In this eight post of the post series “The New Rules of IWMS”, based on the book “What Would Google Do” by Jeff Jarvis, I will discuss new ethics that rule the world.
Make mistakes well
Corrections do not diminish credibility. Corrections enhance credibility. Standing up and admitting your errors makes you more believable; it gives your audience faith that you will right your future wrongs. (Jarvis, 2009)
In the industrial age mistakes were held secret from the audience simply because there was no possibility to check or verify them. No more.
Google enabled and empowered individuals to verify a lot. What’s more, as they can now easily connect with one another, mobs can be formed and mobilized instantly for the common cause; the truth. So, instead of lying admit you’re wrong. It doesn’t matter at all that your IWMS doesn’t have all capabilities now. Lying about them is far worse. Imagine what could happen if one of your customers discovers a serious leak in your IWMS, you ignore and lie about it, and the customer decides to go public with it. I would consider the alternative…
Life is a beta
Most established companies would consider releasing unfinished products to market criminal: You can’t produce a product that’s not perfect—and not even done—or it will hurt the brand, right? (Jarvis, 2009)
Not if you make mistakes well.
It all comes down to iterations.
Are you able to correct the errors in your IWMS fast, or is your product always in beta without actually correcting the errors that customers identify? Customers forgive you when you correct errors fast. They don’t, if the error is still there after two years. Therefore IWMS vendors could learn from Google. It launches products fast into the market and adapts the products even faster to meet requirements from customers.
Be honest and collaborate
As I have written in many posts, being honest is highly valued by IWMS customers. Even if the functionality is not exactly what your customers are asking for. Instead of lying about it, accept the fact that your IWMS is not perfect, and embrace the opportunity to improve the software.
Remember: perfect does not exist in software. It is evolving.
However, you can make your IWMS fulfill the needs of your customer better. To do so, IWMS vendors need to cooperate with their customers.
If you don’t open up, you can’t collaborate. Collaboration with customers is the highest and most rewarding form of interactivity, for that is when the public tells you what they want in a product before you’ve made it. (Jarvis, 2009)
Final thoughts
IWMSNews.com would like to cooperate with you therefore I would like to invite you to share your ideas with us through our Suggestion Box. (http://www.iwmsnews.com/contact/suggestion-box/). What kind of information products do you want us to develop for you?
What kind of product could you benefit from? (E.g. IWMS software selection kit, IWMS implementation best practices kit, etc.)
I’m really looking forward to your suggestions.
Resources
Jarvis, J. (2009). What Would Google Do. New York: HarperBusiness.
10NR, Ethic, Google, IWMS, Rules
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