Just Dive In

Guy Kawasaki (image credit)

Just dive in, Guy Kawasaki advised.

It is my personality first to think things through and plan things out. But in the swift acrobatics of media and technology, I am learning to simply jump in and get my feet wet. I didn’t hesitate, for example, to get into Google+, when I got an invite.

However, I hesitated a long time to create a page on Facebook, as I really wanted to clarify my intent and build my know-how. But I realized there was so much more to figure out. The best way to do this, as I learned, was to navigate through it over time, as I added post after post and tried feature after feature (e.g., highlights, albums and shares). So, planning notwithstanding, I simply needed to dive in.

Setting goals, identifying targets, and confirming purpose are all well-and-good, too. I have always believed in Stephen Covey’s habit of begin with the end in mind.

But again in the rapidly evolving landscape of media and technology, we may not fully grasp what it is we really want to achieve. At least not in the initial stages. We may have an inkling that social media is powerful and useful, but how to use it to our advantage may not be so clear until we’ve immersed ourselves in it.

So once you’ve dived in:

• Enjoy, make friends, converse with people. 
• Keep eyes wide open, tease out lessons learned. 
• Share what you think, what you’ve learned, what you figure out. 

Thank you for reading, and let me know what you think!

Ron Villejo, PhD