Note: This post is dual purpose: it makes some points in which I profoundly believe, and it also enters me to win an Asus Eee PC from Marketing Pilgrim. Wish me luck!

We are all only human.

Sounds obvious, right? Then why are we so shocked if our politicians make the slightest mistake? Why do we mock celebrities for failing to maintain unattainable standards of perfection? Why are we so afraid to allow our customers to witness our flaws?

It’s because we suffer from Wizard-of-Oz Syndrome.

We expect our politicians to be infallible, and we are disappointed when they are not.

We wish to see in our celebrities the greatest heights of heroism, and we wring our hands at the depths to which they fall.

We believe that our customers will only appreciate us if we are like great wizards, and we work as hard as we can to keep the curtain shut, so they won’t see us for who we really are: mere mortals, just like they are, prone to mistakes and doubt and regret.

The world is changing, though, has changed. The curtain has been forced open by a wired and networked public, one that wants to know more about the man than about the wizard.

This is the first lesson of Radically Transparent, by Andy Beal and Dr. Judy Strauss: that it is no longer enough to succeed as a wizard; you now have to succeed as a human being.

Show what you are doing, reveal your processes, acknowledge your mistakes, and participate fully in conversation that concerns you. Be radically transparent or risk your reputation and top line.

In many ways, it is easier to be a magician. You control the experience and the perception. You don’t have to tell anyone how your tricks work. You decide who your volunteers will be and where the camera will be positioned.

The problem is that it’s no longer an option.

The community immediately comes down hard on those who employ conversation spin, control, manipulation or spam. Anonymity is discouraged, and nearly all posts to a conversation include the author’s real e-mail address.

…the internet is abuzz with conversation, and some of it is definitely about you and your company. With the explosion of social networks and consumer-generated media, no organization, brand, or individual escapes online mention by stakeholders, like it or not.

We don’t want wizards anymore; we already know they are phony. So there’s no mileage in pretending. Let go of your personas and be pleasantly surprised at how much people appreciate you for who you are and your company for what it is. Beal and Strauss offer ten Rules of Customer Engagement; from the seventh:

7. Be Authentic
Truth, honesty and authenticity are required if you want to have a good reputation online… you have to have a trustworthy character first, and hiding your flaws online will only make it worse when the citizen journalists discuss your cover-up al over the Web.

You have to have a trustworthy character first.

Once the curtain is pulled back and you can’t hide, you’d better have something to deliver. You’d better really care about your customers, about your community, about quality.

If the man behind the curtain can’t deliver on the promise, the first step is to admit it. Then get to work, immediately, to improve.

It is okay to be exactly who you are, and it’s only by accepting this that you can transform into the person or company you want to be.

Feedback welcome, as always.

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 3rd, 2008 at 9:37 pm and is filed under General technology, People matter. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.