Blasting the Technology and Marketing Elite

Occasionally I will write about certain posts that Seth Godin has thrown up on his blog. I am a huge advocate of his ideas and strategies surrounding the world of marketing and communication. Yesterday, Seth had a blog post entitled: The small-minded vision of the technology elite.

The blog post immediately caught my attention because I know Seth and a couple of the “technology elite” are not the best of friends. The post talks about the narrow outlook of innovation (Chris has some amazing ideas toward the innovation of Social Media, this is clearly a link to define what true innovation could look like) and advancement that some of technologically savvy individuals possess. From his post:

Take a look at the geek discussion boards and you’ll see an endless list of sharp-tongued critics, each angling to shoot down one idea or another. And then take a look at the companies that show up at the various pitch shows, and you’ll see one company after another pitching incremental improvements based on current assumptions.

The problem with getting stuck in an innovation paradigm is rampant over every area of business whether social media or marketing. When something works we will always see a huge entry into the market of products and services that are enhancements of the original creation.

We can fall into the trap of rejecting new ideas because of what works at the given moment. I  see it  happening on a daily basis in the social media because I have been guilty of doing it myself. When new services are being launched daily, it is hard to balance trying the innovative idea with being productive.

I tend to rely on the technological elite to give me information on new services being introduced into the market. Whether you are following Louis Gray, Mike Fruchter, Hutch Carpenter, Douglas Karr, or Mashable (the people I rely on) it is easy to categorize what works and what doesn’t.

My only warning: Keep an open mind. When testing new social media services don’t get caught up in opinions and reviews. I suggest trying it out for yourself. It may take 15-30 minutes of your day but at least you will know it either is innovative or it failed.

I am not an early adopter. I am an adapter. I will follow and collaborate with people who are better at social media adoption than I could ever be.

That is where the truth is hidden between the lines of every service. Does it work for me?