Q & A with David Weinberger on Web Leadership
This Wednesday, December 5 at 6:30pm, David Weinberger will lead a discussion on "Is the Web Changing the Nature of Leadership?" as part of his Web of Ideas series in the Berkman Center's conference room.
As a primer to this discussion (which you can find more about here), Berkman intern Yvette Wohn sat down with David to chat about leadership on the web, how the internet is affecting campaigns, and David's internet notoriety.
Q. The upcoming talk on whether the Web changes the nature of leadership marks the last in the fourth calendar year of the "Web of Ideas" series. What was the initial reason in starting these discussions?
A. They're a forum for talking about how the Web affects our ideas about ourselves and our world. Many of the discussions at the Center touch on such topics, of course, but the Web of Ideas sessions are intended to focus pretty directly on the less immediately practical Web effects.
Q. Is there a reason why you conduct these discussions offline?
A. Every form of communication has its own advantages. I'm involved in lots of online discussion of these topics, but being in the same room allows for a type focus that is attentive to digressions and yet is responsive to individual and group needs. Also, real world pizza tastes better than virtual food.
Q. What do you think you (personally) have achieved through these discussions?
A. I frequently schedule topics that I'm just beginning to think about. These discussions have often been very helpful in kicking the crap out of bad ideas. Besides conversations are smarter than the individual participants. That's why we have conversations.
Q. Do real world leaders have anything to learn from the nature of Web leadership?
A. That's the hardest question, I think. The nature of leadership depends on the nature of the followership. The leadership that works for large, collaborative, voluntary organizations ( e.g., Wikipedia, Linux, or the Web itself) isn't necessarily well-suited for large, hierarchical, for-pay, real world businesses. No one is going to say, "Hey, let's all get together and build a hydroelectric dam!" Nevertheless, I think there are two reasons real world leaders should care about what leadership looks like on the Web. First, within hierarchical organizations, a lot of the work is done through informal collaborations; in those environments, the informal (and practical) leadership may look more like the Web than the formal leaders suppose. Second, the incoming generation of workers in large hierarchical organizations are having their sense of leadership and followership shaped by their experience on the Web.
Q. How do you think the Web is affecting candidates' campaigns?
A. In lots of ways. How much information they provide. How they respond to embarrassing moments. The informal nature of their rhetoric. The use of blogs on their sites. The recognition that supporters need and want to connect with one another and not simply chant for the candidate. The way in which blogs are keeping journalism more honest.
Q. Do you view blogs as a form of journalism?
A. No, except for the ones that are a form of journalism :)
Q. Do you ever feel the pressure of too much of yourself being exposed to the public through your blogs and such?
A. Hmm. Yes, in the sense that I pretty carefully choose what I expose, as I think most of us do. I don't talk about my family very much, and I don't usually talk about what I'm doing in my private life. I do certainly write about ideas before I've thought them through, in a way that I wouldn't in a print publication. But I expect readers to understand that that's what they sometimes get on blogs.
Q.Do you think that the Web has changed the way you conduct research?
A. Totally! It's so much easier to traverse a large field of information. It's so much easier to run down dead ends. The amount of expertise that has surfaced is astounding now that we aren't limited to what fits through the printing presses. And the ability to interact with readers and experts so freely changes everything.
Q. As a person who grew up in the analog age and now living in a digital age, what kind of advice could you give to those who aren't adapting so well?
A. You mean to old folks like me? I'd say the most important thing is to get help from your friends. If you don't know how to use a computer, find someone who can be your mentor. If you don't know where to start on the Web, ask your friends for some blogs to start reading. Poke around. Lurk. And don't believe any email that begins "My esteemed friend, I found your name..."
(Image CC via Doc Searls)