Enter the Chief Executive Social Gardener
Recently a friend asked me how we might get big brands to think more like entrepreneurs. I’ve been thinking about that. Maybe we should get the C-suite executives to start a gardening community.
Gardeners follow time-tested strategies and tactics. Gardeners
- have a goal — whether it’s a garden or community we’re building, we know what we’re setting as the mission.
- know their field — we need to understand the qualities of the playing ground, the terrain, and the creatures who live there.
- understand the systems and cycles, rhythms and patterns — we see our own habits, the natural paths of outside factors, the effects of climate, the weather, and unexpected events
- consider the units (plants or people) that match those circumstances, how they work and compete, and which of those we can manage most easily
- determine what we know, what we want to know, and watch out for what we need to learn
Gardeners talk to each other about what works and what doesn’t. What you know about anything is what applies to making plants happy and thriving. If you’re good at that, you’re gold.
Gardeners also:
- watch and listen. We are constantly testing the information we think we know. We talk. We listen. We read everything. Not a gardener with any experience thinks that he or she can outwit the variables that nature can bring together.
- remove weeds, trolls, and competitive threats, while finding opportunities. When gardens fail, great gardeners look for learning and new solutions, when they thrive we look for the same things.
- amend what’s failing and care for what works — so that threats can’t take hold. Gardeners know that little problems grow, in the same way as beautiful fields do.
- know that life cycles peak and know what works to extend them. We’ve been watching our gardens. We get to know when they need boosting and when they don’t.
- realize what we don’t control and we’re careful about when and how changes and new ideas are introduced.
Every enterprise should have a Chief Executive Gardener to be a true partner in getting the Chief Bean Counter more beans to count.
Could you be a Chief Executive Social Gardener?
What seeds are you planting now?
More about social media gardening tomorrow …
I make connections.
–ME “Liz” Strauss
Grow your community with Liz!!
Buy the ebook. Learn listening.
Carole says
August 18, 2009 at 1:48 PMI love this article! As a gardener, I spend a lot of time tending to and caring for my plants and the creatures that need the plants. My focus is especially on planting for the creatures; the critters are the whole point of my garden.
Your article is a great analogy to me for caring for my readers and giving them articles (plants) to support them. It is good to remember that my readers are the whole point of my writing.
Thank you for this brilliant analogy.
ME Liz Strauss says
August 18, 2009 at 2:06 PMYeah Carole,
It takes a while to get the hang of caring for a garden, just as it does taking care of a blog or a social media command center. You have to give up control while still knowing who you are and what you’re going for.
You seem to understand that. What about the two draws you to each of them 🙂
Carole says
August 18, 2009 at 2:28 PMMy garden is dedicated to giving some habitat back to wildlife who are declining because we have taken so much habitat away from them. I welcome birds, butterflies, frogs and toads, pollinators, etc to share my space with me.
I blog to share this passion with others, to share information and learn from each other, to build a community of like-minded folks who also share this passion, or at least want to learn more about it.
I read blogs like yours to learn how to do this more effectively. Thank you for sharing your passion.
imguilin says
August 21, 2009 at 1:06 AMLooking after my reader and giving them the article (plant) enormously and similarly me in one your clause Support them hour. It is good to remember what my readers are written by me a bit more whole.
hugerewards says
August 24, 2009 at 2:17 AMKnow how to like the usage of a garden to spend for a moment, like the network diary of attention or a social media command centre it. You must give up, it controls to be and still know who it will be you and that youe that went out.
Kristain ken says
August 25, 2009 at 4:59 AMNice article and must watch to those who like gardening. I agree with you and your rules which you defined for a gardener. I love to do gardening in my spare time; Plants are true friends as they provide me everything without any return.