When I was in corporate America, I didn’t take on a new skill – say, direct mail fundraising – and say I was a “student” of fundraising. I was learning, but I was a professional. I was a professional honing a new skill, which – if we’re doing it right – we’re doing all the time. Yes?
So, I’m a bit over the notion that we’re all “students” of social media. Are the tools new? Yes they are. But communication and building relationships with people and the idea of providing value in return for someone’s attention are the oldest concepts in the book. Are we all so new at that? And if we are, should we be proud of that?
So if you want to say you’re still learning how to navigate the tech, that’s great with me. If you’re still learning how the tech applies to your business, I can be cool with that too. Because there are plenty of tools at which I’m not a pro. For instance, I’m a novice at video and podcasting. But I can still articulate their value, even if I’m not a producer. (I have lots of people I can call that know the ins and outs of that better than I do, and that’s just fine.) But that’s the nuts and bolts.
I don’t know about you guys, but I’ve been in communications for years (over a decade, to be exact), of varying stripes. I’ve been in fundraising, client services, business development, and marketing. I am a professional, and I carry with me certain expertise. I am NOT a novice at social media strategies because, while we’re still monkeying around with how social integrates with traditional and which tech is best for what purpose, I have been employing the ideas of good business relationships for my entire career. I’m just adding new tools to my arsenal that help me do all of those things even better, more quickly, and with exponential power.
Am I still learning about what makes a community strong? Yes and no. Some of it is revisiting old ideas and stripping away the BS. Some of it is just figuring out the implications of information overload, preferences in technology, the flattening of information and the more prevalent voice of the customer. Some of it indeed is understanding the behaviors of folks who are more heavily invested online than ever before. But I’m not new to the idea of community. Just the execution of it in a new environment.
Business people all over the place will tell you that of course relationships matter. Of course they see the value in getting to know people personally, establishing trust, finding ways to brand loyalty and customer retention. Business people worth their salt will never argue the importance of these things. They don’t need to be sold on the idea that people matter (and if they do, social will never save them anyway, so you might as well focus elsewhere).
But they need the translation of how individual relationships scale (or how we can try), how to execute these ideas efficiently and within a budget and a larger business plan, and why these strategies will be more effective at doing all the things we mentioned above than the ones they’ve always done. They need transition plans that move them, methodically and realistically, in the right direction and don’t use “being part of the conversation” as justification for the shift. That requires work. Action. Execution. Effort. Proof. Not some lofty idea of sitting in the classroom of social media.
I feel like taking a sledgehammer to this fishbowl of ours. I have a project cooking that is ALL about execution – from culture change to internal communication to nitty-gritty tactics. Because that’s what business cares about. Because that’s what we need to legitimize social’s place among an enterprise structure. Because those are the only things that will actually affect the change that we are all so desperately clamoring for and claiming social is capable of.
I spend a lot of time – a lot of time – talking to companies and their employees. They need to know that they can rely on people who have a solid foothold in the foundations of social media with the realities of business entrenched firmly in their minds along the way. We can learn the tools as we go. Hell, those change anyway. But we’re doing ourselves, our industry, and the business world a disservice if we all sit in wonder and awe of our role as “students” instead of looking at this as an evolution in our professional skill set – and tearing into it with practical, applicable gusto accordingly.
So can we stop excusing our ignorance and our learning curve by calling ourselves “students”? Please, yes, learn. But learn by doing. Business doesn’t need students. They need professionals actively honing new skills and putting them into practice. See the difference?
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I completely agree. I have considered myself a “student” but I can see your side of the coin. The tools will always change and they have for decades from the start of the radio all the way to the Internet. It is how you communicate through these channels and develop a strategy which is great for your organization.
I completely agree. I have considered myself a “student” but I can see your side of the coin. The tools will always change and they have for decades from the start of the radio all the way to the Internet. It is how you communicate through these channels and develop a strategy which is great for your organization.
When I hear the word student, I think of one who is in training, learning, and developing skills. This doesn’t necessarily blend into the professional world. Like you said, we can be professionals and learn how the tools work, but as professionals we should have a solid foundation of the medium in which we choose to “play” in.
Students wait to be taught the lesson. Professionals find the lessons to learn.
Look to guilds for the answer. We’re not students per se but we are tradesmen and tradeswomen. You may be apprenticing in social media. You may be a journeyman. At a certain point after you’ve become successful, you become a practitioner or a master practitioner. Always still room to grow, but there is a difference between a blacksmith’s apprentice and the journeyman making village rounds.
When I hear the word student, I think of one who is in training, learning, and developing skills. This doesn’t necessarily blend into the professional world. Like you said, we can be professionals and learn how the tools work, but as professionals we should have a solid foundation of the medium in which we choose to “play” in.
Students wait to be taught the lesson. Professionals find the lessons to learn.
Look to guilds for the answer. We’re not students per se but we are tradesmen and tradeswomen. You may be apprenticing in social media. You may be a journeyman. At a certain point after you’ve become successful, you become a practitioner or a master practitioner. Always still room to grow, but there is a difference between a blacksmith’s apprentice and the journeyman making village rounds.
I am with you, Amber. I wrote a while back that “social media isn’t sexy” – and the point was that real business value doesn’t lie with the sexy, marketing side. Sure there are benefits. But IMO the big value explosion is in how social media (tools, processes, approaches) can transform your brand from the inside out. And to make that happen, you need to be a business person – you need to know what counts within the business and drive towards those results. It also means being accountable.
I am with you, Amber. I wrote a while back that “social media isn’t sexy” – and the point was that real business value doesn’t lie with the sexy, marketing side. Sure there are benefits. But IMO the big value explosion is in how social media (tools, processes, approaches) can transform your brand from the inside out. And to make that happen, you need to be a business person – you need to know what counts within the business and drive towards those results. It also means being accountable.
Great post Amber! As someone who completed undergrad, jumped right into grad school, finished that and now about to enter my professional career I can honestly say that I am tired being called a student. Like you said, we’re always supposed to be learning in the business world in order to improve our personal skills as well as help improve out organization’s practices. Learning and obtaining new knowledge is supposed to be inevitable…the next step is figuring out what to do with what you learned, which is definitely the hardest part.
Great post Amber! As someone who completed undergrad, jumped right into grad school, finished that and now about to enter my professional career I can honestly say that I am tired being called a student. Like you said, we’re always supposed to be learning in the business world in order to improve our personal skills as well as help improve out organization’s practices. Learning and obtaining new knowledge is supposed to be inevitable…the next step is figuring out what to do with what you learned, which is definitely the hardest part.
This stuck out at me: “They need transition plans that move them, methodically and realistically, in the right direction and don’t use “being part of the conversation” as justification for the shift. That requires work. Action. Execution. Effort. Proof. Not some lofty idea of sitting in the classroom of social media.”
I never really did well in classrooms. I got decent grades (I’m talking college), but I needed to be able to apply real-life stuff to the principles I was learning. Hence why my Economics grades only improved in my junior and senior years. Microeconomics didn’t sink in until I learned about how labor unions and government policies affected, and were affected by, market forces.
As a result, I cannot imagine “just” learning social media without applying it at the same time. The foundational stuff for it can be found in business, organizational behavior, anthropology/sociology, etc. classes. But looking at SM as its own foundation? That just doesn’t seem right.
I can’t wait to see your project in action!
This stuck out at me: “They need transition plans that move them, methodically and realistically, in the right direction and don’t use “being part of the conversation” as justification for the shift. That requires work. Action. Execution. Effort. Proof. Not some lofty idea of sitting in the classroom of social media.”
I never really did well in classrooms. I got decent grades (I’m talking college), but I needed to be able to apply real-life stuff to the principles I was learning. Hence why my Economics grades only improved in my junior and senior years. Microeconomics didn’t sink in until I learned about how labor unions and government policies affected, and were affected by, market forces.
As a result, I cannot imagine “just” learning social media without applying it at the same time. The foundational stuff for it can be found in business, organizational behavior, anthropology/sociology, etc. classes. But looking at SM as its own foundation? That just doesn’t seem right.
I can’t wait to see your project in action!
When I think of the word student, I automatically think of education.. and someone teaching or educating.
If we’re all students, who are the teachers?
When I think of the word student, I automatically think of education.. and someone teaching or educating.
If we’re all students, who are the teachers?
I’m going to take a slightly different tack here. Those of us trained in communications might remember our first day in Communications 101, when we learned the “Sender-Receiver” model. To me, the challenge of all these new tools and processes is to stay true to the sender-receiver model of getting a message to someone in a way that they understand.
The Social Media platform provides the medium for that message, in much the same way a printing press, e-mail, or BBS Forum provided communications platforms in the past.
To me “learning” social media is simply figuring the ways the tools work, how you can use them to your advantage, and how to evolve with them as their capabilities expand and improve.
Once the platform is learned, you rely on your skill as a communicator to get the message across.
I’m going to take a slightly different tack here. Those of us trained in communications might remember our first day in Communications 101, when we learned the “Sender-Receiver” model. To me, the challenge of all these new tools and processes is to stay true to the sender-receiver model of getting a message to someone in a way that they understand.
The Social Media platform provides the medium for that message, in much the same way a printing press, e-mail, or BBS Forum provided communications platforms in the past.
To me “learning” social media is simply figuring the ways the tools work, how you can use them to your advantage, and how to evolve with them as their capabilities expand and improve.
Once the platform is learned, you rely on your skill as a communicator to get the message across.
Sorry, Ed, but here’s the rub:
“get the message across.”
We’re taught that our audience is more stupid than we are. The sender-receiver is fundamentally broken. Humans don’t want to be recipients. They want to be participants.
“I feel like taking a sledgehammer to this fishbowl of ours”
Amber, this is one of the best lines I have ever seen in any blog anywhere! It’s so true, and yes we are students, but at the same time we are the top of the class and in many instances the teachers themselves. I don’t have a lot to add to this post, but that I am sensing a bit of edgy frustration on your part. That frustration is good in that you, much like myself want to see this space move forward and grow up.
In looking at Chris Penns post I think he is right in that many of us are at different levels and many of us are specializing in different areas as well. There is much more to this space than setting up a twitter and communicating. It NEEEDS to tie back to real business objectives and the likes of those with that experience are few and far between.
Amber, one thing I can promise you, is that the space WILL grow up. The fishbowl you are talking about is growing and companies are going to rely on us to show them the real value.
Sorry for rambling.
_Keith
“I feel like taking a sledgehammer to this fishbowl of ours”
Amber, this is one of the best lines I have ever seen in any blog anywhere! It’s so true, and yes we are students, but at the same time we are the top of the class and in many instances the teachers themselves. I don’t have a lot to add to this post, but that I am sensing a bit of edgy frustration on your part. That frustration is good in that you, much like myself want to see this space move forward and grow up.
In looking at Chris Penns post I think he is right in that many of us are at different levels and many of us are specializing in different areas as well. There is much more to this space than setting up a twitter and communicating. It NEEEDS to tie back to real business objectives and the likes of those with that experience are few and far between.
Amber, one thing I can promise you, is that the space WILL grow up. The fishbowl you are talking about is growing and companies are going to rely on us to show them the real value.
Sorry for rambling.
_Keith
This post and some other conversations I’ve had tonight have got me thinking about responsibility — do we stay “students” because we don’t want the responsibility of being experts or teachers? It seems to me as if there’s a distinct lack of a desire to take responsibility for the things we say and do, in business and life.
When it comes to online social tools and social media strategies, it’s easier to sit and say “I’m still learning, I can’t show you execution,” rather than say, “You know what? I know the fundamentals of communication well enough to help put the wheels in motion for you.” I’m completely at fault of calling myself a student, but I feel I’m still learning Communications 101. Different story, maybe?
I say shatter that fishbowl. Without execution, without enough people transitioning from student to teacher or expert or whatever you want to call it, this space won’t get the type of attention and use it deserves…and neither will businesses.
This post and some other conversations I’ve had tonight have got me thinking about responsibility — do we stay “students” because we don’t want the responsibility of being experts or teachers? It seems to me as if there’s a distinct lack of a desire to take responsibility for the things we say and do, in business and life.
When it comes to online social tools and social media strategies, it’s easier to sit and say “I’m still learning, I can’t show you execution,” rather than say, “You know what? I know the fundamentals of communication well enough to help put the wheels in motion for you.” I’m completely at fault of calling myself a student, but I feel I’m still learning Communications 101. Different story, maybe?
I say shatter that fishbowl. Without execution, without enough people transitioning from student to teacher or expert or whatever you want to call it, this space won’t get the type of attention and use it deserves…and neither will businesses.
Hm…I see what you’re saying, Amber, and I agree with your sentiment, but I’m not ready to throw out the idea of being a “student” just yet. I think the problem with using the word student, has more to do with the manner in which it’s used, which you pointed out…It’s being used as an excuse.
Calling one a student of anything should simply be a reminder that there is in fact, always more to learn. The purpose of the term student is to show that one is still looking to grow and learn, regardless of their current level of knowledge or expertise. The purpose isn’t to excuse a lack of knowledge.
So I agree that saying “we’re all students” as an excuse for lacking in expertise is bs, and yet another issue amplified by the fishbowl. I do think that the true purpose of referring to one as a “student” however, should not be forgotten.
@DavidSpinks
Hm…I see what you’re saying, Amber, and I agree with your sentiment, but I’m not ready to throw out the idea of being a “student” just yet. I think the problem with using the word student, has more to do with the manner in which it’s used, which you pointed out…It’s being used as an excuse.
Calling one a student of anything should simply be a reminder that there is in fact, always more to learn. The purpose of the term student is to show that one is still looking to grow and learn, regardless of their current level of knowledge or expertise. The purpose isn’t to excuse a lack of knowledge.
So I agree that saying “we’re all students” as an excuse for lacking in expertise is bs, and yet another issue amplified by the fishbowl. I do think that the true purpose of referring to one as a “student” however, should not be forgotten.
@DavidSpinks
Great post Amber. I have been debating this for the last day or two now. I see the frustration and I share it. We say it’s not rocket science, yet I don’t believe that just anyone can deliver success in this space.
I do sometimes wonder if the student label is a cop out. I sometimes jest that the reason I love this space so much is because it finally forces companies to put their stocks where their mouth is. Customer Centric. Customer First. And they go on to claim their organization is built around this philosophy. (insert eye roll here)
Social IS Customer Centric. But this time for real. When it’s real, you ensure your customer service support is everywhere your customer expects it to be. When it’s real, you let your haters tell you what they don’t like… you eat humble pie, you course correct. Is it just me or are we over complicating this stuff?
I have set a bit of a precedent with my clients about budgets and only being able to estimate costs involved for months one thru three only. Strategy, concept, audit, creative, design, production – Great! Acquisition campaign to specific location(s). Check! Month two and three involve analyzing and monitoring of the community behavior to draw conclusions, assessments to determine what your next month to three months will look like. I don’t feel I can give a 12month estimate when I rely so much on the user group to dictate the evolution.
Perhaps I’m a Social Media Strategist who knows that constant study is part of the game.
Amber? I still don’t know the answer.
Great post Amber. I have been debating this for the last day or two now. I see the frustration and I share it. We say it’s not rocket science, yet I don’t believe that just anyone can deliver success in this space.
I do sometimes wonder if the student label is a cop out. I sometimes jest that the reason I love this space so much is because it finally forces companies to put their stocks where their mouth is. Customer Centric. Customer First. And they go on to claim their organization is built around this philosophy. (insert eye roll here)
Social IS Customer Centric. But this time for real. When it’s real, you ensure your customer service support is everywhere your customer expects it to be. When it’s real, you let your haters tell you what they don’t like… you eat humble pie, you course correct. Is it just me or are we over complicating this stuff?
I have set a bit of a precedent with my clients about budgets and only being able to estimate costs involved for months one thru three only. Strategy, concept, audit, creative, design, production – Great! Acquisition campaign to specific location(s). Check! Month two and three involve analyzing and monitoring of the community behavior to draw conclusions, assessments to determine what your next month to three months will look like. I don’t feel I can give a 12month estimate when I rely so much on the user group to dictate the evolution.
Perhaps I’m a Social Media Strategist who knows that constant study is part of the game.
Amber? I still don’t know the answer.
Amber two things you state really jump out at me as major [business] disconnects:
“…communication and building relationships with people and the idea of providing value in return for someone’s attention are the oldest concepts in the book. Are we all so new at that? And if we are, should we be proud of that?” AND “They need to know that they can rely on people who have a solid foothold in the foundations of social media with the realities of business entrenched firmly in their minds along the way.”
The first is the issue/challenge. Good communicators (who get two-way communications) agree with what you are saying, but in typical organziations that skill is rarely flexed. And the notion of ‘value for attention’ isn’t really traditionally practiced is it? Organizations think they can demand attention. Second, yes organizations will want to know they can rely on folks who get SM/business but how can they get there without openly solving the challenge first?
Probably went down a rat hole you didn’t mean to go down…and it has nothing to do with “students” just an observation.
As for the student thing…don’t be a student. Just go do. Learn lessons, make mistakes, test and move on. We did it with direct mail, e-mail marketing, websites and every new tactic that came upon us…social media will be the same.
Beth Harte
Community Manager, MarketingProfs
@bethharte
Amber two things you state really jump out at me as major [business] disconnects:
“…communication and building relationships with people and the idea of providing value in return for someone’s attention are the oldest concepts in the book. Are we all so new at that? And if we are, should we be proud of that?” AND “They need to know that they can rely on people who have a solid foothold in the foundations of social media with the realities of business entrenched firmly in their minds along the way.”
The first is the issue/challenge. Good communicators (who get two-way communications) agree with what you are saying, but in typical organziations that skill is rarely flexed. And the notion of ‘value for attention’ isn’t really traditionally practiced is it? Organizations think they can demand attention. Second, yes organizations will want to know they can rely on folks who get SM/business but how can they get there without openly solving the challenge first?
Probably went down a rat hole you didn’t mean to go down…and it has nothing to do with “students” just an observation.
As for the student thing…don’t be a student. Just go do. Learn lessons, make mistakes, test and move on. We did it with direct mail, e-mail marketing, websites and every new tactic that came upon us…social media will be the same.
Beth Harte
Community Manager, MarketingProfs
@bethharte
I love it when you get annoyed with something. Keith Burtis and I just had a very brief but similar discussion yesterday about that kind of awkward false humility thing we’ve been pressured into playing into. Example: Someone calls you a social media expert. You twitch and shrug and act like… “no, not really… there aren’t any experts here…” You know what I am talking about. I think we all still do it. It’s a reflex. It’s been baked into us through decades of social conditioning. And it needs to stop.
The truth is, some of us DO know how to do this, and do it very well. (Some days, better than others, granted.) And yes, we are all students in the grand scheme of things because we are hungry to learn more, get better at what we do, and break new ground, but you’re right: We aren’t wide-eyed little kids blindly pushing buttons just to see what will happen. We’re seasoned professionals. We’ve all spent years honing our skills, understanding how businesses work, how people interact, how ideas spread, how things get measured… As a core group, we are the smartest, most experienced, most well-trained people in this relatively nascent field. No one else in the world knows how to do what we do yet. That will change over time, but for the foreseeable future, we’re it. False humility and all, that’s the reality.
While I wouldn’t go as far as call any of us “masters” or “experts” yet (I like Chris Penn’s analogy), we are nonetheless the tip of the spear. And THAT is what the thousands of businesses scratching their heads at this social media thing need: People who know this space, people who know how to build and manage and measure in this space. They want knowledgeable, insightful, confident, experienced leaders to help them get the most out of it and evolve into the next decade. They want social media commandos, not polite little sheep. We are doing them (and ourselves) a huge disservice by pretending that “we’re all really just now starting to learn this stuff too.” It’s bullshit.
You and Keith are 100% right. Thanks for giving me the friendly kick in the ass I needed. I sense that some people will probably resent us for owning up to the fact that we are the leaders in this field instead of pretending to be part of the flock, but that’s just something we’ll have to deal with. As long as our heads don’t get to big over it, everyone will be just fine. 😉
I love it when you get annoyed with something. Keith Burtis and I just had a very brief but similar discussion yesterday about that kind of awkward false humility thing we’ve been pressured into playing into. Example: Someone calls you a social media expert. You twitch and shrug and act like… “no, not really… there aren’t any experts here…” You know what I am talking about. I think we all still do it. It’s a reflex. It’s been baked into us through decades of social conditioning. And it needs to stop.
The truth is, some of us DO know how to do this, and do it very well. (Some days, better than others, granted.) And yes, we are all students in the grand scheme of things because we are hungry to learn more, get better at what we do, and break new ground, but you’re right: We aren’t wide-eyed little kids blindly pushing buttons just to see what will happen. We’re seasoned professionals. We’ve all spent years honing our skills, understanding how businesses work, how people interact, how ideas spread, how things get measured… As a core group, we are the smartest, most experienced, most well-trained people in this relatively nascent field. No one else in the world knows how to do what we do yet. That will change over time, but for the foreseeable future, we’re it. False humility and all, that’s the reality.
While I wouldn’t go as far as call any of us “masters” or “experts” yet (I like Chris Penn’s analogy), we are nonetheless the tip of the spear. And THAT is what the thousands of businesses scratching their heads at this social media thing need: People who know this space, people who know how to build and manage and measure in this space. They want knowledgeable, insightful, confident, experienced leaders to help them get the most out of it and evolve into the next decade. They want social media commandos, not polite little sheep. We are doing them (and ourselves) a huge disservice by pretending that “we’re all really just now starting to learn this stuff too.” It’s bullshit.
You and Keith are 100% right. Thanks for giving me the friendly kick in the ass I needed. I sense that some people will probably resent us for owning up to the fact that we are the leaders in this field instead of pretending to be part of the flock, but that’s just something we’ll have to deal with. As long as our heads don’t get to big over it, everyone will be just fine. 😉
Great, great insight Amber. This is so funny to, because literally within the last hour I just had a conversation with one of my work partners about how we are going to present ourselves here in Kansas City (we’ve renamed our company and are rebranding.) We’ve been discussing how we’d rather “live” the social media lifestyle and lead by example instead of just saying what we do. I said at one point “We’re not students…” and so this message of yours just validates that inkling of a thought I had so much. I’m glad Olivier pointed me to this post today.
Olivier, you said “I sense that some people will probably resent us for owning up to the fact that we are the leaders in this field instead of pretending to be part of the flock” and that is definitely what I see happening, and is in fact probably due to this being a social space we’re in… experts are mixed with newbies and people changing careers and adding skills, etc. Great point though, about recognizing whatever state of expertise we ourselves are in and owning it.
Great, great insight Amber. This is so funny to, because literally within the last hour I just had a conversation with one of my work partners about how we are going to present ourselves here in Kansas City (we’ve renamed our company and are rebranding.) We’ve been discussing how we’d rather “live” the social media lifestyle and lead by example instead of just saying what we do. I said at one point “We’re not students…” and so this message of yours just validates that inkling of a thought I had so much. I’m glad Olivier pointed me to this post today.
Olivier, you said “I sense that some people will probably resent us for owning up to the fact that we are the leaders in this field instead of pretending to be part of the flock” and that is definitely what I see happening, and is in fact probably due to this being a social space we’re in… experts are mixed with newbies and people changing careers and adding skills, etc. Great point though, about recognizing whatever state of expertise we ourselves are in and owning it.
Amber
Love this… hate when folks say they are a “student.” Personally, prefer to take a page out of the medical world’s playbook — call ourselves practitioners. Talk about our social media practice vs department, etc.
Think it implies that ours is an ever changing field where new knowledge and insights are found every day. Just like in medicine. Also suggests that this isn’t a perfect science and most importantly, it’s a science (or art if you will) that must be practiced (actually do this stuff don’t just talk about it) each and every day lest the practitioner become stale and outdated.
@TomMartin
Amber
Love this… hate when folks say they are a “student.” Personally, prefer to take a page out of the medical world’s playbook — call ourselves practitioners. Talk about our social media practice vs department, etc.
Think it implies that ours is an ever changing field where new knowledge and insights are found every day. Just like in medicine. Also suggests that this isn’t a perfect science and most importantly, it’s a science (or art if you will) that must be practiced (actually do this stuff don’t just talk about it) each and every day lest the practitioner become stale and outdated.
@TomMartin
Thank you, Amber, for so eloquently pointing out what should be obvious: while the technology of social media may be new and something that we are learning, the concepts behind it are as old as time! Take that Marketing 2.0…
Thank you, Amber, for so eloquently pointing out what should be obvious: while the technology of social media may be new and something that we are learning, the concepts behind it are as old as time! Take that Marketing 2.0…
“They need professionals actively honing new skills and putting them into practice.”
If more people could think like you Amber? The world would give me a lot less headaches.
So simple…yet so underutilized.
“They need professionals actively honing new skills and putting them into practice.”
If more people could think like you Amber? The world would give me a lot less headaches.
So simple…yet so underutilized.
The most effective exectutives will always be students. A student is anyone who uses their curiosity to deeply study an area of interest. The best students are critically reflective practioners. In other words they are people who not only reflect ‘on their practice’ they reflect ‘in their practising’. They question assumptions. They are skeptical about dogma and prescriptive ‘truths’ about how business should be done.
Too often executives believe it is their purpose to simply become an ‘expert in the field’ and that once they think they have ‘mastered’ the products and markets they are responsible for then they they think they have ‘made it’.
I forget who said it but the mind is like a parachute. It works best when its open. Students actively work at keeping their minds open.
The most effective exectutives will always be students. A student is anyone who uses their curiosity to deeply study an area of interest. The best students are critically reflective practioners. In other words they are people who not only reflect ‘on their practice’ they reflect ‘in their practising’. They question assumptions. They are skeptical about dogma and prescriptive ‘truths’ about how business should be done.
Too often executives believe it is their purpose to simply become an ‘expert in the field’ and that once they think they have ‘mastered’ the products and markets they are responsible for then they they think they have ‘made it’.
I forget who said it but the mind is like a parachute. It works best when its open. Students actively work at keeping their minds open.
Is being a professional the opposite of being a student? Can you be a learner without being a student? Are all students beginners? Does one ever graduate from the school of life? Can one be a student and an expert in a specific field?
Amber, I agree with your intentions. I disagree with your choice of words.
Business needs students and scholars. Business needs to embrace a mindset of education and learning or they end up where they are today, stuck. If business leaders do not see themselves as skilled professionals, and students in the business world always learning, they become failures.
I’m stunned at this post because the word student means a learner. You cannot be a student without being a learner or vice versa. (Well, you can be a student and not embrace learning which leads to failure.) The opposite of student is scholar.
I don’t see students as beginners or novices. Heck, we all know professional students! 😉 I see students as those who have embraced a mindset always willing to learn, regardless of their level of expertise.
The word student comes from the Old French meaning one who is studying. Study comes from the Latin word meaning application, diligence, to push and move forward. By your own words, Amber, you said you are still “monkeying around with how social integrates with traditional.” You are still studying and applying it. You are diligently using it daily. I suspect that you and other social media mavericks are always looking for ways to improve what you do, pushing it forward, pulling it, and molding it like clay to work for your needs. You are always perfecting your skills. You are a student of it and an expert at the same time!
I consider myself a student of life, a life-long learner that always has more to learn. I’m proficient in many things. I’m skilled in certain areas and I can even teach specific content. I’m fluent in my field yet, I’m always learning. To say I’ve stopped learning, stopped being a student, means I’ve arrived and no longer have anything to learn.
I don’t have the hang-ups with the word expert that many social media pros do. Amber, I see you, Oliver Blanchard, Keith Burris, Kris Colvin, Beth Harte, and many others as experts. You are my teachers. You blog and share content with us your readers. We, your readers, learn from you and your content on a consistent basis. Embrace the words expert, specialists, connoisseurs, practitioners, leaders and gurus. And if you don’t want to step up to the plate and be called those words, others will. And if those words don’t fit, then we’ll use Ungurus which all of us know means gurus.
But for heaven’s sake, don’t give the word student a black eye. And, don’t tell me that you no longer are a student. It just disheartens me.
Is being a professional the opposite of being a student? Can you be a learner without being a student? Are all students beginners? Does one ever graduate from the school of life? Can one be a student and an expert in a specific field?
Amber, I agree with your intentions. I disagree with your choice of words.
Business needs students and scholars. Business needs to embrace a mindset of education and learning or they end up where they are today, stuck. If business leaders do not see themselves as skilled professionals, and students in the business world always learning, they become failures.
I’m stunned at this post because the word student means a learner. You cannot be a student without being a learner or vice versa. (Well, you can be a student and not embrace learning which leads to failure.) The opposite of student is scholar.
I don’t see students as beginners or novices. Heck, we all know professional students! 😉 I see students as those who have embraced a mindset always willing to learn, regardless of their level of expertise.
The word student comes from the Old French meaning one who is studying. Study comes from the Latin word meaning application, diligence, to push and move forward. By your own words, Amber, you said you are still “monkeying around with how social integrates with traditional.” You are still studying and applying it. You are diligently using it daily. I suspect that you and other social media mavericks are always looking for ways to improve what you do, pushing it forward, pulling it, and molding it like clay to work for your needs. You are always perfecting your skills. You are a student of it and an expert at the same time!
I consider myself a student of life, a life-long learner that always has more to learn. I’m proficient in many things. I’m skilled in certain areas and I can even teach specific content. I’m fluent in my field yet, I’m always learning. To say I’ve stopped learning, stopped being a student, means I’ve arrived and no longer have anything to learn.
I don’t have the hang-ups with the word expert that many social media pros do. Amber, I see you, Oliver Blanchard, Keith Burris, Kris Colvin, Beth Harte, and many others as experts. You are my teachers. You blog and share content with us your readers. We, your readers, learn from you and your content on a consistent basis. Embrace the words expert, specialists, connoisseurs, practitioners, leaders and gurus. And if you don’t want to step up to the plate and be called those words, others will. And if those words don’t fit, then we’ll use Ungurus which all of us know means gurus.
But for heaven’s sake, don’t give the word student a black eye. And, don’t tell me that you no longer are a student. It just disheartens me.
Jeff: Whoa.
Read this bit again:
“So can we stop excusing our ignorance and our learning curve by calling ourselves “students”? Please, yes, learn. But learn by doing.”
And I titled the post “Just” students because I want to raise the point that yes, we’re always learning. That’s what professionals do. If you read my first paragraph, that’s exactly what I say.
What I’m objecting to is the idea of using the “student” moniker as a way of saying that you’re not accountable. Saying “I’m still learning” as a fall back for not DOING something. I love learning. I do it daily. But I don’t love the idea that being a student means that you can’t get to work doing this stuff. I see a lot of that. “I can’t do social media. I’m still learning.”
Nuh huh. These tools are new to all of us, but the ideals behind them aren’t. I’d like to see less people with their noses buried in the oh-wow-theory, and many more taking what they’re learning and putting it into tangible action for business. Maybe I should have said business doesn’t need JUST students. They need perpetual learners that are also actively getting their hands dirty with the knowledge they collect.
Thanks for reply.
We are on the same page and your last paragraph sums it up nicely. Thanks for responding.
Thanks for reply.
We are on the same page and your last paragraph sums it up nicely. Thanks for responding.
“One must learn by doing the thing; for if you think you know it you have no certainty until you try.” Sophocles 415 BC cited in Reg Revans ABC of Action Learning.
I am also convinced that Organisational Learning and becoming a Learning Organisation is the stuff of Marketing and not the exclusive of HR and HRD. See Chapter 2 of Doole and Lowe – Strategic Marketing Decisions for a presentation of this argument – Building a Learning Capability for Effective Strategic Decision Taking.
Learning Organisations need to be full of students of ‘the market’ otherwise the business won’t understand what business it is in!
“One must learn by doing the thing; for if you think you know it you have no certainty until you try.” Sophocles 415 BC cited in Reg Revans ABC of Action Learning.
I am also convinced that Organisational Learning and becoming a Learning Organisation is the stuff of Marketing and not the exclusive of HR and HRD. See Chapter 2 of Doole and Lowe – Strategic Marketing Decisions for a presentation of this argument – Building a Learning Capability for Effective Strategic Decision Taking.
Learning Organisations need to be full of students of ‘the market’ otherwise the business won’t understand what business it is in!
Great post Amber,great point.
I lost an account I wanted last week because of this very point.
I think there was/is some confusion for some about this. One should always be professional and confident even if there are things still to learn.
Hell, as we all agree, there are always things to learn. Seems like every day I’m hearing about a new application or tool.
What can be daunting is all the marketers out there who call themselves experts, gurus, specialists, etc.
I didn’t even know I was intimidated. Thanks for helping me clear this up for myself.
Great post Amber,great point.
I lost an account I wanted last week because of this very point.
I think there was/is some confusion for some about this. One should always be professional and confident even if there are things still to learn.
Hell, as we all agree, there are always things to learn. Seems like every day I’m hearing about a new application or tool.
What can be daunting is all the marketers out there who call themselves experts, gurus, specialists, etc.
I didn’t even know I was intimidated. Thanks for helping me clear this up for myself.
I can name more than a few historical figures, who were also “students”, who sparked game-changing events via evolutionary thinking, but honestly, I rather not get caught up in the language. There is a deeper message and a rich takeaway in this post. Thank you, Amber, for calling us forth and challenging us to move from ideas to execution to ROI. It’s time for an evolutionary perspective around social media. Thanks for the pass.
I can name more than a few historical figures, who were also “students”, who sparked game-changing events via evolutionary thinking, but honestly, I rather not get caught up in the language. There is a deeper message and a rich takeaway in this post. Thank you, Amber, for calling us forth and challenging us to move from ideas to execution to ROI. It’s time for an evolutionary perspective around social media. Thanks for the pass.
In business, there is ALWAYS a new tool that pushes us to deliver a product/service faster, cheaper, better, etc. Today it is social media, tomorrow it will be something else. Business has always sought those tools out and learned them.
And with each new tool bubble, there crops up a bunch of experts. The marketing spin on these experts though is, “We’re all just learning how to apply this wonderful new crap.” Yeah, I have that much patience with that as well.
From someone who has said, “Yes, I can do that” in almost every job interview regardless of what was asked, “yes, I can do that” on every client request after my “corporate” career and has been faking every skill-acquisition throughout his entire technology career, THANK YOU. (I have an English degree and considered by my clients as a tech guru of sorts… and I am aware of the irony here.. Thank God for Google!!)
Thank you for smacking down the idea that “learning social media” is somehow the nobel and responsibility-free way of applying new tools that are perpetually in self-prescribed beta. It’s all just human communication. Instead of talking into cans connected by strings, we’re doing it in spaces like Twitter and Facebook. Ok, so? What’s the difference? Technology changes; people don’t. (No, really argue that all you want but my study of literature will prove you dead wrong every single time.)
Stealing from Nike, my message to social media experts/gurus/students: “Just do it.” And shut up about it while you do, ok? Us geezers who have seen the last wave and the wave before that are tired of the wining about how “new” stuff is and how everyone is learning blah, blah, blah. You’re not any different than the folks who learned the last skill running through businessland. Just do it
In business, there is ALWAYS a new tool that pushes us to deliver a product/service faster, cheaper, better, etc. Today it is social media, tomorrow it will be something else. Business has always sought those tools out and learned them.
And with each new tool bubble, there crops up a bunch of experts. The marketing spin on these experts though is, “We’re all just learning how to apply this wonderful new crap.” Yeah, I have that much patience with that as well.
From someone who has said, “Yes, I can do that” in almost every job interview regardless of what was asked, “yes, I can do that” on every client request after my “corporate” career and has been faking every skill-acquisition throughout his entire technology career, THANK YOU. (I have an English degree and considered by my clients as a tech guru of sorts… and I am aware of the irony here.. Thank God for Google!!)
Thank you for smacking down the idea that “learning social media” is somehow the nobel and responsibility-free way of applying new tools that are perpetually in self-prescribed beta. It’s all just human communication. Instead of talking into cans connected by strings, we’re doing it in spaces like Twitter and Facebook. Ok, so? What’s the difference? Technology changes; people don’t. (No, really argue that all you want but my study of literature will prove you dead wrong every single time.)
Stealing from Nike, my message to social media experts/gurus/students: “Just do it.” And shut up about it while you do, ok? Us geezers who have seen the last wave and the wave before that are tired of the wining about how “new” stuff is and how everyone is learning blah, blah, blah. You’re not any different than the folks who learned the last skill running through businessland. Just do it