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?

Success Through Contribution

No debate, we are part of a society, surrounded by family, friends, colleagues and even strangers. Hence, I truly believe it is only natural that our success is measured through our contribution to others around us. Remember that war movies’ refrain? ‘Leave no one behind’. Drucker is right, only if we ‘contribute first, achieve later’, will we be able to collectively move forward.

As a society, as an organisation (commercial or otherwise), as a generation. And what’s a great way to contribute? Sharing. Believe and do it often enough, it becomes natural (just like on Facebook).

The good news: the tools of contribution and sharing are already in place and in our hands.

Here’s a little of my story.

How I Caught Up With the World

I had dropped out of film school at 19, spent the next 8 years on concert stages and in theatre halls, ran a pioneering music label startup for a while and finally landed my first corporate job at Oracle at 28. I was off the starting line but it felt like I was really late to the corporate game. I needed to grow fast!

To make things even more interesting, I started school again. I believed I needed a formal education in corporate business and marketing. Again, I felt late to the game (although running a startup did impart some key learning, for instance, listening to customers is really important.)  I needed knowledge fast!

No surprises here. I looked around the internet (circa 2007) and instantly felt ‘a new social movement’ brewing. The music label business I had ran with the wife was built on the back of the internet and Myspace (I have been online since mIRC (1996)), but this was different. Blogs were really coming into prominence, social networks were coming into life and suddenly, opinionated content are being shared everywhere! It felt like everyone decided to come onto the internet and ‘do something’ (*my theory on this digital tsunami? Generation Y’s coming of age + Generation X’s late adopters finally discovered the lure of social networks)

So with all these contributing of knowledge and sharing of content, there can only be one obvious outcome:

Learning on The Social Internet

If I needed an honest and reliable opinion on a marketing topic, I didn’t need to look further than the blogs of industry experts, even the self-proclaimed ones. The thinkers among them usually have links to academic research I could follow through and the active ones are typically discussing relevant and current issues of the day. Beats learning about business and marketing from an academic textbook (typically a year behind reality).

Need to get a grasp of the news-worthy developments every morning? I discovered my own Twitter community and has since been served with news and fresh knowledge daily by others who share the same passion or industrial affiliation.

Want to know what others are reading and find useful for learning? Try social bookmark service, Delicious.

Need answers to difficult questions on business, technology or any knowledge area you fancy? Ask on LinkedIn Answers. Someone somewhere will be happy to help you out.

Want ‘free’ carefully-researched academic papers or presentations? Try Slideshare or Scribd.

As long as we keep sharing openly and meaningfully on the social internet as I have discussed, I am certain we are all contributing to others around us, enriching their lives and collectively move forward.

Social Sharing is Your Contribution to The Lives of Others

Let’s get personal. Recently, I completed and earned my first degree, a First Class Hons in Marketing Management, at the ripe old age of 31. For a teenage dropout, I suppose that’s a big accomplishment. I am sharing this with you because, apart from my family and my circle of friends, you have contributed immensely to my learning experience and my achievements.

I can only thank the many people (some are friends, most are strangers) who blogged on topics that enriched my learning, posted academic papers on Slideshare or Scribd, shared links to rich content on Twitter, engaged in tweet conversations with me, and gave encouragement and support on Facebook and through this blog.

Since this is my professional and personal blog, I hope you will allow me to archive some highlights of my academic adventure. I hope this will also be a showcase of that experience, to show that my methodology in learning and knowledge gathering through social means can be easily replicated and, hopefully, will contribute to someone else’s achievements.

Berita Harian, Tuesday, 29 June 2010 : National Malay-language daily newspaper, front page header and page 3 article (click to enlarge) MyPaper, Tuesday, May 18, 2010 : Nationally-distributed daily newspaper Click to download and view quote A central theme in my convocation speech (pg. 5) touched on the virtues of open social sharing, especially in knowledge and collaborative work. Convocation Speech, Northumbria University, 22 May 2010

So how about sharing your experience on social sharing? I look forward to hearing from you in the comments.

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.

Slideshare & Scribd

I had shared this literature review (an extract from the full Final Year Professional Project I had to accomplish for undergrad studies) on Slideshare and Scribd since last September.

Here are the stats, so far:

1257views + 137 downloads on Slideshare

3665 views + 321 downloads on Scribd

Impressive numbers, I guess, for a ‘non-viral’ academic work.

So why did I choose to publish and share my work online? Am I not afraid of it being plagiarised or copied?

The answer is ‘No’. If it isn’t for the openness and the acts of mutual sharing all over the Internet, we’d still be visiting libraries every day, painfully looking for stored manuscripts and hidden knowledge. Or my work would still be languishing in my hard drive, waiting to be ‘nostalgically re-discovered’ a few years down the road. (Technologically, there are restrictions in place on both Slideshare and Scribd to protect your work.)

Jason Parker does it too. See Jason’s slide deck for his first class lecture on Slideshare.

Also, as many people increasingly continue to come online and partake in digital citizenship, I am one who believes that digital personal branding has an increased importance in today’s society and this is the ‘invisible edge’ that is needed to move ahead of the pack. Be it in social circles or, of more importance, for professional opportunities.

Sharing your interests and expertise on social media is one way to do this.

Blog It

I had also blogged about this literature review earlier. I am certain the format of the study (literature review), combined with the timely relevance of the subject matter, had provided enough search engine optimisation (SEO) for my initial blog post to be found. In fact Google searches on ‘literature review social media’ and ‘role of social media in contemporary marketing’ brought up my blog and literature review pretty high on the list. As they say ‘Content is Always King’.

Jason Parker does it too. You can follow Jason on his Social Media Class blog as he updates his class on a regular basis, the social media-way.

Others have also found my work. To date, I have received emails from two current students of Northumbria University in the UK asking for my full project (which I have refused for obvious reasons. School is about effort and interaction, guys). However, I had provided enough ideas and direction for them to accomplish their undergrad tasks.

I have also connected with Susan Schwendener, a fellow communications practitioner, from Jason’s class. The possibilities are endless on social media.

What Price is Social Media Sharing?

I really hope Jason’s Insights and Opportunities in Social Media certificate program class had enjoyed reading the literature review distributed during their Week 1 class. Gives me the chills.

So what did I ask for in return for sharing my intellectual property?

What else but an endorsement in social media currency!

Jason kindly provided me with a LinkedIn endorsement that is viewable by my current and future prospective employers as well as my peers. The permanency and transparency of this and my other LinkedIn endorsements ensures that my professional profile, accomplishments and body of work is as truthful as I present it to be.

Read more about leveraging on LinkedIn for bloggers at Online Media Gazette or how to use LinkedIn to your professional and commercial advantage (via NateRiggs.com)

Acknowledgements

To Jason Parker for extending the opportunity to share what I’ve gained.

And to Erik Yek, my undergrad tutor and Northumbria facilitator at the Marketing Institute of Singapore, for the guidance and patience.

Here again is the literature review ‘Role of Social Media in Contemporary Marketing’. You may wish to download the PDF for later viewing or scroll through the presentation below.

Tell me what you think in the comments?