Guy Kawasaki

We all need
A Whuppin



What I learned from Guy Kawasaki:

There are four guys, the same age as me, that really make me sick.

Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Tim Berners Lee and Guy Kawasaki.

Why?

Well I've sold a few things here and there, maybe influenced a couple of people along the way and perhaps I postponed a trip to hell by trying, as best I could, to be a good father - but these four guys:

• Built the most Successful company in the world,
  
• Created the Coolest company in the world,
  
• Can credibly claim to have Invented the Internet,
• Changed the World
  

Give me a break - As thought leaders and action takers they took me out back to the woodshed and gave me one hell of an ass whuppin.

I went to see Guy recently - figuring we all need a whuppin, of one kind or another, every now and then -and he surely didn't disappoint.

Guy Kawasaki was one of the Apple employees originally responsible for marketing the Macintosh in 1984 and is noted for bringing the concept of evangelism to the high-tech business world. The Kawasaki blog "How to Change the World" is 88th most popular globally.

It's not what the guy says so much - It's what he triggers inside us. Neurons fire at breathtaking pace, synapses spark into life and make connections and mental pygmies tap dance across the dormant areas of our frontal cortex. The lobotomy and mindset of doing the same things and expecting different results is challenged.

His talk focused on Social Media - Linked In, Twitter and how companies can leverage the medium. But the feeling I got from the questions asked was people were trying to cram old methodology into a new medium. The crowd was following a thought leader.

Guy Kawasaki is a maverick - always has been - and he has learned to play crowds like a master - I couldn't help but wonder if any others in attendance were experiencing the cognitive dissonance I was?

I respect his innovative, mental vigor enormously and was saddened as discussions gravitated around "Ive got to use Linked in" or " We need to be sending out tweats on Twitter". What did I come away with?

There is a new paradigm in play. There is a new product in play.

The product, folks, is... PEOPLE.

For years I have been noticing this shift as it develops momentum. Like some snowball gathering speed and mass as it careens down the mountainside - heading straight for each of us.

The Past, Present and Future paradigms, as I see them are:

PAST

Target
Here's my Product
Here's how it benefits you
Here's how you use it
Here's my price ($)


PRESENT


Target
Ask Questions / Discover Pain Points
Align Yourself & Your Products as the Solution
Here's my product
Here's my price ($)



PRESENT / FUTURE

Target
Identify Commonalities
Links & Connections
Philosophies & Interests
Wants & Needs
Goals & Affiliations
"You're on the team"
Here's how you stay on the team (Continued 2 Way Interaction)
Here's my price ($)



We all need a Whuppin...

That's what I learned from Guy Kawasaki

Learn more about Guy Kawasaki:

Guys Blog
Guy Kawasaki Wikipedia
Guy Kawasaki Website