On Community

Fri, 28 Jul 2006 22:33:05 GMT

Today I had lunch with Brian Hsi, a guy whom we'd like to bring into our group to work as a product manager. I first met Brian when he came through for his interview loop with us a few weeks back, and was instantly impressed with the guy. Soft-spoken, smart, and involved, he opened my eyes to new possibilities for both my career and personal life. I don't think Brian intended any of that, but I think I must have been ripe for some inspiration, and that he gave me in abundance.

I'd say it's one of the great ironies of my work these past few years that, although I've been working as a product manager on the Communities Technologies Team, I've been so reflexively and inwardly (as in: within Microsoft) focused, that I've failed to do what is critical to making a difference at this company, and what should be basic to a person in my position: engage with customers and the community.

Now why is that? What's my problem? I think it gets tough to get outside of one's Redmond shell, as work tends to go on within the walls, and you just get used to certain modes of thinking and behavior. For a time, I think I could get by on my engagement with internal customers (stakeholders) alone, and have them interpret the needs of external customers. My job had to do principally with building and maintaining community-esque syndication services, which really only had value in so far as they were adopted by site teams on and around MSCOM. The actual user needs and experiences were almost secondary; we'd build up our feeds system, and help our constituents within the company automate their sites and give community resources some exposure (e.g., lists of MVPs, recent blog posts, newsgroups activity, etc.).

But things are different now for various reasons, including a substantial change in our business direction. Now it's clear that in order to survive if not prosper, I need to focus first and foremost on the experiences of those who come to MS Web properties for their information, and figure out compelling ways to help them connect with one another. I can't do that by remaining behind the firewall, so to speak.

Which brings me back to Brian. For the past several years, Brian has been involved in community, on both the professional and personal levels. For him, community is just "part of his DNA." Listening to him, it occurred to me that I had to make some changes if I really was going to have a voice and a role to play in our new business direction, and further, if I was going to make some improvements in my personal life.

So Brian and I talked about volunteering (after I put in the requisite plugs for his joining the team, mind you) specifically, what he does for Seattle Works, and how I could get plugged into volunteer work through his organization. He asked me about what was motivating me, what I'd be interested in, and some possibilities that might work. The first step, it seems clear, is to find an organization that fits with my needs. His org's Web site helps you figure out what volunteer opportunities are available, and connects you with the ones you find interesting. So I'm beginning this process, and hoping to find something that will allow me to give and get in better touch with my community...

I'll report back from time to time on my progress.

o brave new world: Volunteerism & Community

On Community