“It is much harder to fix a culture that to create a culture.” Jeff Veen, Adobe/Typekit#. @veen [via]
This past weekend I took a few hours to fix broken links from my earlier posts at Fast Company#, those I wrote before they moved onto a new platform and redirected the rest.
It was my custom, back in 2006-2008, to write wrap posts about the same topic here from the Conversation* Agent point of view. To me the difference was using my own voice as individual on this site and using a voice more aligned with the vision of the magazine on its site. Still me in both cases, working to support different goals.
For years my theme on this site used to be “connecting ideas and people, how talk can change our lives.” I walked the talk. Still do, actually, I just replaced the tagline to be more descriptive of my process.
Despite the recent skepticism around brands and interaction in social, the nay-saying about content marketing (and with reason, we seem to want to be “one hit wonders” in marketing land, every time forgetting good tools for new ones) we see examples every day of how when communication breaks down, things spiral and we go from potential connection and upside to dis-connected experiences.
It is indeed much harder to fix something that is broken -- it takes more time, you have to investigate where it is, find a way to not just patch it, or replace that link, time consuming with tech... with people you also have an emotional wake that no amount of “it's just business” rationalizations will heal.
Network effects are more real and powerful now that the connections are evident and action through creation is not only more accessible, it is also more likely. This means we have an opportunity to design conversations that allow culture to emerge, that elicit participation and contribution and widen options.
* Almost forgot to add this, so I am updating the post: online people don't converse, they comment. Big difference. Conversations are actual relationships of ideas and people within a context (more via the link I provided).
+++
Valeria is an experienced listener. She designs service and product experiences to help businesses rediscover the value of promises and its effect on relationships and culture. She is also frequent speaker at conferences and companies on a variety of topics. Book her to speak here.