Where are The Uncharted Social Waters?

Over the next five years every industry will have to redesign itself around social.  This was a comment by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg at the recent Web 2.0 Summit, and one that I believe holds a great deal of merit.

photo © 2006 Wouter | more info (via: Wylio)

Openness and People

One of the qualities of social media is that is encourages openness, typically in the form of sharing – by people. People are now more involved with the development of products and services.  This is why that is now the place to start – outside of the business where products are usually developed.

If you ask yourself, "What is a better way to do this?"  You are taking an open perspective, but still thinking in terms of product.  It's a narrow viewpoint.  People are the the key to finding the uncharted waters in this socially influenced business environment.

If you ask, "What is good is good for people to use?" or "What would this look like for these people (your market)?"  Now you are beginning to think in terms of people.  You are reconsidering what you do from the perspective of the influencers that are actually creating the uncharted social waters.

Watch Out for Patterns

To find uncharted waters you have to look where you never have before.  This means you have to think like you never have before, which is a challenge for any of us.  The starting point is certainly to make the effort to think – to reconsider everything you have, are, or will be doing.  And to do so openly.

This will most likely involve sharing and partnering, as outside perspectives will challenge your thinking - provided you are open to it.

Every human being develops their own conditioned patterns of thinking. While it is possible that your next thought will be one of brilliance, it is most likely it will be conditioned to be much like those thoughts that preceded it.  It's a scientific fact.

What Matters to People

People are hard-wired to interact with other human beings. We are social creatures, and our social activities are driven by what we most like to do.  This can be:

Sharing – Just having an enjoyable conversation

Playing – This is usually an activity, such as a recreational sport.

Creating – What is the art you wish to create?

Learning – This is not only what I love to do, but what I do with others as a speaker and trainer.

Helping – We are conditioned to help those in need during these upcoming holiday seasons.  There are plenty of uncharted waters beyond that narrow window.

Zuckerberg sidestepped most questions in this interview about the future plans of Facebook. Though, he admitted they will continue to focus on creating an open platform that is driven by sharing; and that they will stay away from creating content.

Creating content is what I do best, so this gives me something to think about to redesign my business so that I can stay fresh and relevant.

How about you?

Tomorrow I'll be networking with the TypePad team here in Chicago to learn more about how we can partner on the TypePad blogging platform.  Be assured that I have been taking notes on your hundreds of comments and questions (keep them coming) – and will share what I learn with you next week. 

That's all for this week.  If this has been useful –  leave a comment below or share it with YOUR friends by clicking the Facebook Like button.  And please consider subscribing to the feed. 

Have a Great Weekend, Jeff