Awesome post from Chris Brogan today:

I believe we’re going to shift back to thinking customer service and community management are the core and not the fringe. I believe we’re going to move our communications practices back in-house for lots of what is currently pushed out to agencies and organizations. I believe that integrity, reputation, skills, and personality are going to trump some of our previous measures of professional ability. I believe the web and our devices will continue to move into tighter friendships, and that we will continue to train our devices to interpret more of the world around us on our behalf.

Read the rest here.

Yes, yes, yes, and yes. Chris also talks about bringing value-add and core competencies together - which is actually the bandwagon I have been driving hard for the last couple of months with my management team.

Chris mentions that working remotely will become the norm... I'm not so sure we're quite there yet. Maybe in our lifetimes, but probably not. Too many organizations rely on "sales floors" and "departments." The old "asses in seats" mentality. Not that there's anything wrong with it, mind you - each company has its own specific needs - but most companies still don't have the tools at their disposal to allow their staff to work from home or remote offices. (We're getting there though, and if any of you have ever taken the information worker of the future demo/tour at Microsoft, you'll know what I'm talking about.) The tools are here now - will be fluid and 100% user-friendly in less than a decade, and widespread adoption won't be too far behind.

The issue will never be the technology, it will be the people: Velocity and a sense of expediency/urgency don't usually go hand in hand with working from home. There is something to be said for having a boss breathing down your neck - literally.

But I digress. Chris' post rocks, and for the most part, he's right.

Oh, and I almost forgot: Here's the best piece of advice I've heard/read all month, (perhaps even all year) also from Chris:

Here’s a quick way to really turn around your clients: be helpful.

Duh, sure, but... when was the last time you actually said those two words outloud during a strategy meeting or quarterly business review?

Labels: building value, good advice, logic, reputation management