Michael Bourne has been in the PR biz for over a decade and is now working at Mullen where he is increasingly trying to break out of the silos of marketing and deliver something that hasn’t been done before. He writes a blog called Bourne Social.
We all remember grade school when the teacher would ask the class a question and there was always one kid who would raise his hand high and beg the teacher to “Pick me!” This boy (or girl) would inevitably be teased by classmates and probably not find a date to the Junior prom. But later in life, this striver, who had not only a thirst for knowledge but also a desire to show others that he knew more than them, would hopefully realize that simply getting an A on an exam was more valuable than being thrown into a locker.
This is not the point where I say: and that kid was me. No, I knew the answers. But I saw how the know-it-all was treated, and I did attend Junior prom (twice). Instead of showing the world that I knew more than others, I did the work required to learn and succeed. Success was its own reward and knowing that I knew was enough.
Fast forward to today when the second a new widget, app, social media tool, online service, etc. comes on the market there is a rush by eager beavers, now all grown up, who raise their hands to tell the world about this amazing new thing-a-ma-jig. Just seconds from the launch of something new, they want to tweet it out, post it on their Facebook profile or blog. Maybe they come by your desk at work and tell you about it, then act surprised when you say “Gee I haven’t heard of that tweet-mee-beep-yo-baby tool yet, but it sounds cool,” and then they walk away after snorting at you in derision like you’re an ignoramus.
Sound familiar? Know anyone like this? And do they work in I.T.? The fact is, when you know something before others know it, there’s a high, like you are in on a special secret. But here’s the reality when you come back down: You didn’t invent that new cool thing, you really aren’t the first to know about it, and acting like you know more than others just makes them want to throw you into a locker.
If your cohort of followers and friends are a bunch of similarly inclined “Pick me!” types, then they’ll re-tweet/re-post the thing you found, providing validation that, yes, you are in fact super-cool. Finding the cool thing first, and then having your cohort parrot out your findings, is what passes for influence in some circles. But not in my circle.
My job is to promote cool new things to as many people as I possibly can that matter. How they choose to use that information sets apart the smart from the seemingly smart. Because knowing that something exists before someone else knows isn’t intelligence. Intelligence is knowing how to use that cool new thing really well to accomplish something. And if something’s really cool, you really don’t want anyone else to know about it. You want it to be your special secret. Still, you’ll probably resent it when other people figure it out on their own, and you’ll tell anyone who’ll listen that it was better before everyone else ruined it. Maybe some clients will be impressed with your knowledge about something they don’t know, and maybe they’ll even think you’re smarter. But you’re probably not. You just know something they don’t know yet.
There is a danger in leading others to the great new thing. Consider this: when you transport cows to a slaughterhouse, they don’t want to go inside, and they’re scared. But there’s one cow that stays at the slaughterhouse and is there to greet its frightened mates. This cow is called the Judas Cow. This cow that the other cows trust has been trained to lead the others to the killing floor, and steps out of the way at the last second, betraying the unfortunate cows who are slaughtered.
So, before you fall for the next big thing, ask yourself if not sharing it is better than sharing it, if sharing it will reflect poorly on you, and whether the thing you’re so concerned about knowing first is really just going to lead your followers to the slaughter.
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