“Journalist Nilay Patel
wanted to tell the story of Indiana University shooting guard Victor Oladipo in
the moments leading up to the 2013 NBA draft, but he didn’t want to get in the
way.” So begins the retelling in the American Journalism Review of how
basketball star Oladipo became a first-person experiential journalism
trendsetter.
It’s journalism, but it’s
also storytelling. And that’s what we do every day at work. We tell stories to
share experiences and ideas related to the work we do to reach our goals.
I can envision sharing my
Google Glass with someone at work on a typical day or for a special event, to
see how the day or event unfolds before his or her eyes. And then, I’d post the
video (edited, as appropriate) for people throughout the company. What an extension
of what we already know—that people relate to other people as we communication about work. I usually
talk about the “potential” of Glass. This, I could do tomorrow. And I just
might!
Be sure to watch the story of Oladipo’s experience.
Mentoring newcomers to the strategies and practices of
communicating to employee communities—is that something we’re improving now
that we have social media and wearable computing all around us? Not me. Not
yet.
I’m the person more likely to ask a summer intern, as I’m
rushing off to another meeting, to take a stab at Project A or Tactic B while
I’m gone, and we’ll talk about it later. I have an acquaintance who does just
the opposite. She takes her intern with her to every meeting. Listening and
observing a business meeting may not directly add a sample to a student’s
communication portfolio and is possibly just confusing to a newbie, but
surely it adds business know-how. And I suspect it creates a master-apprentice
relationship that benefits both.
Question for the day: What’s the best way to be mentored by
someone far away, and can technology actually make it better than in-person
coaching?
Photographers and artists have a way to enter that master-apprentice
path online now that intrigues me. Take a few minutes to watch the video to see how
it works—or just to enjoy the great photography.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDL58aJSr28
I know some of you have been following the lengthy ongoing conversation in the IABC group on LinkedIn over the past couple of weeks. The master of
employee communication asked a simple question about “intellectual laziness” in
our field. Response has been passionate, disruptive, heartfelt, rowdy,
embracing—all positive lessons for people pushing into the master category
themselves and those just starting to explore.
Yet, as in all human communication, words sometimes fail us.
One person’s deep belief didn’t seem relevant in another person’s workplace as
we tried using words to describe our situations. Conversation spiraled in a
confusing direction. The truth is, we come at discussions like this one from
different worlds with different daily experiences even though we have similar
interests and skills in business communication. In this instance, what
qualified as intellectual laziness and what represented the right curiosity and
research? That answer isn’t the point of this commentary. The point is to
ponder whether multi-sensory exchanges of knowledge and insight might improve how we learn from masters, as in the mastery video. And also, can contextual exchanges that are
part of wearable computing help make our points?
Just as the telegraph made the world smaller and television helped
us share a culture, wearable computing may be a turning point in how we learn
to better communicate at work by sitting side by side, so to speak, in the
meeting room with a master far away. Think it could happen? If not, just watch.
* * * * *
Want Google Glass? Give someone or yourself the adventure of testing
Google Glass. I have a couple of invites to become a Google Glass Explorer. Let me know by Dec. 20, 2014, why you
want to be part of the beta testing and, in particular, how you would explore
using Glass at work. The rules are set by Google, not me, and they include your
having to purchase Glass at $1,500 plus tax and shipping. (I don’t work for
Google or get any remuneration at any time.) Also, you must
be a US resident, at least 18 years old, and provide a US shipping address or
pick up Glass at a Google location in New York, San Francisco or Los Angeles.
