True, it’s a little early to proclaim the new year, which according to the Chinese calendar rings in on Thursday the 7th. But since you are here exploring the notion of whether Social Media is right for your business and goals, I thought it would be a good time to challenge your perspective. (In some ways, it’s hard to beat the Chinese on perspective. What’s a few millenia among friends?)
China has been increasingly highlighted for its role in an interconnected global economy, but until recently the most profound impact on Western business thinking has been the various interpretations of the Sun-Tzu treatise “The Art of War.” Sun-Tzu was a general, and most versions of the book have his philosophy of conflict interspersed with commentary from students and devotees who span several centuries. It’s not so much a “how to wage war” manual as a “how to think about waging war” guide.
For that reason, many of the precepts can be converted into the business case. And they have. Ad nauseum. Lookup ‘business’ with ‘The Art of War’ on Google Checkout, and you get 180 hits at the time of this writing. Since the early 1980s, it has been an influence.
Online Fortune
If you want to understand Social Media, I won’t ask you to trash your copy of “The Art of War,” but rather supplement it with some wisdom from “The Analects” of Kung Fu-Tze (or Confucius as you might know him.) The word Analects means “fragments.” Imagine learning about a great professor not from his own writings, but from the margin notes of his students. Now you’re digging into the Analects.
While a study of the book makes for a fascinating case study in distributed intelligence (and for being the first literary wiki), I instead want to point you to one of Confucius’ central themes: Words and Deeds must be in harmony. A man is judged by backing up what he promises. But most importantly, there is no hidden motive – it is all on the surface.
If you decide that it is time for your organization to start venturing into the Social Web, then proceed with the idea of being transparent. Hidden agendas and identities don’t exactly engender trust — and while some members of communities will never trust your declared motive (or even any for-profit company), any breach of words and deeds will get you booted out. Your duty to your company comes first, yes… but you can’t help your company if you’ve insulted the community. It’s certainly a change from the win-or-lose mindset presented in most of the Art of War knockoffs, and one worth exploring.
(Ike Pigott regularly writes at Occam’s RazR)
