a groovyweb

A while ago, while reading Peter Drucker, I came across his philosophy that was, at first, a little disconcerting to me:

Forget ‘success’? ‘Contribution’? Like Mother Theresa?

Then it all made sense.

All our lives we’ve been told to be ‘successful’ and ‘over-achieve’ (a default if you’re a Singaporean). Our success is measured on the kind of education that we receive, the grades we hauled home, the jobs we land, the lifestyle we adopt and the property we live in. A very singular pursuit indeed.

Nothing wrong with personal wealth and accolades (perhaps some of you contributed a few million dollars to your company’s bottom line that enriched the lives of your colleagues.) But can we do more? Can we make a daily difference to the lives of others? Can we help others achieve and replicate our own success stories? Can we contribute meaningfully?
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Singaporeans like to complain, right?

We complain about everything! Why is it flooding in Orchard Road? Why are MRT fares expensive? Why watching World Cup on cable is so expensive? Why is the weather so hot/cold? Okay lah, let’s say we call these: ‘feedback‘.

Now look at the photo on the right. This is the message from  the video display screens around Gatwick Airport in London:

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Daniel Pink has a big compelling statement to make:

Pink is the author of the best-selling book ‘Drive: The Surprising Truth of What Motivates Us’, a study that argues long-held conventional beliefs in human motivation are actually hampering effective, high performance.

This is a continuation on my series of posts that discusses the intrinsic needs of employees in a new social environment that is increasingly connected through digital means and how businesses can relook its stance on employees’ engagement in social media and derive positive branding opportunities along the way. Pink’s works and ideas have been a huge recent inspiration and motivation for me to continue discussing the need of social engagement through digital means, especially within organisations, in achieving business objectives.

Now what exactly does science knows and business is doing wrong?

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Full disclosure: I admit I am a technology geek and, unabashedly, a Google fanboy. I am always fiddling with my gadget of choice (my Google Nexus One phone), customising my Google Chrome browser and I constantly try to outsmart the office’s laptop and its ‘restrictions’. You may ask why do I spend valuable time and effort on activities like these?

Well, I demand technology to work for me, to get the most value out of pieces of technology I own or paid good money for. But most simple technologies are made available to me for free, so being Singaporean, free is holy. But, above all, the driving motivation for this is to increased productivity and efficiency, both for my personal and professional uses. (Particularly useful when I was studying too).

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When Jason Parker wrote to ask if he could use an academic work of mine for his Social Media appreciation class at the University of Chicago Graham School of General Studies, I was thrilled. It also dawned upon me that social media is certainly worth all that time and effort.

How did Jason, Adjunct Professor at University of Chicago and Planning Director at Leo Burnett and quite possibly on the exact opposite of the world, discover ‘Role of Social Media in Contemporary Marketing’, an ‘obscure’ literature review I had completed only last September?

Social media.

And how did I make that happen?

Social media.

I had sowed ample digital opportunities where Jason and others could have found this piece of work. And this is how I did it.

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