Two Heads Are Better Than One

After reading the last two chapters of the book by Charlene Li, I remember a quote attributed to both Albert Einstein and Thomas Edison. The quote says, “Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% transpiration." It is based on the idea that to succeed it is not necessary to be geniuses; it’s much better to work hard and with passion.

To me that conviction can be projected to the groundswell thinking, in the sense that successful companies don’t need to have geniuses as employees; the employees only need to work hard at listening to customers and helping their organizations to evolve efficiently in a timely manner.

Of all the principles of groundswell thinking, to me the most important is being a good listener. When employees understand and accept that customers must be part of the innovation process, companies are able to evolve and adapt more quickly. The cooperative interaction between clients and customers promoted by the groundswell creates an enhanced combined effect that can help companies be more successful or productive. 

Customers and employees working together create synergism, defined as a creative cooperation between customers and employees that generates an open-mindedness that allows companies to find new and better solutions. Truly embracing the groundswell help companies discover things that would take time and money without a joint effort with customers.

Before reading chapter 11, I thought that listening to customers would have required large investments, many people and lots of time. I was surprised to learn that in several cases it only took a few weeks, a couple of proactive employees and a computer to establish a listening network that in many cases amounted to the survival of the organizations. When employees begin to interact genuinely with customers, they begin to gain new insight.

The same trends that empower customers in the groundswell also empower employees. When organizations promote the participation of employees in the designing of strategies allow the creation of new approaches and exponentially improve the moral and productivity of the organization. When organizations honestly listen to their employees, it creates an environment where employees want to work. This enthusiasm enables the organization exceptional customer service, not just good customer service.

At the end of the book the authors attempt to predict the future of the groundswell. I agree that through the use of social media techniques it’s possible to revive a dying business, as in the case presented in the book of the owner of a small winery who used blogging to successfully promote his business. But with the speed of technological advances in social media and the growing power of customers, I can only conclude that embracing the groundswell will be more critical for the survival of companies and organizations. Companies and employees need to prepare, accept change and innovation and continue working with customers. After all, "Two Heads Are Better Than One."