collective conversations?

Engagement is measured by the quality of the relationships you are able to form and maintain—and not the quantity of connections you are able to collect and count.  Social media is a long-term investment in the community. 

Therefore, the truth is you must be patient—your true social media ROI may take a long time to materialize. 

Small Town, Big Business

Many organizations as well as individual professionals struggle to understand the value of social media because they attempt to relate to it using a traditional business perspective.

Most of the organizations I discuss social media with are very uncomfortable with being personal and acting human while participating in online communities—because they believe that would somehow be “unprofessional” behavior.

This viewpoint relates to a common misperception about social media—that “social” means “try to act like everyone's friend.”

However, we certainly don’t want organizations to try to act like (or try to become) our friends.  In social media—just like any professional or personal interaction—the emphasis needs to be on transparency, which will help build genuine rapport and trust.

I believe the unrelenting growth and popularity of the online communities being facilitated by social media are driving the commercial landscape back to a business model reminiscent of small towns.

On Main Street in the small town where I grew up, I remember many small businesses. 

Although I wasn't necessarily friends with the proprietors of these businesses, they weren't total strangers to me.  I saw them around town, in the park walking their dog, on the playground with their kids, and at local sporting events.

In other words, I knew that in addition to being professionals who wanted to sell me something if I visited their business, they were also human beings who weren’t any different than the people I did call my friends.

Social media definitely has the professional potential of big business—but it requires the personal rapport of a small town.

Don't Ignore “The Man Behind the Curtain”

In this OCDQ Video, I discuss the importance of the human variable in the social media equation.

  If you are having trouble viewing this video, then you can watch it on Vimeo by clicking on this link: OCDQ Video

In Part 6 of this series:  We will discuss some of the books that have been the most helpful to my social media education.

Related Posts

Social Karma (Part 1) – Series Introduction

Social Karma (Part 2) – Social Media Preparation

Social Karma (Part 3) – Listening Stations, Home Base, and Outposts

Social Karma (Part 4) – Blogging Best Practices

Social Karma (Part 6) – Social Media Books

Social Karma (Part 7) – Twitter

Comic Relief: Dilbert to the Rescue

For truly comic relief, there is perhaps no better resource than Scott Adams and the Dilbert comic strip.

Therefore, today's blog post simply provides some Dilbert Views on the following topics:

• Enterprise Architecture

• Strategic Planning

• Collaboration

• Consultants

Enterprise Architecture

Strategic Planning

Collaboration

Consultants

The Twitter Clockwork is NOT Orange

Recently, a Twitter-related tête à tête à tête involving David Carr of The New York Times, Nick Bilton of The New York Times, and George Packer of The New Yorker temporarily made both the Blogosphere all abuzz and the Twitterverse all atwitter.

This was simply another entry in the deeply polarizing debate between those for (Carr and Bilton) and against (Packer) Twitter.

A new decade of debate begins

On January 1, 2010, David Carr published his thoughts in the article Why Twitter Will Endure:

“By carefully curating the people you follow, Twitter becomes an always-on data stream from really bright people in their respective fields, whose tweets are often full of links to incredibly vital, timely information.”

. . . 

“Nearly a year in, I’ve come to understand that the real value of the service is listening to a wired collective voice.”

. . .

“At first, Twitter can be overwhelming, but think of it as a river of data rushing past that I dip a cup into every once in a while. Much of what I need to know is in that cup . . . I almost always learn about it first on Twitter.”

. . .

“All those riches do not come at zero cost: If you think e-mail and surfing can make time disappear, wait until you get ahold of Twitter, or more likely, it gets ahold of you.  There is always something more interesting on Twitter than whatever you happen to be working on.”

Carr goes on to quote Clay Shirky, author of the book Here Comes Everybody:

“It will be hard to wait out Twitter because it is lightweight, endlessly useful and gets better as more people use it.  Brands are using it, institutions are using it, and it is becoming a place where a lot of important conversations are being held.”

The most frightening picture of the future

On January 29, 2010, in his blog post Stop the World, George Packer declared that “the most frightening picture of the future that I’ve read thus far in the new decade has nothing to do with terrorism or banking or the world’s water reserves.”

What was the most frightening picture of the future that Packer had read less than a month into the new decade? 

The aforementioned article by David Carr—no, I am not kidding.

“Every time I hear about Twitter,” wrote Packer, “I want to yell Stop!  The notion of sending and getting brief updates to and from dozens or thousands of people every few minutes is an image from information hell.  I’m told that Twitter is a river into which I can dip my cup whenever I want.  But that supposes we’re all kneeling on the banks.  In fact, if you’re at all like me, you’re trying to keep your footing out in midstream, with the water level always dangerously close to your nostrils.  Twitter sounds less like sipping than drowning.”

Someone who admits that he has, in fact, never even used Twitter, continued with a crack addiction analogy:

“Who doesn’t want to be taken out of the boredom or sameness or pain of the present at any given moment?  That’s what drugs are for, and that’s why people become addicted to them. 

Carr himself was once a crack addict (he wrote about it in The Night of the Gun).  Twitter is crack for media addicts. 

It scares me, not because I’m morally superior to it, but because I don’t think I could handle it.  I’m afraid I’d end up letting my son go hungry.”

“Call me a digital crack dealer”

On February 3, 2010, in his blog post, The Twitter Train Has Left the Station, Nick Bilton responded:

“Call me a digital crack dealer, but here’s why Twitter is a vital part of the information economy—and why Mr. Packer and other doubters ought to at least give it a Tweet:

Hundreds of thousands of people now rely on Twitter every day for their business.  Food trucks and restaurants around the world tell patrons about daily food specials.  Corporations use the service to handle customer service issues.  Starbucks, Dell, Ford, JetBlue and many more companies use Twitter to offer discounts and coupons to their customers.  Public relations firms, ad agencies, schools, the State Department—even President Obama—use Twitter and other social networks to share information.”

. . .

“Most importantly, Twitter is transforming the nature of news, the industry from which Mr. Packer reaps his paycheck.  The news media are going through their most robust transformation since the dawn of the printing press, in large part due to the Internet and services like Twitter.  After this metamorphosis takes place, everyone will benefit from the information moving swiftly around the globe.”

Bilton concludes his post with a train analogy:

“Ironically, Mr. Packer notes how much he treasures his Amtrak rides in the quiet car of the train, with his laptop closed and cellphone turned off.  As I’ve found in previous research, when trains were a new technology 150 years ago, some journalists and intellectuals worried about the destruction that the railroads would bring to society.  One news article at the time warned that trains would ‘blight crops with their smoke, terrorize livestock … and people could asphyxiate’ if they traveled on them.

I wonder if, 150 years ago, Mr. Packer would be riding the train at all, or if he would have stayed home, afraid to engage in an evolving society and demanding that the trains be stopped.”

Our apparent appetite for our own destruction

On February 4, 2010, in his blog post Neither Luddite nor Biltonite, George Packer responded:

“It’s true that I hadn’t used Twitter (not consciously, anyway—my editors inform me that this blog has for some time had an automated Twitter feed).  I haven’t used crack, either, but—as a Bilton reader pointed out—you don’t need to do the drug to understand the effects.”

. . .

“Just about everyone I know complains about the same thing when they’re being honest—including, maybe especially, people whose business is reading and writing.  They mourn the loss of books and the loss of time for books.  It’s no less true of me, which is why I’m trying to place a few limits on the flood of information that I allow into my head.”

. . .

“There’s no way for readers to be online, surfing, e-mailing, posting, tweeting, reading tweets, and soon enough doing the thing that will come after Twitter, without paying a high price in available time, attention span, reading comprehension, and experience of the immediately surrounding world.  The Internet and the devices it’s spawned are systematically changing our intellectual activities with breathtaking speed, and more profoundly than over the past seven centuries combined.  It shouldn’t be an act of heresy to ask about the trade-offs that come with this revolution.”

. . .

“The response to my post tells me that techno-worship is a triumphalist and intolerant cult that doesn’t like to be asked questions.  If a Luddite is someone who fears and hates all technological change, a Biltonite is someone who celebrates all technological change: because we can, we must.  I’d like to think that in 1860 I would have been an early train passenger, but I’d also like to think that in 1960 I’d have urged my wife to go off Thalidomide.”

. . .

“American newspapers and magazines will continue to die by the dozen.  The economic basis for reporting (as opposed to information-sharing, posting, and Tweeting) will continue to erode.  You have to be a truly hard-core techno-worshipper to call this robust.  Any journalist who cheerleads uncritically for Twitter is essentially asking for his own destruction.”

. . .

“It’s true that Bilton will have news updates within seconds that reach me after minutes or hours or even days. 

It’s a trade-off I can live with.”

Packer concludes his post by quoting the end of G. B. Trudeau's book My Shorts R Bunching. Thoughts?:

“The time you spend reading this tweet is gone, lost forever, carrying you closer to death.  Am trying not to abuse the privilege.”

The Twitter Clockwork is NOT Orange

The primary propaganda used by the anti-Twitter lunatic fringe is comparing the microblogging and social networking service to that disturbing scene (pictured above) from the movie A Clockwork Orange, where you are confined within a straight jacket, your head strapped into a restraining chair preventing you from looking away, your eyes clamped to remain open—and you are forced to stare endlessly into the abyss of the cultural apocalypse that the Twitterverse is apparently supposed to represent.

You can feel free to call me a Biltonite, because I obviously agree far more with Bilton and Carr—and not with Packer.

Of course, I recommend you read all four of the articles/posts I linked to and selectively quoted above.  Especially Carr's article, which was far more balanced than either my quotes or Packer's posts reflect. 

Social Media Will Endure

We continue to witness the decline of print media and the corresponding evolution of social media.  I completely understand why Packer (and others with a vested interest in print media) want to believe social media is a revolution that must be put down. 

Hence the outrageous exaggerations Packer uses when comparing Twitter with drug abuse (crack cocaine) and the truly offensive remark of comparing Twitter with one of the worst medical tragedies in modern history (Thalidomide). 

I believe the primary reason that social media will endure, beyond our increasing interest in exchanging what has traditionally been only a broadcast medium (print media) for a conversation medium, is because it is enabling our communication to return to the more direct and immediate forms of information sharing that existed even before the evolution of written language.

Social media is an evolution and not a revolution being forced upon society by unrelenting technological advancements and techno-worship.  In many ways, social media is not a new concept at all—technology has simply finally caught up with us.

Humans have always been “social” by our very nature.  We have always thrived on connection, conversation, and community. 

Social media is rapidly evolving.  Therefore, specific services like Twitter may be replaced (or Twitter may continue to evolve). 

However, the essence of social media will endure—but the same can't be said of Packerites (neo-Luddites like George Packer).

What Say You?

Please share your thoughts on this debate by posting a comment below. 

Or you can share your thoughts with me on Twitter—which reminds me, it's time for me to be strapped back into the chair . . .

Commendable Comments (Part 5)

 

Photo via Flickr (Creative Commons License) by: toettoet

Welcome to the 100th Obsessive-Compulsive Data Quality (OCDQ) blog post!

Absolutely without question, there is no better way to commemorate this milestone other than to also make this the 5th entry in my ongoing series for expressing my gratitude to my readers for their truly commendable comments on my blog posts. 

Commendable Comments

On Will people still read in the future?, Don Frederiksen commented:

“I had an opportunity to study and write about informal learning in the past year and one concept that resonated with me was the notion of Personal Learning Environments (PLE).

In the context of your post, I would regard reading as one element of my PLE, i.e., a method for processing content.  One power of the PLE is that you can control your content, process, objectives, and tools. 

Your PLE will also vary depending on where you are and even with the type of access you have.

For example, I have just spent the last two days without WiFi.  As frustrated as I was, I adapted my PLE based on that scenario.  This morning, I'm sitting in McDonald's drinking coffee but wasn't in a place to watch your video.  (Thank goodness you posted text.)

Even without my current location as a factor, I don't always watch videos or listen to podcasts because I have less control of the content and/or pace.

In regards to your questions, I like books, I read e-books, online content, occasional video, audio books, and Kindle on the iPhone.  Combine these items with TweetDeck, Google Reader, the paper version of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Amazon, and the Public Library, and you have identified the regular components of my PLE.  To me the tools and process will vary based on my situation.

I also recognize that other people will most likely employ different tools and processes.  The richness of our environment may suggest a decline in reading, but in the end it all comes down to different strokes for different folks.  Everyone motivated to learn can create their own PLE.”

On Shut Your Mouth, Augusto Albeghi (aka Stray__Cat) commented:

“In my opinion, this is a very slippery slope.

This post is true in a world of good-hearted people where everyone wants the best for the team. 

In the real world, the consultant is someone to blame for every problem the project encounters, e.g., they shut their mouth, they'll never be able to stand the critique and will be fired soon.

The better situation is to have expressed a clear recommendation, and if the the customer chooses not to follow it, then the consultant is formally shielded from any form of critique.

The consultant is likely to be caught in no man's land between opposing factions of the project, and must be able to take the right side by a clear statement.  Some customers ask the consultant what's the best thing to do, in order to blame the consultant instead of themselves if something goes wrong.

However, even given all of this, the advice to listen carefully to the customer is still absolutely the #1 lesson that a consultant must learn.”

On OOBE-DQ, Where Are You?, Jill Wanless (aka Sheezaredhead) commented:

“For us, the whole ‘ease of use’ vs. ‘powerful functionality’ debate was included in the business case for the purchase.  We identified the business requirements, included pros and cons of ease of use vs. functionality and made vendor recommendations based on the results of the pros vs. cons vs. requirements.

Also important to note, and included in our business case, was to question if the ease of use requires an intensive effort or costly training program, especially if your goal is to engage business users.

So to answer your questions, I would say if you have your requirements identified, and you do your homework on the benefits/risks/costs of the software, you should have all the information you need to make a logical decision based on the present situation.

Which, of course, will change somewhere down the line as everything does.

And for goodness sake (did I say goodness?), when things do change, always start with identifying the requirements.  Never assume the requirements are the same as they used to be.”

On OOBE-DQ, Where Are You?, Dylan Jones commented:

“I think the most important trend in recent years is where vendors are really starting to understand how data quality workflows should integrate with the knowledge workforce.

I'm seeing several products really get this and create simple user interfaces and functions based on the role of the knowledge worker involved.  These tools have a great balance between usable interface for business specific roles but also a great deal of power features under the bonnet.  That is the software I typically recommend but again it is also about budget, these solutions may be too expensive for some organizations.

There is a danger here though of adding powerful features to knowledge workers who don't fully understand the ramifications of committing those updates to that master customer list.  I still think we'll see IT playing a major role in the data quality process for some time to come, despite the business-focused marketing we're seeing in vendor land.”

On The Dumb and Dumber Guide to Data Quality, Monis Iqbal commented:

“Pretty convincing post for those allergic to long term corrective measures.

And this spawns another question and that is directed towards software developers who come and work on a product/project involving data manipulation and maintaining the quality of the data but aren't that concerned because they did their job of developing the product and then move on to another assignment.

I know I may be repeating the same arguments as presented in your post (Business vs IT) but these developers did care that the project handles data correctly and yet they aren't concerned about quality in the long term, however the person running the business is.

My point is that although data quality can only be achieved when both parties join hands together, I think it is the stakeholder who has to enforce it during all stages of the project lifecycle.”

Thank You

In this brief OCDQ Video, I express my gratitude to all of my readers for helping me reach my 100th blog post.

If you are having trouble viewing this video, then you can watch it on Vimeo by clicking on this link: OCDQ Video

Thanks for your comment

Blogging has made the digital version of my world much smaller and allowed my writing to reach parts of the world it wouldn’t otherwise have been able to reach.  My native language is English, which is also the only language I am fluent in. 

However, with lots of help from both my readers as well as Google Translate, I have been trying to at least learn how to write “Thanks for your comment” in as many languages as possible.

Here is the list (in alphabetical order by language) that I have compiled so far:

• Afrikaans – Dankie vir jou kommentaar
• Croatian – Hvala na komentaru
• Danish – Tak for din kommentar
• Dutch – Bedankt voor je opmerking
• French – Merci pour votre commentaire
• German – Danke für Deine Anmerkung
• Italian – Grazie per il tuo commento
• Norwegian – Takk for din kommentar
• Portuguese – Obrigado pelo seu comentário
• Spanish – Gracias por tu comentario
• Swedish – Tack för din kommentar
• Welsh – Diolch yn fawr am eich sylw chi

Please help continue my education by adding to (or correcting) the above list by posting a comment below.

Related Posts

Commendable Comments (Part 1)

Commendable Comments (Part 2)

Commendable Comments (Part 3)

Commendable Comments (Part 4)

Social Karma (Part 4)

In Part 3 of this series:  We discussed the basics of developing your social media strategy by first examining the benefits of establishing a blog (or company website) as your social media base of operations for effective online community participation.

In Part 4, we will continue this discussion by reviewing some recommended blogging best practices and general guidelines for creating useful content in your own unique blogging style.

And that's the way it is (not anymore)

“And that's the way it is” was the trademark phrase Walter Cronkite used to conclude almost every one of his CBS Evening News television broadcasts.  The only exceptions (when he omitted his trademark phrase) were if he instead concluded the broadcast by sharing either his opinion about or his commentary on a particular event in the news.

As I have stated many times throughout this series, social media is a conversation medium and not a broadcast medium.

Blogging, especially when effectively serving as your base of operations for effective online community participation, can be one of the most powerful aspects of social media.  When done well, it facilities effective communication by acting as the catalyst that gets the conversation started, and when necessary, helps continue the discussion.

Simply broadcasting your (especially sales and marketing) message is not the way it is anymore.

What are you going to blog about?

Alright, I have probably annoyed you enough with the “social media is about starting a conversation” speech. 

So what, exactly, are you going to start a conversation about?  In other words, what are you going to blog about?

(And don't say you, your company or its products and services—you don't want to listen to the speech again, do you?)

If you have performed your social media preparation (Part 2) and you have been actively using your listening stations (Part 3), then you should already know the answer—whatever your online community is already discussing.

What problems are people talking about?  What challenging issues keep coming up?  What are the hotly contested debates or deeply polarized topics?  In short, what are the other members of the community passionate about?

How do you write effective blog posts?

Listening to the online community has provided insight into what to blog about.  But how do you write effective blog posts?

I am sorry, but there is no simple formula. 

Well okay—according to conventional blogging wisdom—maybe there is one simple formula:

B = U²C³ 

In other words, effective blog posts provide Useful and Unique content that is Clear, Concise, and Consumable.

The Two U's

The first aspect of conventional blogging wisdom is to follow the Two U's:

1. Useful – Focus on your reader and provide them assistance with a specific problem
2. Unique – Capture your reader's attention and share your perspective in your own voice

Blogging truly has to be all about the reader.  If you write only for yourself, then you will also be your only reader.

Effective blogging often provides “infotainment” – a combination of information and entertainment that, when it's done well, can turn readers into raving fans.  Just don't forget—your blog content has to be informative and entertaining to your readers.

One important aspect of being unique is writing effective titles.  Most potential readers scan titles to determine if they will click and read more.  There is a delicate balance between effective titles and “baiting” – which will only alienate potential readers.

If you write a compelling title that makes your readers click through to an interesting post, then “You Rock!”  However, if you write a “Shock and Awe” title followed by “Aw Shucks” content, then “You Suck!”

Therefore, your blog content also has to be unique—your topic, position, voice, or a combination of all three.

The Three C's

The second aspect of conventional blogging wisdom is to follow the Three C’s:

1. Clear – Get to the point and stay on point
2. Concise – No longer than necessary
3. Consumable – Formatted to be easily read on a computer screen

Clear blog posts typically have a single theme or one primary topic to communicate.  Don't run off on tangents, especially ones not related to the point you are trying to make.  If you have several legitimate sub-topics to cover, then consider creating a series.

Concise doesn't necessarily mean “write really short blog posts.”  There is no specific word count to target.  Being concise simply means taking out anything that doesn't need to be included.  Editing is the hardest part of writing, but also the most important.    

Consumable content is extremely essential when people are reading off of a computer screen.

Densely packed text attacks the eyes, which doesn't encourage anyone to keep reading.

Consumable blog posts effectively use techniques such as the following:

• Providing an introduction and/or a conclusion
• Using section headings (in a larger size or different font or both)
• Varying the lengths of both sentences and paragraphs
• Highlighting key words or phrases using bold or italics—but don't underline—people will think it's a link and click on it
• Making or summarizing keys points in a short sentence or a short paragraph
• Making or summarizing key points using numbered or bulleted lists

As a general rule, the longer (although still both clear and concise) the blog post, the more consumable you need to make it.

Your Blog, Your Voice

Back in early December, I recorded my thoughts about the importance of blogging in your own voice as a podcast:

You can also download this podcast (MP3 file) by clicking on this link: Your Blog, Your Voice

Some of the key points covered in this 15 minute podcast include:

• The easiest way to produce unique content is to let your blogging style reflect your personality
• Make your readers feel like they are having a conversation with a real person
• You should be personal but still professional when blogging in a business context
• Don't be afraid to express your opinion—even on subjects where it seems like “everything has already be said”
• Your opinion is unique—because it is your opinion
• An opinion—as long as it is respectfully given—is never wrong
• Consistency in both style and message is important, however it's okay to vary your style and/or change your opinion
• Try your best to communicate your thoughts clearly, but don't be overly concerned with being misunderstood
• Pay careful attention to the feedback you receive from readers, especially any constructive criticism they provide
• Ultimately, you are the only one who can truly decide what style will work best for your blog

Please don't become a zombie

The blogosphere has a real zombie problem—no, not that kind of zombie. 

“Zombie” is a slang term used to describe a blog that has stopped publishing new posts.  In other words, the blog has joined the Blogosphere of the Living Dead, which is comprised of blogs that still have a valid URL, but desperately crave new “Posts!”

Before you start blogging, follow the 20-10-5 plan:

• Brainstorm 20 high level ideas for blog posts
• Write 10 rough drafts based on those ideas
• Finish 5 ready to publish posts from those drafts

If you are unable to complete this simple plan, then seriously reconsider starting a blog.

When you start blogging, consider the following recommendations:

• Do not post more than once a week
• Maintain an editorial calendar and schedule your future posts
• Finish more ready to publish posts (you're good until Week 6 because of the 20-10-5 plan)

Yes, you will be tempted to start posting more than once a week.  You will be eager to share your brilliance with the blogosphere.

Just like many new things, blogging is really fun—when it's new.  However, let's run the numbers:

• Posting once a week = 52 blog posts a year
• Posting twice a week = 104 blog posts a year
• Posting five times a week (basically once every week day) = 260 blog posts a year

I am not trying to harsh your mellow.  I am just saying that you need to pace yourself.  You are trying to build and maintain an active presence within your online community. 

Do I practice what I preach? 

Check my archives.  My blog was started in March 2009.  I published 5-8 posts per month (1-2 posts per week) for each of the first five months.  I then gradually increased my posting frequency.  Later this week, I will publish my 100th blog post.

Conclusion

This series is about the art of effectively using social media in a business context.  Although there are many practical aspects that I did not cover—such as choosing a blogging platform as one example—blogging is definitely more art than science. 

Therefore, you are obviously free to ignore the recommended blogging best practices I explained above.  However, I highly recommend that you first learn them and then try putting them into practice.  After all, it's always more fun to break the rules when you actually know what the rules are.

In Part 5 of this series:  We will continue discussing the basics of developing your social media strategy by reviewing some other recommended best practices and general guidelines for engaging your community—beyond the pages of your blog.

Related Posts

Social Karma (Part 1) – Series Introduction

Social Karma (Part 2) – Social Media Preparation

Social Karma (Part 3) – Listening Stations, Home Base, and Outposts

Social Karma (Part 5) – Connection, Engagement, and ROI Basics

Social Karma (Part 6) – Social Media Books

Social Karma (Part 7) – Twitter

The Mullet Blogging Manifesto

Collablogaunity

Brevity is the Soul of Social Media

The Dumb and Dumber Guide to Data Quality

In the past, I have explained various aspects of data quality using blog posts inspired by two primary sources of wisdom:

1. Literature

• William Shakespeare – To Parse or Not To Parse
• T. H. White – The Once and Future Data Quality Expert
• Edgar Allan Poe – The Tell-Tale Data
• Robert Louis Stevenson – Not So Strange Case of Dr. Technology and Mr. Business
• Alexandre Dumas – The Three Musketeers of Data Quality
• Dante Alighieri – The Nine Circles of Data Quality Hell

2. Science (including Science Fiction)

• Isaac Newton (and Star Trek) – The Second Law of Data Quality
• Star Trek – Resistance is NOT Futile and Hailing Frequencies Open
• Albert Einstein (and Star Wars) – The General Theory of Data Quality and Beyond a “Single Version of the Truth”
• Erwin Schrödinger – Schrödinger's Data Quality  

However, in this blog post I want to channel the seldom tapped wisdom of Lloyd Christmas and Harry Dunne, from the Academy Award Eligible and American Cinema Classic – Dumb and Dumber.

The Dumb and Dumber Guide to Data Quality

“What the one doesn't have, the other is missing.”

Data and Quality—do they really need each other? 

The Business and IT—do they really need to work together?

Isn't data quality an IT issue?  After all, the data is stored in databases and applications that they manage.  Therefore, if there are problems with the data, then IT is responsible for cleaning up their own mess.  Aren't they?

Isn't data quality a Business issue?  After all, the data is created by business processes and users that they manage.  Therefore, if there are problems with the data, then the Business is responsible for cleaning up their own mess.  Aren't they?

Listening to the Business and IT argue like this reminds me of Lloyd and Harry playing the game of Tag:

Lloyd:  “You're it.”

Harry:  “You're it.”

Lloyd:  “You're it, quitsies!”

Harry:  “Anti-quitsies, you're it, quitsies, no anti-quitsies, no startsies!”

Lloyd:  “You can't do that!”

Harry:  “Can too!”

Lloyd:  “Cannot, stamp it!”

Harry:  “Can too, double stamp it, no erasies!”

Lloyd:  “Cannot, triple stamp, no erasies, touch blue make it true.”

Harry:  “No, you can't do that . . . You can't triple stamp a double stamp!  Lloyd!”

Lloyd [with hands over his ears]: “LA-LA LA-LA LA-LA!”

Harry:  “LLOYD! LLOYD! LLOYD!”  

Yes, the Business usually owns the data and understands its meaning and use in the day-to-day operation of the enterprise.  And yes, IT usually owns the hardware and software infrastructure of the enterprise's technical architecture.

However, neither the Business nor IT alone has all of the necessary knowledge and resources required to truly be successful.  Data quality requires that the Business and IT forge an ongoing and iterative collaboration.

Tag—you're both it!  And executive management says: No quitsies!

Not every theory looks good in a tuxedo

“Hey, look, The Monkees. They were a huge influence on The Beatles.” 

Without question, there are many theories available about how to properly execute a data quality initiative. 

You read about them in critically acclaimed books.  You hear about them in expert presentations at major industry conferences.  You even sometimes see them published in blog posts underneath pictures of two weird looking dudes wearing wacky tuxedos.

Most theories include models describing an organization's evolution through a series of stages intended to measure its capability and maturity, tendency toward being reactive or proactive, and inclination to be project-oriented or program-oriented. 

I am certainly an advocate of searching for sound theory and working with proven methodology. 

But the harsh reality is there is no “one theory to rule them all” or one-size-fits-all methodology—and anyone who tells you otherwise should be treated with the same disdain as those who truly believe The Monkees were a huge influence on The Beatles.

You need to find something that will adapt to your organization's unique culture.  Most important, you need to find something that will meet your organization wherever it happens to currently be within the capability and maturity model.

Just because some expert says you should be wearing a black Armani tuxedo with a crimson cummerbund and monogrammed cufflinks, doesn't mean you should.  Maybe the bright orange or powder blue tuxedo with the frilly shirt, top hat, and cane is more your style.  Or maybe it is the only thing currently in your size—or the only thing you can currently afford. 

Rock whatever tuxedo (theory) fits you best today.  Just remember—it's a rental.  As your organization and the individual change agents leading the way mature and evolve, your wardrobe (culture) will become ready to evolve right along with it.

Only you can decide what theory works best for your organization—as well as when you're ready to take it to the next level.

Not every practice can be considered best

“Well, it's not gonna do us any good sitting here whining about it. We're in a hole. We're just going to have to dig ourselves out.”

So you have selected a theory and now you're ready to get to work.  Every theory includes some recommended best practices.

However, if you are looking to follow a step-by-step, paint-by-numbers, only color inside the lines, fool-proof plan, then you are going to fail before you even begin.

Best practices simply provide a reference of recommended options of what proved successful for other data quality initiatives.

Best practices should be reviewed in order to determine what can be learned from them, as well as to select what you think will work in your environment and what simply won't.  However, it often won't be easy to tell the difference.

The key word in “best practice” is practice—and not best, as in the perfectly stupid phrase: “practice makes perfect.”

Real practice doesn't make perfect.  Real practice is messy.  Real practice colors with the red crayon much more often than with the green crayon.  Real practice doesn't color inside the lines—it draws on the walls.

In other words, you're going to make mistakes—lots and lots and lots—of mistakes.

And not because you are dumb—or dumber than others who successfully followed the same recommendations.

Not even best practices make perfect because nobody works at a company called Perfect, Incorporated.  Through trial and error you will figure out what works best for you and your organization, and those practices will become your best practices.

Couldn't we get by just fine without data quality?

“So you're telling me there's a chance...”

You may be thinking that a data quality initiative sounds like a lot of work.  You may be wondering if it is really worth the investment of all that time, effort, and money.  You may be asking if you really need a data quality initiative. 

Couldn't we get by just fine without data quality?

The following dialogue between Lloyd and Mary Swanson provides a better answer than anything else I can imagine:

Lloyd:  “What do you think the chances are of us getting by just fine without data quality?”

Mary:  “Well, Lloyd, that's difficult to say.  I mean, we don't really...”

Lloyd:  “Hit me with it!  Just give it to me straight!  What are the chances?”

Mary:  “Not good.”

Lloyd:  “You mean not good like one out of a hundred?”

Mary:  “I'd say more like one out of a million.”

Lloyd:  “So you're telling me there's a chance...”

Tweet

Social Karma (Part 3)

In Part 2 of this series:  We discussed leveraging social media for “listening purposes only” in order to assess what type of active involvement would make sense for you and your company.  Just like with any professional endeavor, you need to honestly evaluate both your expectations and your readiness before getting actively involved with social media.   

Additionally, we also discussed that using social media effectively requires a commitment—mostly measured in time.

In Part 3, we will begin discussing the basics of developing your social media strategy by first examining the benefits of establishing a blog (or company website) as your social media base of operations for effective online community participation.

Listening Stations

Your social media preparation involved actively listening to the online community.  As you begin your social media engagement, your “listening station” must always remain active in order to maintain true community participation.

Actually, you will need to leverage multiple listening stations.  The following diagram shows my OCDQ Blog listening stations:

If you are having trouble viewing it, click anywhere on the diagram to open it in a new window and/or download it (PNG file).

Home Base with Outposts

As Darren Rowse of ProBlogger explained in his blog post How to Promote a Blog with Social Media, Chris Brogan developed a social media strategy using the metaphor of a Home Base with Outposts.

“A home base,” explains Rowse, “is a place online that you own.”  This is your social media base of operations for effective online community participation.  For example, your home base could be your blog or your company's website. 

“Outposts,” continues Rowse, “are places you have an online presence out in other parts of the web that you might not own.”  For example, your outposts could be your LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook accounts.

The following diagram shows the home base with outposts framework used by my OCDQ Blog:

If you are having trouble viewing it, click anywhere on the diagram to open it in a new window and/or download it (PNG file).

Social Media Strategy

In this OCDQ Video, I provide an overview of my social media strategy based on my listening stations, home base, and outposts:

If you are having trouble viewing this video, then you can watch it on Vimeo by clicking on this link: OCDQ Video

Here are the links to the social media tools and services that I mentioned in the video:

• Flock
• IceRocket
• Twitter Search
• Topsy
• Twitterfeed
• TweetMeme
• Google Alerts
• Google Blog Search
• Google Reader
• Google FeedBurner   

The Message of Social Media's Medium

Effective online community participation is about actively listening, inviting others to get involved, sharing meaningful ideas, contributing to conversations—and not selfishly distributing only your content or broadcasting only your message.

Social media is a conversation medium and not a broadcast medium.

In his book Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man, Marshall McLuhan coined the phrase: “the medium is the message.”

To slightly paraphrase the words of Mark Federman, social media provides the ability to connect with other members of the online community, to collaborate as we construct knowledge, to engage with one another's experiences, to bring multiple contexts into understanding what it is we are collectively creating through our connection. 

Connection is the message of social media's medium. 

In Part 4 of this series:  We will continue discussing the basics of developing your social media strategy by reviewing some recommended blogging best practices and general guidelines for creating useful content in your own unique blogging style.

Related Posts

Social Karma (Part 1) – Series Introduction

Social Karma (Part 2) – Social Media Preparation

Social Karma (Part 4) – Blogging Best Practices

Social Karma (Part 5) – Connection, Engagement, and ROI Basics

Social Karma (Part 6) – Social Media Books

Social Karma (Part 7) – Twitter

Recently Read: January 23, 2010

Recently Read is an OCDQ regular segment.  Each entry provides links to blog posts, articles, books, and other material I found interesting enough to share.  Please note “recently read” is literal – therefore what I share wasn't necessarily recently published.

Data Quality

For simplicity, “Data Quality” also includes Data Governance, Master Data Management, and Business Intelligence.

• Data Quality Blog Roundup - December 2009 Edition – Data Quality Pro always provides a great collection of the previous month's best blog posts, this particular entry covers my data quality “recently reads” from before the start of the new year.
• Hostile Environment Data Harassment – Phil Simon discusses the common tendency for an organization's culture to not only compartmentalize data issues, but also tolerate “data carelessness” and irresponsibility.
• Data Profiling For All The Right Reasons, Part 1 – In this Hub Designs Blog guest post, Rob DuMoulin begins a tool-agnostic five-part series about data profiling using psychology and Jungian word association analysis.
• Personal Data – an Asset we hold on Trust – Daragh O Brien shares an intriguing case study about data protection, and discusses the key stages and data protection principles in the Information Asset Life Cycle.
• Standardizing Data Migration – Evan Levy uses a motion picture industry analogy to suggest establishing a separate functional team that’s responsible for data packaging and distribution.
• A Data Quality Riot Act – Rob Paller shares a great real-world example of data quality challenges even when an enterprise system is well-designed with protocols specifically put in place to ensure proper data management and data quality.
• What is a MDM Strategy – Charles Blyth channels the ancient wisdom of Sun Tzu to explain that an MDM strategy is the overarching governance that defines the goals, reasons, approach and standards of its individual initiatives.
• Data Quality issue in my new database - or so we thought... – Rich Murnane shares an interesting real-world example of how not every apparent data problem turns out to be an actual data quality issue.
• Diversity in City Names – Henrik Liliendahl Sørensen explains the challenges inherit in global data quality using the example of the many ways that the city of Copenhagen, Denmark can be represented due to linguistic variations.
• How data quality derives from meta data – Rayk Fenske examines the relationship between data quality management and metadata management by discussing directed functional dependency as well as a hierarchy in requirements.
• The Quality Gap: Why Being On-Time Isn’t Enough – Jill Dyché discusses the all-too-common tendency to emphasize efficiency over effectiveness in enterprise project management, where everything is date-driven and not quality-driven.
• Name Patterns and Parsing – David Loshin explains that personal names, although conceptually straightforward, are beset by many interesting pattern variations, making them a very daunting data quality challenge. 
• A true story of how data quality issues can cripple a business – Graham Rhind shares a remarkable real-world example that illustrates very well the effect poor data quality (and lack of information quality) can have at every level of an organization.
• WANTED: Data Quality Change Agents – Dylan Jones explains the key traits required of all data quality change agents, including a positive attitude, a willingness to ask questions, innovation advocating, and persuasive evangelism.
• The Power of Slow - Paul Boal begins an excellent series about slow by explaining that a proper understanding of slow truly reveals it is the far more efficient approach—and not just for data quality. 
• Data vs. Facts, Illustrated - Mark Graban discusses the common problem of relying too much on reports and dashboards without verification of the underlying data—and shares a hilarious picture to illustrate the point.   
• The Value of Data – Marty Moseley discusses the core issue that most businesses still do not understand the value of data to their organizations, and shares some findings from a recent data governance survey.
• ETL, Data Quality and MDM for Mid-sized Business – Steve Sarsfield on challenges of investing in enterprise software faced by small to medium sized businesses, and opportunities in the freemium model of open source alternatives such as Talend.
• Beyond Data Ownership to Information Sharing – Joe Andrieu provides an interesting look at the often polarizing topics of data ownership, data privacy, and information sharing, explaining that we want to share our information, on our terms, protect our interests, and enable service providers to do truly amazing things for us and on our behalf. 
• The Great Expectations of BI – Promising new blogger Phil Wright provides an excellent Dickensian inspired explanation of why, in many organizations, business intelligence doesn't live up to its great expectations.   

Social Media

For simplicity, “Social Media” also includes Blogging, Writing, Social Networking, and Online Marketing.

• When Your Company Culture Isn't Ready for Social Media – On the Harvard Business Review blog The Conversation, Jeanne Meister and Karie Willyerd discuss whether your organization is culturally ready to implement social media.
• Why Twitter Will Endure – David Carr of The New York Times explains how he came to understand that the real value of Twitter is listening to a wired collective voice.
• Are Your Ears Burning? - 20 Tools for Tracking Social Media Marketing – Merle shares a great list of “online reputation” management tools, which are useful for monitoring your social media presence.
• The 10 Stages of Social Media Business Integration – On Mashable, Brian Solis explains the ten most common stages that businesses experience as they travel the road to full social media integration.
• Defining Social Business – Stowe Boyd explains that a social business is an organization designed consciously around sociality and social tools, as a response to a changed world and the emergence of the social web.
• Three Ways to Get a Rush from Your Writing – In this Men with Pens guest post, author Phil Simon shares some of his great writing advice, including the need to “get it down before it gets away” whenever inspiration strikes.
• 40 Reasons Why The CEO Still Uses The Yellow Pages And Not Social Media – Jeff Bullas shares a hilarious list of the reasons the typical CEO still wants to use the Yellow Pages and not embrace the new marketing of the 21st century.
• In Defence of The Real Social Media – An amazing post by Naomi Dunford, especially recommended for anyone who claims social media is only about superficial connections and doubts online friendships can ever be real friendships.
• A-List Bloggers Agree: ‘Entertaining Differentiation’ Is Key to Success – In this Write To Done guest post, Bamboo Forest explains entertainment is a major reason people read blogs, and why differentiation is so important to blogging well.
• The Power of Uniqueness – Darren Rowse  discusses some of the ways that the best blogs tend to stand out from the crowd, and shares 19 starting points for helping you become a unique blogger.

Book Quotes

An eclectic list of quotes from some recently read (and/or simply my favorite) books.

• From Confessions of a Public Speaker by Scott Berkun – “Expressing ideas is often the only way to fully understand what ideas are, and to know what it is you really think.  Expression makes learning from the criticism of others possible, and I'm happy to look like a fool if in return I learn something I wouldn't have learned any other way.”
• From The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick) by Seth Godin – “The opportunity cost of investing your life in something that's not going to get better is just too high.”
• From Six Pixels of Separation: Everyone Is Connected. Connect Your Business to Everyone. by Mitch Joel – “It's no longer about how much budget you dump into advertising and PR in hopes that people will see and respond to your messaging.  The new online channels will work for you as long as you are working for them by adding value, your voice, and the ability for your consumers to connect, engage, and take part.  This new economy is driven by your time vested—and not by your money invested.”

Can Social Media become a Universal Translator?

I have always been a huge fan of science fiction, mostly television and movies, but also a few select books as well. 

After only FTL (faster-than-light space travel, e.g., warp drive, hyperdrive, Infinite Improbability Drive, or “Ludicrous Speed”), the next most common technology found in almost all science fiction is a universal translator, which somehow manages to instantly translate all communication into the native language of the user.

Without question, and especially for television and movies, a universal translator serves as a useful plot device in science fiction. 

It saves valuable time otherwise spent explaining how people (especially from completely different planets) are able to communicate without knowing each other's language.  The time saved can therefore be dedicated to far cooler things, such as laser guns, lightsabers, space battles, and massive explosions—in other words, the truly scientific parts of science fiction.

Just a few of my universal translator (and science fiction) favorites include the following:

• The Babel Fish – a small yellow leech-like fish from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy book series by Douglas Adams, which after it is inserted into your ear, simultaneously translates from one spoken language to another.
• Translator Microbes – a bacteria injected on the Farscape television series, which after it has colonized your brain stem, translates spoken language and then passes the translation along to the rest of your brain.
• The Universal Translator – a linguacode matrix on Star Trek, first used in the late 22nd century for the instant translation of Earth languages, which removed language barriers and helped Earth’s disparate cultures come to terms of universal peace.

It's a Small (Digital) World

Many of my social media blog posts have included some form of the following paragraph:

Rapid advancements in technology, coupled with the meteoric rise of the Internet and social media (blogs, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.) has created an amazing medium that is enabling people separated by vast distances and disparate cultures to come together, communicate, and collaborate in ways few would have thought possible less than a decade ago.

It's a really good paragraph (it must be since I just used it yet again!).  However, apparently channeling science fiction's useful plot device, I waxed poetic while ignoring the still very present communication challenge of language translation.

My native language is English, and like many people from the United States, it is the only language I am fluent in.  Blogging has made the digital version of my world much smaller and allowed my writing to reach parts of the world it wouldn’t otherwise have been able to reach—places where English is not the primary language.

What language do you blog in?

I have to admit that despite my professional experience, which has included some international commerce, I am often oblivious to how much of a challenge is faced by non-English speakers in the business world.  Blogging is certainly no exception.

On ProBlogger, Darren Rowse recently posted Bloggers from Non English Speaking Backgrounds, which was a follow-up to a recent newsletter survey about the challenges facing bloggers going into 2010, where quite a few of the responses came from bloggers for whom English was not their first language, and they cited two primary challenges:

1. Not knowing which language they should blog in – Should they blog in their primary language and reach a potentially smaller readership, or should they blog in English where their readership could be larger, but where they have challenges with writing well?
2. Feeling isolated from other bloggers – Some bloggers felt that they were not taken as seriously by bloggers in other parts of the world and therefore found networking difficult.  

Since Darren Rowse (he is based in Australia) is also only fluent in English, he requested that his readers comment on his post and share their perspectives on these common challenges.  The last time that I checked, the post had over 170 comments.

One of the most telling things for me is that this discussion wasn't limited to blogging in the business world. 

For me personally, I would have no choice but to blog in my primary language.  Just as an example, if Spanish was the primary language of the business blogging world, then I would have to either settle for a smaller readership, or simply not blog at all. 

Despite my four academic years with the language, just about the only complete sentence I can say in Spanish today is:

¿Dónde está el baño?

I can (pretend to) speak Danish

Some of you are probably thinking: What about computer software and online services for language translation?

I have always used Yahoo! Babel Fish (and long before it was purchased by Yahoo).  It is far from the most robust online translation service, but the science fiction reference in its name (see above) is likely the reason I frequent that particular website.

Many have told me that Google Language Tools is probably the most advanced (and free) online language translation service currently available.  However, no tool can make it as easy as science fiction—at least no current (free or otherwise) tool.

I recently used these tools to say Tak for din kommentar (“Thanks for your comment” in Danish) to Henrik Liliendahl Sørensen, for the excellent comment he left on one of my recent social media blog posts, which inspired me to write this blog post.

Not bad Danish for a non-native speaker, huh?  Well, to be completely honest—that was the final translation provided by Henrik after my initial attempt (although close) was not quite correct.    

And just to name one of the current options for blog translation, Wibiya is a free service allowing you to integrate applications and widgets into a customized web-based toolbar for your blog.  One of those applications is Translation, which is powered by Google Translate, and allows your blog readers to translate any page on your website into their native language with just a single click of their mouse.  If you would like to view an example of a blog using this feature, then please visit: Phil Simon's Blog.

What makes language translation so difficult?

Although the current online language translation services are helpful, they are far from perfect.

The most common challenge is what is referred to as round-trip translation, where in the process of translation, an intermediate language is used (most often the primary language of the translator).

As a simplistic example, let’s pretend I wanted to translate the earlier Danish phrase into Spanish. 

I would begin with a Danish to English translation (back to my primary language as a starting point), then an English to Spanish translation, and finally a Spanish to Danish translation (for verification purposes):

Tak for din kommentar –> Thank you for your comment (Danish –> English)

Thank you for your comment –> Gracias por tu comentario (English –> Spanish)

Gracias por tu comentario –> Tak for din kommentar (Spanish –> Danish)

Now, let’s try a more complex example by translating my favorite social media paragraph from English to Spanish to Danish, where for the sake of this example, we will pretend Spanish is my primary language.

Original paragraph in English:

Rapid advancements in technology, coupled with the meteoric rise of the Internet and social media (blogs, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.) has created an amazing medium that is enabling people separated by vast distances and disparate cultures to come together, communicate, and collaborate in ways few would have thought possible less than a decade ago.

English –> Spanish:

Los rápidos avances en tecnología, junto con el meteórico ascenso de Internet y medios de comunicación social (blogs, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc) ha creado un medio sorprendente que es posible que las personas separadas por enormes distancias y culturas diferentes se reúnan, se comunican, y colaborar en cuantas formas hubiera creído posible menos de una década atrás.  

Spanish –> Danish:

Hurtige fremskridt inden for teknologi, kombineret med den rivende anledning af internettet og sociale medier (blogs, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, osv.) har skabt et miljø, der kan overraske folk adskilt af store afstande og forskellige kulturer mødes, kommunikere og samarbejde på måder få troede muligt mindre end et årti siden.

Danish –> English:

Rapid advances in technology, coupled with the meteoric rise of the Internet and social media (blogs, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.) has created an environment that may surprise people separated by great distances and different cultures meet, communicate and collaborate in ways few thought possible less than a decade ago.

The differences are relatively minor:

1. “advancements” –> “advances”
2. “amazing medium that is enabling people” –> “environment that may surprise people”
3. “separated by vast distances and disparate cultures” –> “separated by great distances and different cultures”
4. “come together, communicate, and collaborate” –> “meet, communicate and collaborate”
5. “in ways few would have thought possible” –> “in ways few thought possible”

However, #2 (“enabling” –> “surprise”) and to a lesser extent #4 (“come together” –> “meet”) have not only lessened the dramatic effect of my original words, but may leave the overall message open to different interpretation.

Therefore, it is easy to imagine the challenges inherit in translating entire blog posts or websites.

Can Social Media become a Universal Translator?

Will the continuing trends of both the rapid evolution of social media technology and the widespread adoption of social media for communication and collaboration, be able to deliver on science fiction’s promise of a universal translator?

Although we still don’t have warp drive or lightsabers, we do have some of the other seemingly impossible technologies from science fiction—just compare that mobile device you carry around with you to the communicator and tricorder from the original Star Trek television show.

Therefore, I remain hopeful that a universal translator is in our not too distant future.

Social Karma (Part 2)

In Part 1 of this series:  I introduced the series premise, motivation, and intended format.  I also provided disclaimers about my social media experience and my lack of affiliation with any person, website, event, product, or book that I recommend.

In Part 2, we will discuss leveraging social media for “listening purposes only.”  This approach provides a passive (and safe) way to determine what (if any) type of active involvement with social media makes sense for you and/or your company.

You seek first to understand

Let's start with a few common questions about social media:

• Should every individual professional have their own blog?
• Should every company have its own blog?
• Should every individual professional actively use social networking sites (e.g., Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn)?
• Should every company actively use social networking sites?

Some social media “experts” defiantly claim that the answer to all of these question is: YES!

However, the only honest answer to all of these questions is: Maybe.

As with everything in the business world, you should seek first to understand what social media can offer and what it requires, before making any type of professional commitment. 

Both of those last two words are important—professional and commitment. 

This series is about the art of effectively using social media in a business context.  Therefore, we are discussing a topic about professional communication—which for both individuals and companies, must always be taken very seriously.

Using social media effectively, more than anything else, requires a commitment—mostly measured in time.  As bad as many claim it is to not get actively involved in social media, believe me—doing it poorly does a lot more harm than not doing it all.

You say you want a conversation

Well, you know—do you really want to change your world?

The pervasiveness of the Internet and the rapid proliferation of powerful mobile technology is transforming the very nature of human communication, and perhaps most strikingly, business communication.

Social media is taking advantage of this amazing medium, enabling people separated by vast distances and disparate cultures to come together, communicate, and collaborate in ways few would have thought possible less than a decade ago.

We continue to witness the decline of print media and the corresponding evolution of social media.  I believe the primary reason for this transition is our increasing interest in exchanging what has traditionally been only a broadcast medium (print media) for a conversation medium (social media).

So, returning to my paraphrasing of The Beatles that opened this section, I have to ask—do you really want a conversation?

In the business context of social media, conversations can occur on several levels.  Just a few examples include:

• Between companies and their customers (including both prospective and former customers)
• Between companies and their employees
• Between employees and customers (in a less formal sense and beyond the walls of the workplace)
• Between employees (both within and beyond the walls of the workplace)
• Between customers

Only you can determine if you or your corporate culture is willing and able to properly participate in these conversations.  Many rightfully argue that you may soon simply not have a choice.  Therefore, if you are currently unwilling or unable, now is the time for you and your company to properly prepare—once again, a lack of preparation will do a lot more harm than good.

Of course, once you are properly prepared, you will be positioned to turn this challenge into a true competitive advantage.

Your worlds are colliding

We are becoming an increasingly digital society, and through social media, we are living more and more of both our personal and professional lives online, blurring—if not eliminating—the distinction between the two.

Later in this series, I will return to this topic and its implications for individual professionals.  However, from a company perspective, there are digital walls that can prevent (or at least slow down) your worlds from colliding—the company intranet.

First, I recommend establishing a corporate policy regarding what is permissible for employees to say about the company on external social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, as well as other social media platforms, including the employees’ personal blogs.  I am not advocating censorship—just some basic guidelines of professional behavior.

Next, I recommend evaluating an internal social networking platform such as Yammer or Socialcast (to name just two examples among many options) for employees to use while at the office for robust communication and collaboration.  You might not have to block external social networking sites, but companies should strongly encourage that all work-related social networking be performed within the safety of the intranet and not out in the serendipitous “Series of Tubes” also known as the Internet.

Later in this series, we will discuss active participation in external social media (e.g., blogging) and social networking sites.

You're listening

Before committing to active involvement in (external) social media, perform some due diligence by actively listening. 

Dedicate time to reading the blogs within your specific industry or other areas of your professional interest.  Pay close attention to the most frequent topics of discussion—especially in the comments section.  Your goal is to learn as much as possible about the online community within which you are considering active participation. 

Useful—and free—listening tools include (but are not limited to) the following:

• Google Alerts – receive e-mail updates of the latest relevant Google search results based on your choice of query or topic.
• Google Blog Search – search blogs (or the web) based on your choice of query or topic, which can be saved as a RSS feed.
• Twitter Search – Unlike other social networking sites, you don't need an account for read access to Twitter content.  You can also save search queries as RSS feeds.  If you are not familiar with how to use it, then check out my Twitter Search Tutorial.
• Google Reader – aggregate your research, websites, blogs, and RSS feeds into a single “listening station.”

Conclusion

Just like with any professional endeavor, honestly evaluate both your expectations and your readiness before you and your company get actively involved with social media in a business context.  Diligent research and proper preparation are standard best practices—and there is absolutely no reason that these sound business principles should not also apply to social media.

I have also recorded the key points of this blog post as a podcast:

You can also download this podcast (MP3 file) by clicking on this link: Social Media Preparation

In Part 3 of this series:  We will begin discussing the basics of developing your social media strategy by first examining the benefits of establishing a blog as your social media base of operations for effective online community participation.

Related Posts

Social Karma (Part 1) – Series Introduction

Social Karma (Part 3) – Listening Stations, Home Base, and Outposts

Social Karma (Part 4) – Blogging Best Practices

Social Karma (Part 5) – Connection, Engagement, and ROI Basics

Social Karma (Part 6) – Social Media Books

Social Karma (Part 7) – Twitter

DQ-Tip: “Start where you are...”

Data Quality (DQ) Tips is an OCDQ regular segment.  Each DQ-Tip is a clear and concise data quality pearl of wisdom.

“Start where you are

Use what you have

Do what you can.”

This DQ-Tip is actually a wonderful quote from Arthur Ashe, which serves as the opening of the final chapter of the fantastic data quality book: Executing Data Quality Projects: Ten Steps to Quality Data and Trusted Information by Danette McGilvray.

“I truly believe,” explains McGilvray, “that no matter where you are, there is something you can do to help your organization.  I also recognize the fact that true sustainability of any data quality effort requires management support.  But don't be discouraged if you don't have the ear of the CEO (of course that would be nice, but don't let it stop you if you don't).”

McGilvray then suggests the following excellent list of dos and don'ts:

• You DON'T have to have the CEO's support to begin, but . . .
• You DO have to have the appropriate level of management support to get started while continuing to obtain additional support from as high up the chain as possible.
• You DON'T have to have all the answers, but . . .
• You DO need to do your homework and be willing to ask questions.
• You DON'T need to do everything all at once, but . . .
• You DO need to have a plan of action and get started!

“So what are you waiting for?” asks McGilvray. 

“Get going: build on your experience, continue to learn, bring value to your organization, have fun, and enjoy the journey!”

 

Related Posts

DQ-Tip: “Data quality is about more than just improving your data...”

DQ-Tip: “...Go talk with the people using the data”

DQ-Tip: “Data quality is primarily about context not accuracy...”

DQ-Tip: “Don't pass bad data on to the next person...”

Follow OCDQ

If you enjoyed this blog post, then please subscribe to OCDQ via my RSS feed or my E-mail updates.

You can also follow OCDQ on Twitter, fan the Facebook page for OCDQ, and connect with me on LinkedIn.

Video: Twitter #FollowFriday – January 15, 2010

In this OCDQ Video, I broadcast (from within The Tweet-rix) my Twitter FollowFriday recommendations for January 15, 2010.

If you are having trouble viewing this video, then you can watch it on Vimeo by clicking on this link: OCDQ Video

Tweeps mentioned in the video:

• Dylan Jones – @dataqualitypro – Data Quality Pro
• Phil Simon – @philsimon – Phil Simon Systems
• Henrik Liliendahl Sørensen – @hlsdk – Liliendahl on Data Quality
• Charles Blyth – @charlesblyth – MDM from the Front Line
• Jill Dyché – @jilldyche – Inside the Biz with Jill Dyché
• Rob Paller – @RobPaller – Rob Paller's Blog
• Daragh O Brien – @daraghobrien – The DOBlog
• Jill Wanless – @sheezaredhead – Data Quality From The Ground Up
• Steve Sarsfield – @stevesarsfield – Data Governance and Data Quality Insider
• Dalton Cervo – @dcervo – Dalton's Blog

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If you tweet away, I will follow

Video: Twitter Search Tutorial

Live-Tweeting: Data Governance

Brevity is the Soul of Social Media

Tweet 2001: A Social Media Odyssey

“I can make glass tubes”

One of my favorite television writers is Aaron Sorkin (more famous for creating The West Wing), who created the short-lived Sports Night, where William H. Macy guest-starred as an expert consultant brought in by executive management.

In a “strategy session” scene, where executives are dictating mandatory changes, Macy's character calls for a break, allowing the frustrated team to leave the room before losing their composure.  He then asks executive management to take a walk with him. 

Unbeknownst to them as it is happening, while he proceeds to escort them out of the building, he recites the following:

“You guys know who Philo Farnsworth was?

He invented television.  I don't mean he invented television like Uncle Milty [Milton Berle]. 

I mean he invented the television in a little house in Provo, Utah, at a time when the idea of transmitting moving pictures through the air would be like me saying I figured out a way to beam us aboard the Starship Enterprise.

He was a visionary.  He died broke and without fanfare. 

The guy I really like though was his brother-in-law, Cliff Gardner. 

He said, ‘Philo, I know everyone thinks you're crazy, but I want to be a part of this.  I don't have your head for science, so I'm not going to be able to help much with the design and mechanics of the invention, but it sounds like you're going to need glass tubes.’

You see, Philo was inventing the Cathode Ray Tube [CRT], and even though Cliff didn't know what that meant or how it worked, he'd seen Philo's drawing, and he knew that he was going to need glass tubes.  And since television hadn't been invented yet, it's not like you could get them at the local TV repair shop.

‘I want to be a part of this,’ Cliff said. ‘I don't have your head for science.  How would it be if I were to teach myself to be a glass blower?  And I could set up a little shop in the backyard.  And I could make all the tubes you'll need for testing.’

There ought to be Congressional Medals for people like that.

[At this point, and quite understandably, executive management was very confused.]

I've looked over the notes you've been giving over the last year or so, and I have to say they exhibit an almost total lack of understanding of how to get the best from talented people.

You said before that for whatever reason, I seem to be able to exert some authority around here.

I assure you it's not because they like me.  It's because they knew two minutes after I walked in the door, I'm someone who knows how to do something.

I can help.

I can make glass tubes.

That's what they need.”

What's my point?

Sometimes—and with the very best of intentions—when we try to help others, we have a tendency to try to get them to change everything they are currently doing.  More specifically, we try to get them to do things our way.

After all, our way works great for us, surely it will work just as well for them, right?

Wrong.

Judy Garland once said, “Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of someone else.”

So, if you want to help others be a first-rate version of themselves, then follow Cliff Gardner's lead. 

Take a good look at the situation, realize the person you are trying to help is full of potential, and probably just needs a little help with something very minor.

Listen carefully to the person you want to help—and then—kindly let them know:

“I can make glass tubes.”

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My #ThemeWord for 2010: KARMA