Clusters of trust.....

The Chattering Clusters have taught me a great deal over the past 2 years. You must have learned stuff too. Isn't it amazing when you join a cluster that you immediately feel a pull of 'trust'?

Do you feel it when you join in a conversation on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Fast Company Now, etc? Do you feel the pull of people wanting to belong to the conversation? Do you sense their need to become involved, share their experiences, connect with you, allow you access to their thinking, be there for you? Do you, like me, wonder why this is so within the Chattering Clusters but not within your workspace? Do you try to extend the feeling of trust you have within your online clusters into your workspace? Do you find immediate acceptance of it as you would within a Chattering Clan or Tribe? Do you find yourself wondering why it is that we spend so much time and money at work on leadership, communication, negotiation, team building, etc training and yet it is all there in an instant when you join a Chattering Cluster?

When you were at school were you like me just busting to get to the playground and join the Chattering Clusters, Clans and Tribes? Do you remember the 'little lunch' breaks when the yo yo fad was just beThe Chattering Clusters have taught me a great deal over the past 2 years. You must have learned stuff too. Isn't it amazing when you join a cluster that you immediately feel a pull of 'trust'.

Do you feel it when you join in a conversation on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Fast Company Now, etc? Do you feel the pull of people wanting to belong to the conversation? Do you sense their need to become involved, share their experiences, connect with you, allow you access to their thinking, be there for you? Do you, like me, wonder why this is so within the Chattering Clusters but not within your workspace? Do you try to extend the feeling of trust you have within your online clusters into your workspace? Do you find immediate acceptance of it as you would within a Chattering Clan or Tribe? Do you find yourself wondering why it is that we spend so much time and money at work on leadership, communication, negotiation, team building, etc training and yet it is all there in an instant when you join a Chattering Cluster?

When you were at school were you like me just busting to get to the playground and join the Chattering Clusters, Clans and Tribes? Do you remember the 'little lunch' breaks when the yo yo fad was just beginning and you either were part of it or bemused by it and yet always so aware of it? Do you now understand that you were always an integral part of the conversations in the school playground even if you were not at the cutting edge of it or at the 'tipping point' of the new best thing (often an old best thing being recycled - like a yo yo craze!)? Do you crave a return to the honesty of the playground, the open access to all the conversations, and the integrity of those who had formed a Clan or a Tribe and demanded higher levels of trust from their members?

Do you feel, as I do, that the C21st heralds a return to clusters of trust at work and at play? ginning and you either were part of it or bemused by it and yet always so aware of it? Do you now understand that you were always an integral part of the conversations in the school playground even if you were not at the cutting edge of it or at the 'tipping point' of the new best thing (often an old best thing being recycled - like a yo yo craze!)? Do you crave a return to the honesty of the playground, the open access to all the conversations, and the integrity of those who had formed a Clan or a Tribe and demanded higher levels of trust from their members?

Do you feel, as I do, that the C21st heralds a return to clusters of trust at work and at play?

Consumers are the new talent....

I wrote the following a short while ago.... With the release of a new iPhone I thought it might be worth repeating here today.....

Steve Jobs tied the iPhone to one telecommunications company. This is not what is normally done in the telecommunications industry. Jobs knew he had low talented users - he designed the iPhone specifically for them. Jobs also knew he had to give them an extraordinary iPhone user experience so he limited who could do what with the iPhone and relied on his cool design to win the day with his consumers.

But all bets are off for the next generation of iPhones. It is already clear that the next generation of iPhones will have to serve extraordinarily talented users and so Steve Jobs must complement his handset with free contracts with every telecommunications company. To make this deal even better the provision of a free service contract will most likely come with a range of additional telecommunication offering because all those companies will have devised passive income models that suit their iPhone users.

What did the Chattering Clusters make of the iPhone? It was intially greeted with great joy and thus generated a heap of positive chatter. But what long-term storylines will prevail? Some of the negatives about the service provider's role in the iPhone began to play loud and often after the initial release. So what will prove to be crucial to the iPhone's success? For the iPhone to become the next big thing, like its little sister the iPod, it has to win over the Chattering Clusters.

If the iPhone is a great user experience then the storylines within the Chattering Clusters will be generally positive and thus will ensure that more and more users buy it, use it, and most importantly chatter incessantly about it on Web 3.0. If this happens then iPhone Clans and Tribes will be created. These Clans and Tribes will validate the iPhone and then move on to suggest practical ways to adapt it, innovate it, and thus have it provide more value to you and to me.

A powershift.....

A powershift has occurred within the flat world of the internet...

C20th innovation was led by staff. C21st innovation is led by consumers.

The digital age consumer is the same as before, only different...

Within digital networks consumers are the new talent. They cluster on the internet and become viral marketers for everything they like and dislike. They form what I term Chattering Clusters who chatter incessantly to each other about everything from soap powders to celebrities. They are on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Ning, Fast Company Now, LinkedIn, Linux forums, etc talking about what they want and need.

What they want and need most is to 'belong' to a Clan (a global network with low levels of trust) or a Tribe (a local network with high levels of trust). There is nothing new in this desire because Tupperware Parties in the 1950s served the same purpose. Consumers today want to 'be heard' by their favourite reality TV show host as well as their favourite soap maker. They want to be involved in product or service innovation. They want products and services that are customized for them rather than just another version of 'one size fits all'.

I feel your pain America....

Obama and Mc Cain have an equal opportunity to fill the gap left by Clinton. Either candidate can pick up her Chattering Tribes by merely repeating this mantra... I feel your pain America. I feel your pain because you want and need change in Washington. I feel your pain because your aspirations have been trampled on - Obama can add here that some of you wanted the change that led a woman to become the President. I feel your pain because you know America can be strong again - ethically, morally, and spiritually. I feel your pain because you need 'change you can believe in' - could be the Obama closing line. I feel your pain because you want American troops home from Iraq and yet you want their efforts there to count for something to have meaning and to bring a new purpose to Iraq - could be the Mc Cain closing line.

If Obama says 'I feel your pain America' he wins the White House. If Mc Cain says 'I feel your pain America' he could steal the White House. The Chattering Clusters are the key to who wins. With Hillary Clinton gone these clusters will transition into Clans and Tribes. If their 'pain' is not acknowledge by Obama, especially those who voted in the Democratic Primaries for Hillary Clinton, they may well form Tribes whose common purpose is to turn against him. For Mc Cain the Chattering Clusters are already a huge hurdle because they want a 'real change' in the White House - that is what they chatter about not ideologies or policies or personalities but change.

Chattering Clans and Tribes do not mix....

Chattering Clusters include Clans and Tribes. But Clans do not include Tribes and vice versa. Members of Chattering Clans can also be members of Chattering Tribes simultaneously but in each forum they wear different hats. Within the Clan it is cool be expansive, messy, undisciplined, theoretical, hypothetical, imaginary, fanciful, etc. But within the Tribe is cool to be focused, driven, practical, experienced, seasoned, detailed, calculating, etc. These two social networks serve the same people in very different ways. One is a thinking (Clans) and the other is a doing (Tribes) forum.

The only way to appeal to both the Clans and the Tribes is to go to the meta level of both forum - that is the Chattering Clusters. Thus if Obama wants to win the White House he must not select Clinton as his running mate. Similarly Mc Cain must not select Romney. Because for either candidate to do that would mean their message has to be palatable to both Clans and Tribes at the same time - this is impossible. Obama appeals to the Clans in the Democratic Party while Clinton appeals to the Tribes. Mc Cain appeals to the Tribes in the Republican Party while Romney appeals to the Clans. Both Mc Cain and Obama have to appeal to the Chattering Clusters throughout the broad electorate - the candidate who does that best will win the White House.

Obama is best placed to do this because he has a broad message - change we can believe in - that is not based on his liberal ideologies. His ideologies are not an asset in this election so he must stay away from being too specific about policies. His ideologies are not a huge burden either because voters want change - they want change in ideals, ideas, and rhetoric. Obama promises these types of changes and that is all he has to do - he does not have to argue the specifics of policy settings with Mc Cain. If Obama stays on his current message of change then he will appeal to the Chattering Clusters first and foremost. If he does that he will win the White House in a canter.

Mc Cain can also appeal to the Chattering Clusters if he does not attack Obama on his liberal philosophies and policy preferences. Mc Cain must stay above the fray of Democratic versus Republican Party politics. He can do this if he does campaign as a 1950s style and uses the Town Hall discussions as his calling card to influence the Chattering Clusters. If he can stay grounded in local rather than global issues then he can present himself as the demonstration effect of the change we can believe in too. If he does this then this election is too close to call.

I sense that Obama is more likely to find the broad appeal needed to convince the Chattering Clusters to talk about him more than they talk about Mc Cain. If so then he wins in a landslide.