Flat + Round Worlds Redux

I think it’s taboo or something to re-cycle previous blog material—but hey, I can still claim ignorance.  After all, I just found out last week who Steve Rubel is (Thank you Karl ), and it's only been recently that I stopped thinking  Doc Searls was a character from the Love Boat.

So, the reason why I am referencing the Round World Flat World visual again is because in retrospect—this was a key theme in the Podcast I did with Jaffe.  In the Podcast, I mention that my introduction with Jaffe would have never worked the traditional way.  I had two previous encounters with Joseph “traditionally”.  First when we met at Battle for the Heart and next when I shot him an e-mail to come check out L+E.  But it took the Social Media Network to bring us together in a meaningful way.  Next, I reference that the whole reason Logic + Emotion came to be was that I couldn’t get my ideas out the “traditional” way.  As I mentioned—I’ve had some of this thinking in the works for some time.  But there was never an opportunity to share them.  And if I initiated a whitepaper idea, it was put aside by one or two individuals who “owned the brand” of the establishment I was working at and they didn't see a fit.

Maura Welch from the Boston Globe recently commented on the going mainstream post  and that got me thinking as well about the traditional and non-traditional way of doing things.  It’s not very common for the media to do things like comment on blogs.  That’s fairly new.  That’s not traditional.  And back to the podcast, the way that Jaffe referenced the upcoming Seth Godin appearance and went out of his way to detail my role in it.  That’s not traditional either—the whole story behind how Seth got involved wasn't traditional.

What’s happening here?  Can everything we do be traced back to a traditional vs. non-traditional way of doing things?  It’s probably not that simple, but you really have to ponder this stuff while it happens.  People are meeting and connecting differently than they used to.  I just had about 20 e-mail exchanges with my BFF’s (Blog Friends Forever) Ann Handley, Karl Long, and Mack Collier.  And get this:  I still have no idea what Ann and Mack sound like—and if it weren’t for one Skype enabled phone call that I shared with Karl, the first time I would have heard his voice would have been on a Podcast.

So it’s not just business that feels the effect of the flat world phenomenon—it’s everyday interactions, relationships and engagements. 

As I look back at the opportunities I have been awarded by being a “non traditionalist”—it’s astounding. 

Just something to consider as we all watch the “shift” in real time.

Comments

[Frank Patrick]

David -- Found your blog via Steve Hardy's Creative Generalist post. Immediately put it in my "Checking Out" list in Bloglines, expecting to move it to a permananent home based on an initial skim. Today's post on my blog (see the link) comments on Steve's comments on your T-shaped mind diagram. (included it if you don't mind). Looking forward to exploring some of your other posts, as my interests lie in similar areas of organizational effectiveness, especially in multi-project, shared resource environments.

Know the feeling about what you call BFFs and I call the Blog Buddies I've developed in almost 6 years of blogging. A little weird developing relationships with people you've never spoken to, much less met in meatspace. Weird but rewarding nonetheless.

One other comment. Love the name of your blog. You need logic to get the right things done, but you need emotion/passion to get anything worthwhile done.

Be "seeing" you around the 'sphere.