I am always looking for ways to better understand social media. One source of explanatory information I find to be surprisingly useful is a book that was written long before the days of Facebook, Google, and Twitter – Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. You may be wondering what Covey’s book could possibly have to do with social media, but upon deeper review it is becomes obvious. Covey’s book contains proposes a principle based model for human interaction rooted in interdependence and abundance – precisely the same ethos at that of web 2.0.
While Covey’s work is not a technical primer for understanding the mechanics of the web, it does offer a useful mental construct for how to engage, interact, and communicate with other human beings, be that online or in-person. In a world of here today gone tomorrow platforms and tools, taking a principle centered approach makes a great deal of sense. Features and functions will always change, but principles remain constant. By focusing on principles, as prescribed by Dr. Covey, it becomes possible to more easily navigate the ever changing and sometimes intimidating world of social media.
This post marks the first in a series of posts examining how Covey’s framework can be applied to effectively understanding and using social media. The plan is to address each of Covey’s 7 Habits individually, post by post, and relate ways in which they can be applied to social media. I hope that by juxtaposing these two concepts that I will gain a better understanding of both of them, and that you might benefit in the same way.
Covey’s 7 Habits are as follows:
- Be Proactive
- Begin with the End in Mind
- Put First Things First
- Think Win / Win
- Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood
- Synergize
- Sharpen the Saw
I hope you enjoy the series, and as always I welcome your feedback. I will add hyperlinks to the list above as they are published.
