We need a breeder – intuitive strategists that bridge

Shel Israel and Robert Scoble are bloggers, the increasingly influential authors of the book Naked Conversations, and now speakers rising in popularity. Recently they were invited to join a caravan of blog-savvy evangelists (Seth Godin at Google, Hugh MacLeod, etc.) and spend some time with Amazon describing the importance/relevance of blogs.

At the invitation of Amazon, Shel and Robert met with a group of 120 employees to walk through an overview of blogging and its relevance for Amazon. In the room the most senior executive was Werner Vogels, CTO (a blogger too).

What ensued was a classical interface between intuitive entrepreneurism and strategic corporate execution. Guerrilla vs. conventional warfare. Neither side really understood what the other side was saying and the whole thing erupted, spilling across the internet, and seeping into myriad unanticipated conversations.

Here’s how it got started. Two men (Robert and Shel) recognized a gap between companies/customers, executives/employees, etc. and realized that blogs (a public medium of communication) might help bridge the difference. They got started. It worked. Sensational.

The results have been fast, dramatic, and compelling. And, high on the peak of that wave, Robert and Shel are getting noticed by companies trying to bridge similar issues (but from the executive-level down). So, out go the invitations and in come Robert and Shel.

Sitting in the room is the CTO (Chief Technical Officer), the guy is tactical executive right to the marrow. He makes daily decisions on behalf of thousands of employees and related companies, millions of customers, and leads the corporate vanguard of companies exploring uses of the internet. He can’t possibly settle for intuition, anecdotes, and singular experiences. He’s got to understand the logistical issues around scaling-up something like blogging to meet the giant range of issues a company like Amazon will face when trying to implement such a strategy.

In those moments of discussion, two massive evolutionary forces swept by each other. The gravitational swirl it caused is what we’re seeing across the internet right now. Where both groups anticipated a symbiotic relationship there is a (temporary) rift. They sensed a chance to become something together and sliding by each other, they know they were right and are frustrated that the relationship failed to synchronize.

Now, don’t get hung up on the metaphor here, stick with me. On one hand there is Robert/Shel who represent a surprising success, evolutionary innovation, and new planetary species. On the other is Amazon who represents a dynamic, highly effective, highly evolved, but keystone species.

There are several important dynamics that need to be recognized:

First, Robert/Shel don’t have anything to prove to Amazon. That they are in a conversation with Amazon is enough. When the CTO of Amazon and Robert Scoble sit down in a room with 120 other people — the proving part is over. To pressure for proof or respond to that pressure is to forget relative positions. The two are peers who cannot demand and can only debate.

Second, Robert/Shel aren’t the right guys to carry the evolution forward (not to take anything away from either). These guys saw the opportunity and moved on it. But, just as entrepreneurs aren’t the right people to lead multi-national corporations, Robert/Shel can’t take the blogging/corporate evolution up the chain.

Third, the CTO shouldn’t be looking for proof from these guys. They weren’t there to sell. They were there to describe. And it was for lack of translative capacity that Werner asked for numbers. He can’t take the next evolutionary step either.

Here’s the gap: A bunch of old guys/benevolent dissidents/bloggers have recognized that blogging is critical to the next evolutionary step for business and a bunch of old guys/tactical executives have recognized a new species is in the ecosystem and both are trying to co-opt the other. If this is ever going to work, the mix will need to include another link.

The missing link in this evolutionary process is the intuitive strategist. Intuitive to sense and move on opportunity. Strategist to recognize the necessary pieces, describe/capture them, and create a structure for their implementation. Without this link, it’s waste of time putting these two animals in the same room.

If this is going to work, we need a breeder.

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