This is the second of a few posts reflecting on Malcolm Gladwell's Blink in the social age, five years since its publishing. Read the first.
The premise of Blink is that the intuitive, instant judgments (i.e. gut reactions) we make on a subconscious level are often highly accurate. Gladwell shows that with a little direction, we can empower people to make these spontaneous judgments contribute to an overall goal.
Two Examples from Blink
Gladwell looks at a New York improv comedy club and explains that the key to good improv acting is to always accept everything that happens to you. In other words, no suggestion should be denied. With this direction (and lots of practice), members of an improv troupe seem fluid and even telepathic with one another. If you've ever seen good improv, you know what it's like when they're on. It can seem scripted, but really they're just making spontaneous decisions based on a rule.Lieutenant General Paul Van Riper calls this being in command and out of control. Gladwell tells us how Van Riper used this philosophy to command military forces in real life and in a war game called the Millenium Challenge. Rather than giving forces with intricate orders, he provides only general guidance and overall intent.It seems like a risky strategy to let go control like this. But doing so actually empowered Van Riper's troops to rely on their own intuition and initiative in the field, when there's no time to deliberate. While the enemy was analyzing reams of data, Van Riper's forces were already on the offensive. And they won.
Social Media/Business Application
As business integrates social media into more of its functions, every employee becomes a voice for the company. It's impossible to monitor every interaction employees have online, but setting the rules of engagement ensures that everyone is interacting with the same intent. The larger the organization, the more important this becomes.Best Buy took a big risk when it launched Twelpforce. It had the potential to be very messy having hundreds of store employees engaging thousands of customers and prospects online. But by setting a simple set of social media guidelines, they set the direction and trusted their blue shirts to do the right thing, and they did. And I'm willing to bet the employee satisfaction levels for Twelpforcers is through the roof.
Losing Control of the Brand
Much has been said about how in the social age, brands are out of the business's control. But businesses are still in command of whether they're useful, interesting, open and honest. If they get those right, the out-of-control brand will take care of itself.
