My Secret Sauce(ɔ) to community management & introvert networks
Disclaimer: I am no full time online community manager. I like to think of myself as problem solver - but that really is for others to judge. I am aware I will be preaching to the lambish in a harsh tone. Sorry about that @Noemi . @Hegazy @hazem I think this could feed into some of the considerations that you nicely bring up in the networking visualization*. With the book coming up ( @Nadia ) I thought I’d try to throw in a provocative minority opinion, and see if this will get us somewhere.
After I listened to the article linked above I thought about the issue for a while. Then some more. Then I started writing my take on the issue, but decided it would not reach the people I want to reach somewhere on page 4 or so. So here is the simplified short form.
The secret lies in:
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Finding one or more introverts deeply engaged in an issue.
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Then getting a signal out of them that carries the detail and reasoning to make another introvert understand the problem and emotionally commit.
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Transmitting the signal through a network of extroverts without breaking it.
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Detecting the special way some introvert in a closet frowns at the message - and correctly discerning that this means he/she is on the brink of committing ten or more years of his/her life to the issue. Weak signals.
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Gently and extremely considerately nudge the addressed introvert towards the other introverts. If that does not work, understanding which case can be helped by what kind of pressure (hint: only 1 in 10 can).
Sounds simple right? Just 5 steps to world domination…
The trick is that each of the steps has requirements the respective subjects will by default not do, or do in a very, very bad way. If you don’t feel offended by this sentence - this is highly likely true for you as well. Sorry. Please do feel offended, this is not going to work in anyone’s comfort zone (or it would be happening all the time). I’ll explain each of the steps in a little more detail. Just to rub it in.
- If you fail at the first step the game ends there. It can’t be skipped. As I am talking to extrovert community managers**, you need to start with finding an introvert. This will be hard for many of you because the last time you saw one is “the unpopular kid” in school. After this compulsory community, most strong extros mingle with other strong extros - and intros almost vanish from their life as it is awkward to have one between 8 other extros. Imagine the unpopular kid did not vanish, but once in a while checked your social network accounts in the last couple of years, and just shook his/her head at what you were doing. How misguided. How superficial. Most of the intros time however went into building self esteem over (failed attempts at) solving some ridiculously complicated, almost impossible problem.
How do you find this person? It is hard. You can look through your network all you want - it is full of other extros. And they are isolated. Especially, the powerful and strong intros. What are you to do? Ring random doorbells? Not quite, but searching for activities that would attract introverts may help (certain music or movies are a strong cue if they apply to your culture). In short: Go where other people (especially you and your friends) don’t like to go, and see who is there. Listen and watch for weak signals. Another method would be to bring a couple of your extrovert friends to a relatively random crowd, and then be very extrovert in everyone’s face. The ones that are running away are the ones you’re looking for.
This can be easier and usually much faster to do on/with the internet. Actually, if you end up in a place that you don’t understand, and people behave strangely - chances are you stumbled upon a community of mild intros. The strong introvert is like a Yeti. It leaves big footsteps but is rarely seen in person.
Sometimes a mild intro may be the gatekeeper of one or more strong intros. Thus getting to the real powerful connections is always a two step process. First you have to win trust and show you can engage an intro on their terms. Then you get into their sanctum. Having intro-respected people who will vow for your integrity makes things easier as you progress. But remember, you are in a different ecosystem that has different requirements and different dynamics. Okay, this was long - because you have to get it right or there is no point.
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If you have an issue and found your introvert, you will have to find out this introverts needs. For that you’ll have to understand in quite some detail what he/she is trying to achieve. Then discuss or observe how the work is conducted. If you can think of ways to improve the workflow you could carefully put them on the table, mostly to watch why and how they will be declined. Assume an intro will be too shy to tell you about the real motivation, so watch for weak signals on that. Networking / collaboration opportunities to be may be be ignored (often because they don’t mix with the work mode). Carefully feel around why each opportunity is not taken, and let the explanations stand for now. We’ll come to the emotional commitment in point 4.
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The “without breaking it” part is crucial. I have done and attended quite a bit of interviews with conventional main stream media on scientific topics. Almost without fail, they disfigure the message - not seldom making exactly the mistake you explicitly implored them not to do. Less mainstream media (introvert niches) usually fares better. In the age of exact copy&paste or digital recording options this can be improved a lot. Just make sure whatever happens, the original detailed data can be quickly found, and you find a combination of cat pictures (transmission) and differential equations (reception) you can both live with.
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If you got this far you already have a decent chance at this part. Unfortunately introverts are pretty diverse on some fronts (and blindingly simple on some others) so tread carefully initially. Chances are, if you come across as informed and sincere, and the other intro you have in tow is compatible, the emotional commitment part is not going to be difficult for you. It’ll be more difficult for you to believe someone will have a emotional reaction to such a complicated concept.
Getting yourself to understand the detail necessary to make an informed choice on whom to approach is probably the hard part. Introverts survive deep in specialist niches. Leaving this exact niche because some “shallow new guy” blathers something about it being a good idea is a recipe for disaster. Make a solid case why this is a risk worth taking, and remember the risk is mostly on the specialist. Even though these niches are hard to find it is often smarter to try again somewhere else than to force things. If you did your job well up to here you can often get some very valuable guidance into more appropriate parts of the community. Resist the urge to ask for endorsement if it is not signaled.
- I’ll just repeat: 1 in 10!
How many cases did you do already? Less than 5? That would in all likelihood make it a bad idea. Remember intros are generally careful, risk averse people operating in a complicated environment. It is easy to break stuff that won’t be fixable for you.
*People use networks differently - thus networks should look differently to different people. There is no one size fits all. MBTI is probably a good middle ground starting point.
**The introverts can ask me for an “introvert way to world domination” - which I know they won’t. 