PORT ANGELES — Collaboration trumps competition in a world of accelerated change, a social media expert told Port Angeles business leaders Monday.
Leif Hansen, owner of Spark Social Media, told a Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce audience that social media are part of a broader paradigm shift in business.
“We’re going to have to make a choice whether we want to stick an with attitude, an older attitude, of fear, competition, scarcity,” Hansen told about 120 at the weekly luncheon at the Red Lion Hotel.
“It’s this sense that there’s only so much out there, and I’ve got to protect my share.’
“For a while, that seemed like it was working, and it seemed like it was true. But the problem is it’s motivated by fear. It’s ultimately motivated by fear.”
Hansen’s talk, titled “Thrive: Improvise, Adapt, Overcome,” was based on a quote from Charles Darwin: “In the long history of humankind, those who learn to collaborate and improvise most successfully have prevailed.”
Hansen, a Port Townsend-based social media marketing consultant, trainer and manager, said online tools such as Facebook and Twitter are adaptive, improvisational collaborative tools.
“Social media is about, ultimately, at its best, a layer of community,” he said.
You can’t hide from your mistakes in the digital age, Hansen said.
“No matter how big or small you are, if you’re not being transparent online talking about your mistakes, or your needs, or your vulnerabilities, someone else is going to talk about it,” he said.
“Having passion, being authentic with people, being vulnerable is what creates trust.”
Last October, Hansen spoke at a tourism summit at Fort Worden State Park, where he gave a talk called “Going Local: Three Top Social Media Strategies for Local Businesses. Let’s find out what’s working in our neighborhood!”
Hansen was more philosophical Monday.
“You guys, the time of Lone Ranger, American dreamism is over,” he said. “And I’m sorry if that for some reason scares you or ticks you off, but think about how fun that could be. Think of what that means.
“That means that you don’t have to do stuff alone. That means the part of your business that you actually don’t enjoy, you could give to someone else.”
Hansen encouraged business leaders to look to those who are having success and model them.
He asked someone at each of the 15 tables in the Red Lion banquet room to write down a problem he or she is facing on a piece of paper and have others at the table generate ideas and advice.
Some received actual solutions, but the idea was to get people to come out of their shells.
“If we’re to move in a spirit of collaboration, before you get to know someone else, you have to get to know yourself,” he said.
“A lot of us . . . really don’t yet know really clearly who we are, individually but also as a business.
“Until we remember who we are at the core, and how that connects to the work that we do, we’re screwed.
“We’ve got to get back to what that core is, of who we are and what our organization is, and that involves being honest with each other.”
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.