I just finished reading the phenomenal book “What would Google do?” by Jeff Jarvis. Having been completely influenced and inspired by this work, the first thing I did was look for other readers who have applied the knowledge. I found a visionary application of the ideas to education by Danny Silva in his posting “What would Google do if they ran a school?”
After reading his post, I said to myself; if their area of expertise was nonprofit effectiveness and technology, “What would Google do?”
Instantly my brain was energized by a tidal wave of ideas for how to be more effective at supporting nonprofits, citizen groups, and individuals in creating change. For years I’ve been providing technological tools to nonprofits and individuals…the proposition was simple; I’m good with technology, and I want to create positive, forwarding change in the world. So, if Google were me, what would they do?
Be an Information Clearinghouse - Provide information, facts, tips, and experiences via my blog, Twitter, Facebook, and email updates. I already do this to share my daily learning with others, but by putting a specific focus on it, I can gather more information and connect more people with the information and social connections they need.
Create Opportunities for Community Sharing – I participate in amazing dialogs with individuals and nonprofits that continually yield real insight at a pragmatic level on how to create change effectively. By creating online and offline spaces for community discussions, I can support more people in connecting with each other and sharing information.
Community Building - Support groups and individuals in recognizing the communities they are already part of and intentionally growing and nurturing those communities.
Facilitate Collaboration – Work to support groups and individuals in working together to identify and accomplish common goals, the pooling of resources, and mutual promotion of each other’s work – reducing duplication of efforts and competition for limited funds
Identify and Demonstrate Unique Value – Support groups and individuals in understanding the unique value they provide and how to demonstrate that to funders and supporters in natural ways instead of wasting money on PR and media work
Create Agile and Iterative Change-makers – Support groups in being agile and iterative in their program work to get more accomplished in less time and with smaller budgets
Eliminate Divisions – Support people in seeing the “other side” as people with needs – Faciliatate understanding on all “sides” of the other “sides” needs, and collaborative efforts to get everyone’s needs met
What are your thoughts? How could we as a community of people creating a better world be more like Google? How can we be more effective?
