CC image courtesy of Bill Gracey - Gone to Mexico on flickr
The issue of control comes up over and over again when we talk about the online world. It recently it came up at Internet Librarian in many different ways, including:
- How do I stop a staff member from wasting time on Facebook?
- How do we control what staff are saying online?
- Management wants everything posted online (Twitter, Facebook, blogs etc) to go through PR.
- We don’t want employees to be able to access social networking sites?
- What about privacy?
- We can’t allow just anyone to post a comment without approving it first.
- How do we know a student is who they say they are?
I have answers to all of these questions, but these questions aren’t what this is about, what they represent is, control. Or the illusion of control.
The desire for control comes from fear. Fear of change, of the unknown, of doing things differently, of a situation not created by us, of taking risks. It is human nature to fear these things, it’s how we’ve survived. So is adaptation and times are changing, just as they always do, and we need to adapt.
In the internet age your image/brand no longer belongs to you. It belongs to your customers. The things they have always been saying are now online for the whole world to see. The content and commentary they post about you may rank higher in search engines than your site or content. You can’t stop them. Every attempt you make will be like fighting the Hydra, cut off a head, two will grow back. I promise.
Prevent comments on your website? They’ll start their own blog or Twitter account or website. Implement a filter to block social networking sites? They will find a way around it (and you’re cutting off your nose to spite your face).
Stop wasting time trying to get control, you might be fooling your boss or the board or yourself, but you are not fooling your staff or more importantly your customers. Better yet, when you stop spending time trying to get control or pretending that you have it, it frees you and your time to address the real issues.
Still not ready to let go? Think about these questions from Andrew McAfee :
- Are you ready and willing to let more internal voices communicate and shape your brand over time?
- If not, why not?
- Is it that you don’t trust your people, or your customers?
- Is it that you don’t want any negativity at all to appear on your digital properties?
- Or is it that you’re afraid there might be too much negativity?
Still not convinced? Or need to convince someone else? Try reading these:
- The Illusion of Brand Control
- Power And The Illusion Of Control
- M.I.T. Taking Student Blogs to Nth Degree
- Case Study: Setting Content Free at Ford Motor Company
- What you can control and what you can’t.
- Social Media and The Reality of Control
- On Social Media And Culture Shift
- Why the 54% of companies blocking access to social media should unblock
- The Hazards of Leading Culture Change
*Up Next – What you can do after you’ve accepted control is an illusion.
Similar Posts:
- How to Monitor Your Personal Brand (For Free)
- How social media can hurt your library
- The Hazards of Leading Culture Change
Control is an Illusion You Need to Let Go http://librarianbyday.net/2009/12/contro...
Rate This:
0 
0
Well said. We’d profit more from re-channeling energy away from worry/control into making sure that every employee is empowered to have AWESOME transactions with patrons. Today’s organizational brand must get comfortable being out in the (digital) world, warts and all.
Rate This:
0 
0
Social comments and analytics for this post…
This post was mentioned on Twitter by librarianbyday: Control is an Illusion You Need to Let Go http://bit.ly/5NMmJP...
Rate This:
0 
0
Amen to you Bobbi and double Amen to edh. I so wish more organizations would empower them employees. Spend the time and money on educating them instead of trying to control them. Nicely done.
Rate This:
0 
0
Agreed! Next week I’ll be talking about what you can do after you admit control is an illusion.
Rate This:
0 
0
Ah yes, everyone is afraid of what someone might say. It’s more of how to respond when these things happen rather than not letting anyone do anything. If you don’t trust your employees to use a social networking site, what DO you trust them with.
Rate This:
0 
0
@librarianbyday There I agreed with you for once
Nice post.
Rate This:
0 
0
@mlibrarianus LOL I wonder if that means the world is about to end?
Rate This:
0 
0
I also wish organizations would empower their employees. There are some many organizations I can think of off of the top of my head that I have gained more respect from after following them or ppl from their organization on Twitter or FB. It’s a great way to get out there. I know of a library that blocks social networking sites and will not let any of their staff on social networking sites. It makes me so sad. They are a big library, too.
Rate This:
0 
0
I think the thing that makes me laugh about blocking the most is if you have a smart phone it doesn’t matter. You can access any of those sites through your phone without having to use a work pc.
Rate This:
0 
0
[...] Social Technology & an Innovative Intranet can Increase Employee Productivity give stats & examples, reminds me I need to finish my follow up post to Control is an Illusion You Need to Let Go [...]
Rate This:
0 
0
[...] Control is an Illusion You Need to Let Go [...]
Rate This:
0 
0
[...] Control is an Illusion You Need to Let Go [...]
[WORDPRESS HASHCASH] The comment’s actual post text did not contain your blog url (http://librarianbyday.net/2009/12/control-is-an-illusion-you-need-to-let-go) and so is spam.
Rate This:
0 
0
Control is an Illusion You Need to Let Go http://librarianbyday.net/2009/12/contro...
Rate This:
0 
0
RT @librarianbyday: Control is an Illusion You Need to Let Go http://librarianbyday.net/2009/12/contro...
Rate This:
0 
0
RT @librarianbyday: Control is an Illusion You Need to Let Go http://librarianbyday.net/2009/12/contro...
Rate This:
0 
0
@librarianbyday how ironic!
Rate This:
0 
0
RT @librarianbyday: Control is an Illusion You Need to Let Go http://librarianbyday.net/2009/12/contro...
Rate This:
0 
0
RT @librarianbyday: Control is an Illusion You Need to Let Go http://librarianbyday.net/2009/12/contro...
Rate This:
0 
0
Control is an Illusion You Need to Let Go | Librarian by Day http://librarianbyday.net/2009/12/contro...
Rate This:
0 
0
RT @librarianbyday: Control is an Illusion You Need to Let Go | Librarian by Day http://librarianbyday.net/2009/12/contro...
Rate This:
0 
0
RT @librarianbyday: Control is an Illusion You Need to Let Go | Librarian by Day http://librarianbyday.net/2009/12/contro...
Rate This:
0 
0
Control is an Illusion You Need to Let Go | Librarian by Day http://librarianbyday.net/2009/12/02/con...
Rate This:
0 
0
RT @librarianbyday: Control is an Illusion You Need to Let Go | Librarian by Day http://librarianbyday.net/2009/12/02/con...
Rate This:
0 
0
RT @librarianbyday: Control is an Illusion You Need to Let Go | Librarian by Day http://librarianbyday.net/2009/12/02/con...
Rate This:
0 
0
@librarianbyday good advice about contol.
Rate This:
0 
0
RT @librarianbyday: Control is an Illusion You Need to Let Go | Librarian by Day http://librarianbyday.net/2009/12/02/con...
Rate This:
0 
0