More reasons not to post in haste - what you say on facebook can be used against you!

A judge has just ruled that postings to social networking sites such as Facebook and Myspace are admissable as evidence!  And you thought you were protected by blocking your messages and only showing them to friends?  Not any longer..

Here is the lead-in to the article:

Court Allows Use of Facebook, MySpace Communications

July 27, 2010 (PLANSPONSOR.com) – A federal judge has agreed to allow a Florida-based self-storage company being sued for sexual harassment to have copies of two female plaintiffs’ postings on the Facebook and MySpace social networking Web sites.

In another example of how the courts continue to struggle with the legal implications of the wildly popular social networking trend, U.S. Magistrate Debra McVicker Lynch of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana ruled that the two women’s Facebook and MySpace communications could be relevant to their harassment allegations.

Lynch agreed with lawyers for defendant Simply Storage Management that communications plaintiffs Tara Strahl and Joanie Zupan had on their Facebook and MySpace pages could help uncover what happened to them.

“It is reasonable to expect severe emotional or mental injury to manifest itself in some SNS (social networking site) content and an examination of that content might reveal whether onset occurred, when, and the degree of distress,” Lynch wrote in one of two orders issued earlier this year dealing with the issue. “Further, information that evidences other stressors that could have produced the alleged emotional distress is also relevant. Thus, the court determines that some SNS discovery is appropriate here.”

Click here to read the complete article.

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• Posted Rita McGrath on July 28, 2010
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The lingering decline of traditional media

In a most interesting recent report, the OECD did a rundown of the state of the publishing industry today.  What they found, not surprisingly, was that newspapers in many countries are in a sad state of decline.  The report highlights shows a number of interesting charts and graphs.  What do they recommend?  Unfortunately, no silver bullet.  To quote from the report: 

• Given the central role of news for democratic societies, the evolutions of news creation and distribution are a matter of public interest. The question is whether and how the production of high-quality and pluralistic news content can be left to market forces alone.
• In the short-term, some OECD countries have put emergency measures in place to financially help the struggling newspaper industry. Moreover, the  question is currently being debated what potential roles government support might take in preserving a diverse and local press without putting its independence at stake.
• Support measures and topics being debated include: (i) the improvement or intensification of existing state support policies (direct or indirect subsidies) and an extension to online news providers; (ii) new approaches to the protection of newspaper content, (iii) the relaxation of competition and media diversity laws; (iv) the role of public broadcasters; and (v) the reliability and governance of online news.

 Sounds to me as though the fourth estate is in trouble and no one seems to have a great solution. 

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• Posted Rita McGrath on June 21, 2010
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From the cutting room floor - Networking tips

A reporter recently asked me to comment on do’s and don’ts for effective networking.  A few of the tips made the final article but many of them didn’t.  Here are the ideas that ended up on the cutting room floor, as it were:

While networking is not my beat, so to speak, I can certainly chime in with a few tales of ineffective networking: very often at academic conferences.  Since people at such conferences are often looking for jobs, you would be amazed at the amount of inappropriate, clumsy, naive, awkward and just plain silly networking attempts that go on.  Herewith, some don’t stories about networking. 

Avoid inappropriate or awkward followup 

Example: I met a Korean candidate wannabe at an academic cocktail party, and while he was standing next to me, one of my friends asked where I was staying.  Not thinking anything of it, I replied with the name of my hotel.  Imagine my amazement when the hotel phone rang at 3 in the morning, only to find that my wake-up call had come from the Korean student.  Tempted to give him the benefit of the doubt, I assumed he was confused by the time change and had no idea what time it really was.  Nope.  Turns out, he figured that this would be a good time to call since he knew I wouldn’t have other appointments!  You can imagine where THAT resume went.
Trying to fake more knowledge about your contacts than you actually have. 

When you finally get to meet someone who you think is important, it is all too common to feign more knowledge than you actually have about what they do.  Please don’t do that.  Your contact knows exactly what they have done, accomplished and worked on over the years, and your trying to fake it only makes you look spectacularly clueless.  Example:  Students I meet who start gushing about how much they love my research, and upon further questioning it turns out that they have me completely confused with my good friend Anita McGahan, who works on industry analysis topics, not innovation and growth topics.

Talking too much, particularly about the fascinating subject of yourself

So there you are, and you are finally meeting up with someone who you think would be a good contact.  So what do you do?  In the attempt to make that person want to remember, help and befriend you, you go on and on about every remarkable - or more likely, not so remarkable - thing you’ve done recently.  It’s boring.  It’s vaguely insulting.  And all it will do is get your business card dropped in the trash. 
Claiming acquaintance with people who you think are in your target’s social circle whom you do not actually know

Again, out of a desire to seem plugged in or more well networked than you actually are, it is common for people to say things like, “Oh, yes, Joe has mentioned you often,” thinking that your target will admire and appreciate this mutual friendship.  Here’s the problem.  If Joe and I really are friends, and I say something like, “I met your friend Jordan at a work thing the other night” and I then find out that Joe has no idea who I am speaking about, that claim is stone cold dead. 

Obvious tag-sniffing

At every conference, people’s status is spelled out more or less by what’s on their name tag, whether it is their affiliation, company, status at the conference or whatever.  It is really tacky to walk up to someone, examine their tag, decide they aren’t worth your time and leave.  It’s OK to peer with subtlety at tags to identify those who might be of interest.  It is really NOT cool to leap across the room to introduce yourself to the Big Shot whose tag you have just identified.  It is also rude to interrupt a conversation the Big Shot seems to be enjoying to introduce yourself.  If the Big Shot looks as though he or she is looking to make an escape from a conversation (see below) however, you may be able to help them free themselves by entering into a conversation with you.

Subsection to the aforementioned:  do not assume that the Big Shot’s spouse is unworthy of attention.  It’s happened to me more than once that someone who I thought was an executives spouse is, but turned out to be a heavy hitter in his or her own right.

Oh, all right, some tips for effective networking:

Prepare your elevator pitch

When you are at a networking event, and someone asks you what you do, they are not looking for an infomercial.  A carefully chosen few lines that introduce you and explain the benefits of what you do are sufficient.  For instance, it is much better to say “I work designing strategies that allow companies to keep their key people” is much more interesting than “I work in human resources for a major pharmaceutical firm”.

Don’t be afraid to say hello to other people first.  They’re probably there to network too

The easiest way to approach people if you don’t know anyone is to strike up a conversation over something that is clearly mutual - as in “Oh, you’re from New York as well?  When did you get in?” or “wow, they went to a lot of trouble with the set up for this event”.  I would avoid anything heavy as an opening line. 

Don’t cling

A networking event, unless you’re having the business equivalent of love at first sight, is about meeting lots of people.  So do not dog your newly met friends’ every step.  Chat for a few minutes and then move on.
Know your date or spouse before even THINKING about bringing them to a networking event.  Some are assets - they’re pretty / attractive / funny and can help make a nice impression, particularly if other people’s spouses are there.  Some are shy, unhappy to be there, and boy will you hear about it afterward.  As a general rule, I don’t bring my spouse to heavy networking events if I don’t think there will be people there that he can converse with. 

Don’t be afraid to ask for a business card clearly and directly, as in “could I have your card?”

If that makes you uncomfortable, you can always say something like, “I’ll send you that article on the fall of Wall Street - do you have a card?”

Subsection:  card etiquette in different cultures differs greatly.  If you are in Japan, for example, the protocol is to hold your card in both hands with the words pointed toward your opposite, who takes it, admires it, says something about it or you and then repeats the action with their card. You receive it with both hands, and make a comment, such as “I hear that is one of the largest banks in Japan”.  If you are networking internationally, find out the protocols before you go. 

Develop a graceful way to extract yourself from the clingy (see beforementioned tip)

Getting a drink, visiting the restroom appropriate to your gender, spying someone you actually do know across the room and having your cell phone ring are all non-offensive mechanisms for getting away. 

Think a little bit before you go to the event what you would like to get out of it

Then, if you can see who will be there, try to identify who you would like to meet and why.  The “why” should be a two-way street - if you’re going to build a successful relationship, you need to have something to offer as well.  Think about what that is before going.

Scarlett O’Hara’s generation had the right idea about food and drink

In the old movie Gone With The Wind, the heroine was admonished not to eat too heartily at a local party.  It isn’t a bad suggestion at a networking gathering.  If there is food and drink involved, as a general rule stick to finger food OR something in a glass. It is hard to talk with food in your mouth, impossible to shake hands when one has a glass in one and a plate in the other, and unattractive to shake hands covered with the grease from the coconut-baked shrimp you just had.  It isn’t a wedding - it’s a networking event! 

Follow Up

There is no point networking if you let the relationship go cold.  So do something with those business cards.  Write a note (or email) reflecting on the conversation.  Offer to follow up on a question that came up.  Suggest an article the person might find interesting.  And remember, collecting business cards is meaningless until you use them to build a relationship.  Finally, do not promise things and then fail to do them.  If you say you’re going to send a book or article, send it.  If you say you’re going to call, call.

Networking is pretty much unavoidable except for hermits and students of advanced mathematics, I suppose.  So having some good ideas about how to approach it can be a vital part of your personal toolkit for success. 

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• Posted Rita McGrath on January 06, 2010
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Customer experience innovation at the Disney Stores

A major theme that I’ve been following for a while is that rather than conventional product or service innovation, companies that attend to their customers’ total experience with an offering can craft powerful, sticky, and long-lasting advantages.  I was intrigued, therefore, to learn that the Walt Disney Company is taking this seriously with respect to their retail stores.  In a New York Times story, reporter Books Barnes describes the million-dollars per store plan that Disney is hatching to create completely enchanting children’s experiences in their stores.  The new, rebranded stores are destined to become destinations in their own right - places where kids beg to go, rather than utilitarian mall display spaces with an unnerving number of unimaginative but Disney-themed playthings. 

My co-author and I actually picked up on the trend toward creating experiences in toy shops as part of our discussion in the book Discovery Driven Growth.  We use the example of Sacramento-based “G. Willikers” toys to show how a model that involves customer experiences has far more power than one that involves just moving piles of shrink-wrapped novelties.  Other toy shops capitalizing on experience include the “Build A Bear” workshop (suffering in the recession, but a powerful business model nonetheless) and the “American Girl” dolls. 

I’m looking forward to seeing if Disney is a harbinger of trends to come.  I mean, imagine how cool life could get if corporations actually focused on giving their customers rich, intriguing experiences rather than simply trying to lure them into buying more stuff? 

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• Posted Rita McGrath on November 18, 2009
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How decisions made under uncertainty can cast a long shadow - Internet Pricing

The reality of having to make decisions under uncertainty is that quite often, you’ll get things wrong.  Unfortunately, sometimes those wrong things have very long and path-dependent consequences.  I’m thinking in particular of two decisions that were made virtually industry-wide as the Internet evolved:  1) the decisions that content should be ‘free’; and 2) the decision to sell Internet access on a flat-fee for unlimited access basis.  As a recent article in the Wall Street Journal points out, in the early days of the Internet (remember dial-up access?) consumers were perfectly happy to pay by the amount of connection time they used.  If you cast your mind back to the old AOL business model, you paid a basic access fee to get your ID and password, and that covered a certain amount of usage.  Then, if you went over that, you paid more.  This kind of pricing makes a lot of sense when you have a resource that is vulnerable to overuse, and you want to encourage investment in the infrastructure to support it.

Then, along came a bunch of bright sparks with the idea of offering ‘always on’ unlimited access to the Internet at high-speeds for a fixed, flat rate.  I’m sure the original idea was to try to undermine the AOL model both in terms of speed and in terms of ease of use.  What was apparently not anticipated was that the amount of traffic that would eventually begin flowing through the networks as our lives become increasingly digital and on-line.  Now, those who offer network services are in a pickle:  How do you backtrack on that business model, once you have trained customers that your services should essentially be available in unlimited quantities for one flat price?  I think it’s rather analogous to the problem news organizations and content providers are up against as well - how do you convince people to pay for content after spending over a decade providing the news for free?

There are a few examples in which companies have been able to get customers to pay for something they used to get for free - cable TV and (to some extent) Satellite radio might be cases in point.  But it isn’t easy, and requires some kind of barrier to competition. 

It will be interesting to see how the net neutrality legislation now making its way through the legislature will play into this.  While I do agee that you don’t want network provides making decisions about which services customers can and can’t get, it doesn’t seem to honor basic fairness to me to dictate that they have to offer their services to any comer on an unlimited basis.  After all,  nobody is telling the electricity company that they can’t charge more to those who use more.  And in telephony, interestingly enough, the operators seem to have avoided the seduction of giving their network minutes away for free.  We have a strong interest in making sure that networks are capable of handling the traffic of the Internet future.  And someone has to pay for that.  Let’s hope that some reasonable compromise can emerge, in which network providers have an incentive to provide great service, while charging fair prices for the access they provide. 

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• Posted Rita McGrath on October 24, 2009
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