Communivations

In Malcolm Gladwell’s recent book, “The Outliners,” he references a principle as it relates to effectiveness and success called the Matthew Effect. Ever hear of it? Probably some of us have and some haven’t, but the name comes from the gospel of Matthew 25:29:

“For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.”

According to Wikipedia, “The "Matthew effect" denotes the phenomenon that "the rich get richer and the poor get poorer" and can be observed in various different contexts where "rich" and "poor" can take different meanings.”

This is one of those quotes that I don’t particularly like to think about a lot. Yet, by ignoring this passage, I might deprive myself of the very opportunity that comes only once in a lifetime.

Economist Paul Romer is credited with saying, "A crisis is a terrible thing to waste."

Opportunity is always time sensitive, and action specific.

During times such as these, I want to pay attention to even the things that I don’t like to hear, in order to see what I am not seeing. I want to stop thinking 'crisis' and start thinking and seeing 'opportunity.'

Peter Drucker understood the Matthew Effect better than most, even though he never referred to it as such. In his book, “Managing in Turbulent Times,” Drucker states that, “Four key resources have to be managed consistently, systematically and conscientiously for productivity. They are capital, crucial physical assets, time and knowledge. Each of these resources has to be managed separately and differently.” (p.20)

As we have seen with the current economic turbulence, these four critical categories have sustained significant damage. Yet, by focusing upon what is no longer and what was lost, we will miss the new fiscal order which is forming by the minute.

The last week of the year is an ideal time to inventory these four asset classes, with the intention of not only preserving all four asset classes, but do and change what is necessary to grow them over the course of the next eight quarters.

As this relates to social media, a company’s hard asset growth is directly proportional to its soft capital component of people and relationships. By investing in the available tools such as LinkedIn and Facebook, I stand a better chance of increasing my soft capital assets. On a corporate level, every company and organization must have a strategic Social Media strategy which will directly strengthen its social capital in preparation for the emerging opportunities of the present and future.

Anthony DiMaio