Everything you need to know about risk and social media you can learn from Monty Python.
Okay, perhaps not everything, but the classic scene where the Knights of the Roundtable approach the “Bridge of Doom” in their quest for the Holy Grail holds a lot of wisdom.
Three Questions to Ask for Your Social Media Strategy
- Who are You? Knowing who you are as an organization isn’t as easy as it sounds. You need to understand the culture of your company, and you need to know a lot about your stakeholders. Are they a Facebook crowd or more likely on LinkedIn? What about Flickr or YouTube?
- Where are you going? I am always amazed at how many organizations have no real goals for their social media interactions. Be sure you have some SMART Objectives in place and know what are you are trying to accomplish.
- What don’t you know? You need to know Your Achilles Heel. What are your weaknesses as an organization? Where are you likely to stumble? Do you have a secretive culture? Be sure you have guidelines in place to keep things moving in the right direction.
The Three Archetypes to Avoid
The Early Adopter. This may be a sacrilegious statement for some, but don’t aim to be an early adopter. This personality has more of “shiny object” syndrome and often is not the most efficient. Sir Lancelot only made it across the bridge with a turn of good luck and some bravado. Moving first has its advantages, but notice that King Arthur wasn’t the early adopter in this clip, but instead used his intelligence to outwit the bridge keeper.
The Overconfident Guru. The other archtype is one that gathers a few case studies, attends a few webinars and decides that this social media stuff is pretty easy. Problem is they often fly without a plan. Like Sir Robin, they push others to go first and then come in behind with an arrogant attitude. Sometimes they end up in the “Gorge of Eternal Peril,” too (Muhaa-ha-ha).
The Copycat. The final archetype is one that carefully studies the market and his or her competitors, then decides to do something “just like” a competitor. In this clip, Sir Galahad is not true to his own personality, and thus end up in the Gorge with the others.
If nothing else, I hope it makes you chuckle.
Many thanks to I have to give credit to Kathi Kruse (@kathikruse) whose own excellent post on this subject inspired me to add the captions.
