Welcome to Involvism

By Jonathan MacDonald
Co-Founder of this fluid world and Managing Director of JMA

November 2009

Welcome to Involvism – Jonathan MacDonald

Definition

I nvolvism [in- volv- iz- uhm ] – noun

1. A belief or doc trine that c ollaboration and joint effort

has c om pound benefit to the proc edures and produc tion of
produc ts and servic es, usually at a greater proportion than
singular effort

2. A polic y or sy stem based upon or fostering suc h a

doc trine; involvem ent

3. An ac c eptanc e or willingness for sy m biotic partnerships

About this paper

The digital world of personal brand c om m unic ation requires

new rules and regulations in how we c reate, produc e, provide
and deliver produc ts, servic es, solutions and c ontent.

B ec ause I feel so strongly about this, I have sc oped out

these requirem ents into 8 introduc tory m ethods.

C om bined, these m ake up what I have term ed: I nvolvism .

I believe that I nvolvism ensures the m ost effic ient,

produc tive, profitable and sc alable exec ution in this fast-
c hanging business environm ent.

I nvolvism is a philosophy that c an be integrated into the way

businesses work, internally and externally .

I t’ s a m ethod that c an be applied to the usage of new m edia

form ats.

I t’ s an approac h that c an be c hosen in m arketing and

advertising.

I t’ s a way of doing business, and living life.

Welcome to Involvism.

Welcome to Involvism – Jonathan MacDonald

Involvism Method 1: Collaboration

Mantra

Widening y our skills to inc orporate those of others is a

fundam ental c om ponent of enabling value, effic ienc y ,
produc tivity , profitability and sc ale. Allowing c re ation to be
jointly ac hieved enables inc reased perspec tive and
c om m erc ial advantage through enhanc ed knowledge and
understanding of the industry and the public . C o- c reation of
experienc es m akes others jointly ac c ountable and therefore
m ore eager to address negatives and ac c entuate positives.

Key Actions

1. Adjust dem and for c ontrol into a dem and for openness

2. Accept that ' y our way ' is only ever one part of an
ultim ate m ix of proposition

3. Allow sharing of m aterials and utilities for c o- c reation

4. Announce the c ollaborative c apability so that others know

they c an build with y ou

Involvist Viewpoint

I n the c reation of produc ts and servic es, the old sc hool

m indset has been one of ' us and them ' .

' Them ' c an be the public , other c om panies, or even other

departm ents within the sam e building.

I ndustries tend to use term s like ' end user' to define the
people at the end of ' value c hains' who are only involved as
people who buy , c onsum e or use.

I n rec ent tim es there has been a great deal of talk about
soc ial m edia and user generated c ontent, but this has
largely been observational - m ainly c om m entary on the way
the public uses tec hnology to express, share and interac t.
Now there are c onferenc es to disc uss how c om panies c an
' get involved' with this trend and the theory of soc ial m edia
has now bec om e a truism , if not in a m onetary sense for
m any .

Welcome to Involvism – Jonathan MacDonald

However, there is an extrem e lac k of user c entric design, let
alone c o- c reated c ontent, m ainly bec ause the plac em ent of
' users' has been at the ' end' . The term ' c onsum er' c onjures
up a brain- dead, low- life being that will do as c om panies say .
At this fluid world ( http://www.thisfluidworld.c om /) we speak of
' C itizentric ity ' , whic h is the prac tic e of putting c itizens at
the c entre rather than the end. This is also a c entral
c onc ept of Every Single One Of Us
( http://www.every singleoneofus.c om ) .

I t is im probable that C itizentric ity c an flourish within a

taxonom y that is prejudic ed against the very people who
need to be engaged.

At the tim e of writing, seldom c om panies exec ute any thing

that is truly c ollaborative. I n m y view, c ollaboration requires
m aterials and utilities to be provided that are open for
people to build on. This c an be other c om panies or c itizens -
any one with the will to c o- c reate.

The 2 m ain c hallenges in my opinion are c ontrol and

c om petition.

Control

Without c ollaboration, it is reported that the sense of being

in c ontrol is c om fortable and sec ure. What we now see is
that the least sec ure position to be in is one that has no
involvem ent with the hearts and m inds of the public .

Winning the involvem ent of the public unloc ks the power of

advoc ac y . The best c ustom ers are loy al c ustom ers - and the
influenc e of peers is extrem e ( as disc ussed here:
http://www.jonathanm ac donald.c om /?p=3982) .

L et' s take the c ase of a guy c alled Jose who furnished his
flat with F edEx boxes in a truly im aginative way . He then
c reated a website c alled F edExfurniture.c om and proudly
showed off his F edEx ' c hair' and F edEx ' c om puter table' .

The m ighty F edEx were furious however and launc hed a

severe attac k on Jose, pulling down the website and
announc ing that:

" We sim ply ask that the violator stops using our brand for
his personal benefit"

The violator, Jose, was taken to piec es by the c om pany and

the story gained lots of attention - but not in a good way
for F edEx.

Welcome to Involvism – Jonathan MacDonald

L ooking at the quote, the words that stand out are ' violator' ,
' our brand' and ' his personal benefit' .

This is a c om pany that sees ' us' and ' them ' , in this c ase
' them ' is Jose and, I suppose, any one who does any thing with
F edEx other than boxing and posting stuff.

What F edEx c ould have done was to prom ote Jose' s

produc tions as an exam ple of how useful F edEx boxes are.
They c ould have run c om petitions for other people ( m ay be
the 50 ,0 0 0 readers of his blog they shut down) to find even
m ore im aginative users of F edEx produc t.

They c ould have worked c ollaboratively with people like Jose

to design new F edEx produc t and I suspec t that the
resulting arm y of fanatic s would be inc redibly loy al and
advoc ating of the brand.

B ut m oving out of public c ollaboration - F edEx c ould have

c ollaborated with a m ajor designer or m anufac turer, like
I kea for exam ple. They c ould have c o - c reated c ars, buildings,
swim m ing pools.....whatever.

B ut all of this would m ean surrendering c ontrol.

Even with the potential upside of c ollaborating, the risk

seem s higher than benefit. We soc ial biologists know that
lac k of understanding raises perc eived risk, and the height
of risk is inversely proportional to perc eived benefit.

One c ould argue that it' s a lac k of understanding about

c ollaboration that lim its adventures into this area, but
m ay be that' s only one barrier - som etim es its hard enough
to m anage the c om pany staff let alone people from the
outside. I n addition to this, it appears that m any c om panies
still feel a brand belongs to them . They spend so long
c reating the identity and working out the best way to launc h
into m arket, its tough to im agine a world where the whole
proc ess from c onc eption to c onsum ption c ould involve
others.

However - despite the c hallenges, the need for a m ental

shift in surrendering c ontrol is nec essary to enable
effec tive c ollaboration.

Competition

I often speak at events about c om petition and the

perc eption of risk in partnerships. M any c om panies I speak
with see their industry as a landsc ape of c o m petitors. Even
industries that are brand new, im m ediately inherit paranoia

Welcome to Involvism – Jonathan MacDonald

about who is doing what and how.

I had a c lient rec ently who c ould have m ade a seriously

valuable ' c hess- m ove' by c ollaborating with another c om pany
in the sam e field, but the senior dec ision m akers flatly
refused to deal with a ' c om petitor' .

They thought that by doing so, they would have to surrender

proprietary inform ation and lose their advantage. They
thought their c lients would be c onfused and think the
offering had been diluted. They saw no grey area of
c ollaborating only blac k ( every thing is shared and known) , and
white ( nothing is shared or known) .

They c am e up with a c om prehensive list of reasons why

c ollaborating would be a bad idea - so m uc h so that the
potential benefit was dwarfed in negativity .

Then, a new entrant entered the m arket with an API - ty pe

approac h, allowing other c om panies ( inc luding ' c om petitors' )
to partner and build on their servic e - unsurprisingly they
have been outrageously suc c essful ( c ollaboratively , with
others) and m y past c lient has now dec ided to c onc entrate
on ' other business' .

The perc eption of doing business is that there are ' winners
and losers' . I believe that the real losers will be those who
think in a singular, linear way - c reating stuff privately and
try ing to steal the m arc h on other c om panies.

L ike them or loathe them , Google have undoubtedly taken

the approac h of provisioning open platform s for
c ollaboration. Their revenue stream s are em bedded within
the platform s so there is absolutely no need for Google to
c ontrol what the c om petition does - bec ause Google m ostly
powers the c om petition.

--

The reality is, there are m any reasons why c ollaboration isn' t
an easy option. People don' t know how to m anage it, how to
profit from it, how to share profit from it, who to involve
and in what way , etc .

However, c om panies m ust find way s of addressing these

points and this is som ething that we enable in this fluid world
( http://www.thisfluidworld.c om /) .

C ollaborative m ethodology is m ore than a c om pany

statem ent to shareholders or a m essage to the pubic in an
advertising c am paign.

Welcome to Involvism – Jonathan MacDonald

C ollaboration is a way of doing business.

Widening y our skills to inc orporate those of others is a

fundam ental c om ponent of enabling value, effic ienc y ,
produc tivity , profitability and sc ale.

Together.

Welcome to Involvism – Jonathan MacDonald

Involvism Method 2: Conversion

Mantra

I dentify ing, respec ting and rewarding influenc ers is a

fundam ental c om ponent of enabling value, effic ienc y ,
produc tivity , profitability and sc ale. The c onversion of
rec om m endation into purc hase is the m ec hanism that
highlights word- of- m outh power in c om m erc ial business. The
benefit of suc h c onversion should be spread to advoc ates as
rem uneration of their faith.

Key Actions

1. Create or invest into tools that identify influenc ers

2. Configure pay m ent proc esses so that profit c an be

distributed to influenc ers

3. Construct m ec hanism s that ensure integrity of advoc ac y

4. Collate m ethodology and utilities for the proper

understanding of people, so as to reward in ac c ordanc e with
understood value perc eption

5. Correspond with advoc ates and new fans to c om plete the

feedbac k loop

Involvist Viewpoint

At the tim e of writing, the foc us on Soc ial M edia has

inc reased c orporate awareness of the power of
rec om m endation in retail sales. I n other words; the proc ess
of c onversion from advoc ac y into real purchase .

I nvolvism suggests there is a need for c om panies to identify ,

respec t and reward influenc ers. To this end, I started
c onstruc ting a value translation theory c alled
' Advoc urrenc y ' . This is c onversion that links those who
advoc ate with the value of a purc hase that has direc tly
resulted from that advoc ac y .

C itizen benefit of rec om m ending is m ostly em otional rather

than financ ial. I f y ou suggest som ething to som eone else
and they then c onsum e/use/buy it, y ou feel good about being

Welcome to Involvism – Jonathan MacDonald

a good advisor.

I n som e c ases, like m obile tariffs, rec om m ending friends c an

enable y ou to reduc e y our c osts by m ainly c alling within y our
network bundle. I n other c ases, like Apple c om puters,
rec om m ending frie nds is like advoc ating a religion or a
wonderful piec e of art. The net benefit to y ou, the
rec om m ender, is one of holistic well- being that y ou have
opened the ey es to sheer beauty ( disc laim er - I am an Apple
F an- boy - y ou should go M ac , for sure, really , try it, its
incredible ) .

M ore often than not, there is little rec ognition of suc h

advoc ac y by c om panies, even though there is an extrem e
benefit in nurturing arm ies of fanatic s.

I n any fan c lub, the way to c reate value is to perpetually

respec t and reward fans. F an c lubs of pop stars m ay
rec eive advanc ed notic e of tic kets, disc ounted rates for
produc ts, free wallpapers, downloads, interviews, lim ited
edition c ontent, etc .

B ut c om m only , fan c lubs are self- identify ing. M em bers

identify them selves by registering.

I n c om m erc ial business, m any fans don' t identify them selves

- either bec ause there is no m ec hanism to do so, or there is
no perc eived value in doing so.

This is why the first part of the I nvolvism M antra of

C onversion is to identify .

There is a growing wave of tools on the m arket to be able to

do the identific ation piec e and I expec t that over the next
few y ears, a signific ant num ber of c om panies will
inc orporate m ec hanism s to find out who is spreading the
love and in what way .

B ut this is just the first part of the sy stem .

I nvolvism also suggests that respec ting influenc ers is key .

This is not a tec hnologic al requirem ent, nor som ething that
c an be bought from a vendor. R espec t is a hum an- to- hum an
thing that requires em otional c onnec tion from one to
another - either distantly or in person. Either way , the
c ritic al c om ponents of showing respec t are in deed rather
than word.

R espec ting c itizens' rights to privac y is very different than

say ing that y ou respec t c itizens' rights to privac y .

Welcome to Involvism – Jonathan MacDonald

R espec ting c itizens' c hoic e, habits, preferenc es, behaviour,
feelings and opinions m eans an inheritanc e of sound C R M
strategy into a c om m unic ations plan. This has m oved the bar
sideway s rather than up or down. Skill sets m ay well need to
be im proved but I suspec t m ore in a lateral way rather than
linear. Using skills from a c ustom er servic e m indset at the
starting point of a business- to- c itizen relationship m oves the
need for ' servic e' to an earlier point than where it norm ally
sits addressing problem atic c irc um stanc es.

To show respec t requires a re- think on how business is

c arried out. I t c an' t be just a m arketing c am paign. I t c an' t
be just a spec ial offer.

And finally , the rewarding that is written in the I nvolvism

M antra is far m ore than pay ing people m oney . R eward has
to be experiential. The m ost powerful rewards are those
based on exac t personal requirem ents.

C reative iterations of value m ust be c onstant and c annot be

assum ed and broadc ast to a user base. The only way of
rewarding c orrec tly is on a personal level whic h requires
understanding. F or understanding to be a reality , the tools
and psy c hology of identify ing and respec ting need to be
used to form m asses of singular views whic h are intertwined
in a soc ially interac tive network.

Henc e, the I nvolvism M antra of C onversion is one of deep

personal understanding, whic h is fundam ental in enabling
value, effic ienc y , produc tivity , profitability and sc ale.

Welcome to Involvism – Jonathan MacDonald

Involvism Method 3: Connectivity

Mantra

The c reation of tools that fac ilitate c onnec tions of value

for people, produc ts and servic es, is a fundam ental
c om ponent of enabling value, effic ienc y , produc tivity ,
profitability and sc ale. The c onnec tivity between what we do,
use, buy and m ake, enables an ac c eleration of experienc e
and is the wiring of our every day life. The c onstruc tion of
suc h c onnec tivity should be a param ount intention of those
with the c apability to do so.

Key Actions

1. Learn the real- life journey s that c itizens m ake in seeking,

disc overing and experienc ing value

2. Listen to the real- life preferenc es, habits and tastes that
c itizens express im plic itly or explic itly

3. Lower the transit tim e and other barriers between one

experienc e and another

4. Leverage the tec hnologic al c om ponents that join

func tions of c onsum ption, c ustom and c reation together

Involvist Viewpoint

I believe that user experienc e in the c urrent world is a

fragm ented, c lunky and non- intuitive version of what would
ac tually be possible if it weren' t for the legac y im bedded in
our designs of user journey s, and the m indset of c ontrol,
c om petition and non- c ollaboration. Added to this, the sheer
lac k of user- c entric design m eans that m any wirefram es are
serving func tions other than fitting how people really live
their lives - or as im portantly - how people c ould live their
lives even better.

M any c om panies speak long and loud about how m uc h

inform ation they " have on y ou". C urrently , in the M obile
Telec om s world, there is talk of Operators harnessing the
" inc redible power of their deep and wide databases" and
" exploiting" that inform ation.

Welcome to Involvism – Jonathan MacDonald

This is fairly unrealistic for 3 reasons:

1. M ost of the databases are not linked together to c reate

a true viewpoint of an individual

2. A low volum e of data is ac c urate and there is little

knowledge of what parts are and what parts aren' t

3. Exploiting peoples private inform ation is sure- fire

c om m erc ial suic ide as very few people like being exploited -
espec ially if they don' t know about it until after the event

However, the above c onc erns are not exc lusive to the
Telec om s world.

M any c om panies in the retail, banking, publishing and

transport sec tors have m asses of inform ation too - but
again, even if it is ac c urate and far- reac hing, the uses of
this data rarely am ount to m uc h over and above sec urity
and polic ing.

Y ou would im agine that a superm arket reward c ard c om pany

would know y our ' shopping basket' habits and probably be
able to suggest related item s y ou m ay be interested in and
disc ounts on the produc ts y ou habitually buy - alerting y ou
via m obile whilst y ou travelled around the store.

Y ou would im agine that an airline would know y our travel

habits and probably be able to let y ou know of inform ation
that is very likely to be pertinent to y our travel plans. I f y ou
travel to M unic h every Tuesday , an expec ted servic e
disruption in M unic h Airport, next Tuesday , would be fairly
useful to the traveler who habitually goes there.

Y ou would im agine that som eone who has bought num erous
TAG Heuer watc hes over a period of 10 y ears would be known
to TAG Heuer and be in regular, ' c onc ierge - ty pe' dialogue. I f
eac h one has sim ilar features, a trend is born and a new
m odel in the range is quite likely to be desirable.

Y ou would im agine that upon purc hasing y our 4th B M W in a

row, the m anufac turer would treat y ou like a V I P. Y ou would
im agine that if the TAG Heuer people c reated an applic ation
that fitted in a B M W Sat Nav sy stem , that the c om panies
c ould liaise to provide a sc ulptured, personalised offer whic h,
alm ost regardless of pric e, would be highly popular to a
c ertain som eone - espec ially if it happened to be previewed
next Tuesday at M unic h Airport ( albeit c ausing signific ant
servic e disruption) and was available to buy in y our loc al
superm arket.

Welcome to Involvism – Jonathan MacDonald

B ut alas no. These pipe- dream s whic h are a tec hnic al
possibility , are very rarely in plac e.

I am sure people are working hard in various areas around

this but is the work m ore about c om m erc ial advantage for a
c om pany or c reating rem arkable value to people in their
lives? I nvolvism suggests that c reating rem arkable value is
the prim ary assuranc e of c om petitive advantage, but this
m ust be done in a selfless, transparent and intuitive way -
linking m ultiple experienc es, produc ts and servic es together
via num erous m edia c hannels.

To this end, I c reated a c onc ept c alled ' V aporfram e' . On

Oc tober 10 th 20 0 8 I wrote a desc ription of m y theory , seen
here: http://www.jonathanm ac donald.c om /?p=160 1.

The V aporfram e is the invisible linkage between what we use,

buy , c reate, whatever - and the m ethods we im plem ent to do
so.

The m agic of suc h c onnec tivity is m y own personal vision of

C R M 2.0 .

F irst though, we have to ac c ept that we are only sc ratc hing

the surfac e of what is possible in c onnec ting things of value
for people. I have no doubt that by prioritising suc h
c onnec tivity ; c om panies will be exponentially em powered to
enable value, effic ienc y , produc tivity , profitability and sc ale.

Welcome to Involvism – Jonathan MacDonald

Involvism Method 4: Cohesion

Mantra

The c ohesive link of beliefs, values, approac hes and strategy

ac ross all c om pany ac tivity is a fundam ental c om ponent of
enabling value, effic ienc y , produc tivity , profitability and
sc ale. Ac tivity in the public fac ing part of organisations m ust
m atc h the m indset and m ethodology of internal struc tures.
C onversely , there m ust be the sam e c ohesion between the
way of working and the approac h to c itizens. Only when all
parts of an organisation are working c ohesively c an real
benefit be gained.

Key Actions

1. Formalise key values, offerings and ethos into a c lear,

understandable c ore direc tion and proposition

2. Familiarise all sec tors of an organisation in the above

direc tion and proposition, enc ouraging belief and inheritanc e
of c ore

3. Focus espec ially on the silos that ac t without link to the

c ore - adding flexibility and agility to their operations

4. Follow the guidanc e of c itizens in adjusting the c ore

direc tion and proposition - bec om e jointly ac c ountable with
them in enabling a c ohesive approac h

Involvist Viewpoint

I t is very c om m on to see an organisation with a public fac ing

approac h that has little or no relation to internal belief.

I n the day s of broadc ast c ontrol, it was very diffic ult for
c itizens to:

a) I dentify delta between what was said and what was done
or,

b) Transm it suc h identific ation to others

Until we were well c onnec ted in the developed world, the

above points enabled c om panies to operate with two
dissim ilar approac hes. F ew people would realise and even less

Welcome to Involvism – Jonathan MacDonald

would talk about it.

Now though, we have an inc reased ability to disc over how

c om panies are run and c ross- m atc h that with the outward
approac h in public . B e it through easy ac c ess to public
rec ords, em ploy ee blogs or F ac ebook pages - it' s not hard to
c onstruc t a fairly ac c urate ac c ount of what is really going
on within an organisation. A c om pany whose outbound
m essage is one of ' freedom ' y et runs its business in a
dic tatorial way , is m ore easily found out and the ' story ' to
c itizens doesn' t really add up.

I nvolvism suggests that the m odel of disc onnec t isn' t

optim um in the world we now live in. What is c alled for in the
4th m ethod is c ohesion between what is said and what is
done.

Unfortunately for c om panies who have never needed to

worry about this, the im plem entation of c ohesion requires
signific antly broad ac tivity ac ross an entire organisation - so
m uc h so that this I nvolvism m ethod m ay well look like sc ienc e
fic tion. Nevertheless, to operate in the m ost valuable,
effic ient, produc tive, profitable and sc alable way , c ohesion is
a m andatory m ethod - regardless of required upheaval.

The key to understanding c ohesion is to start with seeking

c larity .

C larity breeds understanding of what business y ou are

ac tually in, what value y ou really bring, and what
opportunities are c onc retely there.

M any c om panies have num erous departm ents, divisions or

data c entres who have little if any thing to do with one
another. M any c om panies c ontain other c om panies with
subset P&L s whic h are m anaged by people who,
understandably , have little c are for whether another
c om pany ' s profit is healthy or not.

This environm ent m akes it diffic ult for a c ohesive sy stem to

be in plac e, as priorities are not linked together.

We see c om panies who have great strap- lines and sound-

bites - m ay be even throw in a unified c olour sc hem e - but
are fighting for different c orners and have little or no
understanding what it is they are really doing that is of
value.

I t is of param ount im portanc e that onc e c larity and

understanding is ac hieved, the sec tors within an organisation
need to be totally fam iliar and believing in the c ore

Welcome to Involvism – Jonathan MacDonald

approac hes and values set out.

I t is unlikely that the way of working c an rem ain unc hanged

if the c urrent way doesn' t fit squarely within the c ore
belief. This is espec ially c om m on in disparate parts of an
organisation that is on linked in a tertiary way to the m ain
business. However, these are often the parts that have the
m ost negative effec t when ac ting independently to the c ore
approac h, as every thing is as strong as its weakest link.

Even when there is c ohesion within an organisation and its

outbound c om m unic ation, the final elem ent is to enable input
and guidanc e from c itizens. Then, we would see truly c ohesive
outbound and inbound behaviour that is m onum entally hard
to c om pete with and replic ate.

C ohesion is not the easiest of things to im plem ent -

however, the world is too fast and too c onnec ted to
seriously c onsider an approac h that is in any way disjointed.
B ec om e a c ohesive energy and y ou will be m onum entally
em powered to enable value, effic ienc y , produc tivity ,
profitability and sc ale.

Welcome to Involvism – Jonathan MacDonald

Involvism Method 5: Creation

Mantra

The c reation of new produc t, servic e, experienc e and form at

is a fundam ental c om ponent of enabling value, effic ienc y ,
produc tivity , profitability and sc ale. Even a suc c essfully
static m odel is at risk of being replic ated or replac ed with a
newer, c leaner, easier or m ore valuable version. C reation of
' the new' is m ore than a produc tion m andate - the m entality
of c onstant renewal is a safeguard against bland, boring and
unem otional offerings.

Key Actions

1. Accept that c urrent propositions are lim ited in longevity

2. Allow flexibility in c onc epts for iteration

3. Account positive and negative trends in response,

interac tion and disc ussion around versions

4. Apply revisions openly and unapologetic ally

Involvist Viewpoint

One of the biggest problem s to fac e an organisation is

suc c ess. Ac hieving goals that were onc e seen as
unattainable, plac es the m ind in a state of c om fort,
satisfac tion and stability . However, the last thing an
organisation should do is rest easy and assum e that
every thing is fine. This isn' t to take away from c elebration
and reward - far from it - but I nvolvism suggests a c onstant
struggle to reinvent, redefine and revise the offerings it
produc es.

To c onstantly c reate is to c onstantly try and better the

standard. I t is a longing, a desire, a m ission that never
c eases to im prove itself and settle for the now. The natural
extension of an organisation c reating is to enable others to
c reate, thereby fac ilitating an onward c y c le of c o- c reation,
whic h enjoy s the jointly ac c ountable benefit of shared glory .

To begin with, it is vital that there is an ac c eptanc e the

c urrent propositions are lim ited in their longevity . However

Welcome to Involvism – Jonathan MacDonald

suc c essful, it is probable that today ' s big produc ts will not
be tom orrow' s.

This statem ent, to those enjoy ing suc c ess, is often

unim aginable. With this in m ind, it is a truism to state that
those who are m ost likely to c ontinue c reating are those
with lim ited suc c ess. One suc c ess is attained ( however y ou
c lass suc c ess) , a c om m on reac tion is to replic ate the sam e
thing, over and over again. F or exam ple - a m assively
suc c essful c om pany ' s luc rative revenue stream of
advertising c an be viewed as an infinite m oney pot - whereas
the assum ptions of longevity m ay well be vastly inac c urate.

There m ust be an inherent flexibility built in to an

organisation' s proc ess of developm ent to allow further
iterations at a quic k pac e. C om panies with developm ent
c y c les of 18 m onths ( in a world that c hanges at a far
quic ker pac e) don' t have a realistic turnaround to keep up
with the gam e. This fac t is som etim es brushed away with
exc uses of ' the way the c om pany is struc tured' or that
' doing what we do is far too c om plic ated to be quic k' but
ac tually the issue is in the psy c hology of c reation.

M any c om panies view c reation as som ething that has to be

done internally and m ust follow a tried and tested proc ess.
However, giving others the tools to c reate with y ou, and
being agile in y our developm ent proc ess, enables quic ker
response to m arket dem and and fluc tuation.

The ac c ounting of the positive and negative responses,

interac tions and disc ussions is vital to form a feedbac k loop
that direc ts c reation and any revisions should be applied
with full transparenc y and reasoning - rather than an
unexplained update that seem s to have no benefit.

The healthiest m indset of c reation is therefore one of

exploration, disc overy , openness and flexibility . I t is from the
top down and bottom up, ac ross the entire workforc e and
user base. Only then c an suc h a m ethodology enable the
value, effic ienc y , produc tivity , profitability and sc ale that an
I nvolvist c om pany enjoy s.

Welcome to Involvism – Jonathan MacDonald

Involvism Method 6: Convergence

Mantra

C itizens c hoose m edia c hannels for c onsum ing and

experienc ing c ontent due to ease, c onvenienc e, c ontext,
pric e and availability . As the c apability of tec hnology
inc reases, the approac hes to spec ific m edia c hannels m ust
de- silo. The c onvergenc e of tec hnology m ust be m atc hed
with a c onvergenc e of approac hes that ty pic ally were unique
to eac h c hannel. As m edia devic es bec om e m ore c apable,
personal and c ontextual, a c onvergent m ethodology
c entered on rem arkable experienc e, rather than single -
c hannel engagem ent, is a fundam ental c om ponent of
enabling value, effic ienc y , produc tivity , profitability and
sc ale.

Key Actions

1. Start c om m unic ation approac hes from the point of c itizen

experienc e rather than c hannel c hoic e

2. Set m inim um user experienc e guarantees as a priority

over revenue generation

3. Simplify way s for people to interac t, c ollaborate and

share

4. Show a unified and ethic al approac h in all c hannel usage

Involvist Viewpoint

One would im agine that it' s unlikely that people feel positive
about som ething via one m edia c hannel but negative via
another. F or instanc e, if a partic ular produc t or servic e is
disliked when viewed on television, one would assum e it' s m ost
likely to still be disliked if seen on a billboard. Alternatively ,
the love of a partic ular m ake of watc h that one views in a
shop window, is apparently likely to c ontinue when one sees
the sam e m ake of watc h in film .

However - our experienc es of things we like or dislike are

affec ted by the m ethods in whic h they are transm itted. An
unexpec ted, un- dem anded interruption of experienc e is likely
to be m et with sim ilar distaste, regardless of prior

Welcome to Involvism – Jonathan MacDonald

experienc e. What this m eans, is that assum ptions c annot be
drawn as to brand preferenc e without c ontext. C ontext c an
be sim ple to asc ertain ( read: behavioural ) , like whether y ou
are at work or at hom e - or as c om plex to asc ertain ( read:
emotional ) , like whether y ou have rec ently fallen in love.

I nvolvism suggests that a c om m unic ations approac h ac ross

m ultiple c hannels m ust c onverge, so that the c om m on
thread is one of rem arkable experienc e, rather than a
num ber of spec ific approac hes governed prim arily by m edia
c hannel c hoic e.

To do this, the starting point m ust be at an experiential level

for c itizens. At this stage, m any state out- dated m indsets
like ' getting the c onsum er to do what we want' , or, ' working
out what we want the c onsum er to experienc e' . All of these
m indsets have an im plied hierarc hy that positions the c itizen
as a sub- dom inant bitc h.

These m indsets start with an ' us and them ' approac h, henc e
putting the so- c alled ' end user' as the final point of a value
c hain, whereas in real life, people are the value c hain and
every thing else is a servant that m ay or m ay not win the
attention of people.

There has been c ritic ism leveled at m y viewpoint on this

m atter - largely around them es like ' y ou m ay be right but
we are try ing to m ake m oney in today ' s m arket' , or, ' it' s
fasc inating to have suc h generous and soc ialist opinions but
the c om m erc ial world doesn' t work like that' .

M y observation as an I nvolvist is:

1. Today ' s m arket is fundam entally different from

y esterday ' s m arket where people didn' t have the tools and
ability to c onverse with eac h other as widely and quic kly

2. The fac t that m ost c om m erc ial enterprise doesn' t

understand point 1 is an enorm ous opportunity if y ou are in
an organisation that does

I nvolvism guides us to setting m inim um user experienc e

guarantees as a prec ursor to revenue generation. The
m antra sets out a determ inant fac tor of personal devic es
for whic h rem arkable user experie nc e is m andatory . This
point doesn' t m ention m obile as it is thought that m obility-
enabled devic es inc lude the delivery of all 6 m ass m edia prior
( print, radio, rec ordings, c inem a, TV , internet) .

I n a c onverged approac h, a key fac tor is for people to be

able to interac t, c ollaborate and share ac ross all m edia. We

Welcome to Involvism – Jonathan MacDonald

m ust ac c ept the idiosy nc rasies of eac h c hannel for now -
but inc reasingly we m ust work with tools that enable an
equally interac tive and rem arkable experienc e regardless of
m edia c hannel.

An I nvolvist c om pany would set out a unified and ethic al

approac h in all c hannel usage that c olours the texture of
eac h m edia touc h- point. F or m any , this m ay look like
standard brand m anagem ent - but I nvolvism suggests
elsewhere that brand' s are now c ontrolled by c itizens rather
than c om panies so the theory that an organisation c an
c reate and im plem ent suc h c onvergenc e without c itizen
involvem ent is abhorrent.

This c onvergent approac h of harm ony and resonanc e with

hum an life will probably be ridic uled by those who sec retly
fear for their jobs, whilst I nvolvist c om panies quietly enable
the fundam ental c om ponents of enabling value, effic ienc y ,
produc tivity , profitability and sc ale.

Welcome to Involvism – Jonathan MacDonald

Involvism Method 7: Credibility

Mantra

B uilding an identity and nurturing the trust of others is

based on solid c redibility . What is valid for interpersonal
relationships is valid for business to c itizen relationships also.
Organisations m ust have c lear values and stic k to them . They
m ust be honest, trustworthy and genuine. They m ust adm it
when they are wrong and hum ble when they are right. They
m ust ask for the help of others rather than pretend
om nipotenc e. C redibility in business m ust be of the sam e
standard as the c redibility of a c itizen to truly enable and
c reate real value, effic ienc y , produc tivity , profitability and
sc ale.

Key Actions

1. Clarify the c ore values y ou and y our organisation have

2. C orrespond all internal and external ac tivity to y our c ore

values

3. Create and prepare for sc enarios that would test the

c redibility of y ou and y our organisation

4. Communicate with all internal and external stakeholders,

what y ou stand for and what that m eans

Involvist Viewpoint

The c redibility of a brand, produc t, servic e or c om pany is

built upward from the values and behaviour shown. There is a
great deal of tim e, energy and m oney spent on the
elaborate c reation of brand values. However, m uc h of this
effort is to guide external c om m unic ations and even when
the values are supposed to reflec t internal proc edure, work
ethic and behaviour overall, som e people ( often in positions
of power) disregard the agreed values and behaviour as
' m arketing speak' , and get on with leading in their own way .

F rom experienc e, the knoc k- on effec t of m isunderstanding

values and behaving without alignm ent with them is so vast
that it c an bring a c om pany to its knees.

Welcome to Involvism – Jonathan MacDonald

To be c redible is to do what y ou say y ou will do, to deliver
what y ou say y ou will deliver, and to be who y ou say y ou are.

C redibility is so c ritic al to breeding trust y et so overlooked

on a list of priorities that m ostly start with the word
' revenue' ( and rec ently , the next words are ' from
advertising' ) .

R egardless of the am ount of ey eballs, viewers, im pressions,

visitors, users or m em bers, without being c redible in the
ey es of all stakeholders, an organisations ability to truly
enable and c reate real value, effic ienc y , produc tivity ,
profitability and sc ale is severely limited .

I n a world where engagem ent and interac tion with m edia is

so personal and self- c ontrolled, there is no other tangible
option other than breeding hum an trust and respec t.

I nvolvism suggests that being honest, trustworthy and

genuine are m andatory c om ponents of business c redibility
although we find m any c om panies lac king on one or m ore of
those fac tors. The sm all print and hidden c lauses of today ' s
world m ust surely be replac ed with openness and
transparenc y . The word play and tric kery used in m arketing
c om m unic ations ( like, for exam ple, ' free c alls for life - just
pay £25/m onth' ) m ust surely be replac ed, as c itizens c an
inc reasingly see through the bullshit and talk to eac h other
about it - all before the m arketing team gets to Starbuc ks.

One of the reasons that ' advertising' is seen as suc h a dark

art is that m any people realise that what is said and shown
m ay not nec essarily be linked to the truth. At the tim e of
writing, the buzz topic is ' m obile advertising' , and I strongly
suspec t that negative em otions are generated from suc h a
phrase bec ause, for som e people, this is how it looks:

1. M obile m eans m e. M y devic e where I speak to m y friends in

m y tim e, about m y life

2. Advertising m eans lies - lies from c om panies who try and

invade m y personal spac e. C om panies who want m e to believe
their lies.

I f this is indeed the c ase, it' s easy to see the c onc ern.

The answer will not c om e from finding m ore sneaky way s of

getting ads in.

The answer will not c om e from ' doing it any way ' bec ause
' people don' t really m ind' .

Welcome to Involvism – Jonathan MacDonald

The answer will not c om e from any thing other than gaining
trust from being c redible.

Transparenc y of offering, relevanc e of c om m unic ation, value

of inc entive and ease of interac tion will work as solid ‘ R ules
of Engagem ent’ only if y ou are c redible.

R ules of Engagem ent disc ussed here:

http://www.jonathanm ac donald.c om /?p=160 3

The C om m unic ation I deal of inc reased effic ienc y from

inc reased perm ission and inc reased relevanc e from
inc reased understanding will only work if y ou are c redible.

The C om m unic ation I deal m ethodology disc ussed here:

http://www.lulu.c om /c ontent/4730 840

I f y ou m ust speak of whether ' c ontent is king' , or ' c ontext is

king' , feel free to rightly replac e suc h rhetoric with
' c redibility is king' .

Without c redibility , it doesn't matter how great y our

c ontent is or how exac t the c ontext is.

This is why I nvolvism suggests that the only way to suc c eed
in suc h an environm ent of personality and opinion is to breed
grass- root trust from being c redible. Without c redibility
there is no way to truly enable and c reate real value,
effic ienc y , produc tivity , profitability and sc ale.

Welcome to Involvism – Jonathan MacDonald

Involvism Method 8: Courage

Mantra

C ourage is the internal drive that enables us to take

c hanc es, try new approac hes and ac c ept c hange as a
desirable fac tor in business environm ents. C ourage is the
determ ining trait in whether m any things are exec uted or
shelved. C ourage sets apart those who settle for the
m undane, from those who c ontinually push forward in
c reating rem arkable produc ts and servic es. C ourage is
m andatory in efforts of enabling value, effic ienc y ,
produc tivity , profitability and sc ale.

Key Actions

1. Accept that m any ac tivities will fall outside y our c om fort

zone and start to em brac e those c hanc es

2. Assess the im portanc e of fam iliarity and whether it is

m ore im portant than c reating the rem arkable

3. Accelerate y our involvem ent in new c reations, re-

prioritising the static to sub- prim e

4. Award and reward those who assist and enable positive

c hange, re- prioritising those who prom ote the status quo

Involvist Viewpoint

The m ethods outlined in I nvolvism require a signific ant

am ount of c ourage. C ourage to ac c ept that tim es are
c hanging, c ourage to ac c ept support from others, c ourage
to try new business m odels and c ourage to be honest and
c ollaborative with c itizens. C ourage to ac c ept ' y our brand' is
in the hands of the public and c ourage to c ontinually c reate
and differentiate.

Our love of fam iliar c irc um stanc es c onditions us not to be

c ourageous. All y ou need to m aintain the way things are, is a
m indset that assum es every thing will be fine as it is. This
doesn' t require c ourage - it requires blinkers.

I nvolvism suggests that c ourage sets apart winners from

losers and history has shown this to be true. C ourage opens

Welcome to Involvism – Jonathan MacDonald

up opportunities that others m iss, m eaning those who are
seen to be ' luc ky ' are ac tually just exploiting things that few
others are aware of. Often, people dism iss the lives of
winners by exc laim ing ' they c om e from a better bac kground'
or ' they haven' t gone through what I have' . We hear
c om m ents like ' they were in the right plac e at the right
tim e' or ' they would never be suc c essful in this day and age' .
These opinions are m ostly looking in the wrong direc tion. The
real question to ask y ourself is, ' would you have the balls to
do what they did? '

Opportunity is pretty easy to seize when there' s nobody else

try ing to seize it. C hanc es of 1 in a m illion c an bec om e 1 in 1
or 1 in 4, for exam ple. These are good odds.

I t is vital to assess whether fam iliarity is ac tually that

im portant in the sc hem e of things. I f y ou are setting out to
c reate rem arkable experienc es, produc ts, servic es or
c om panies, y ou will have to weigh up the im portanc e of the
' nic e and easy ' stuff. I f it turns out that the fam iliar isn' t
c utting it ( assum ing y ou are aware of that) , then the good
news is y ou are totally in c ontrol of y our fortune
thereafter.

I f y ou happen to realise and ac c ept that y our environm ent

is not optim um then y ou m ust ac c elerate into the c reation
of new things, at the expense of the static .

This m ay m ean y ou have to leave y our job, or risk getting

fired. Y ou m ay be unpopular with y our peers who seek
c onstant reassuranc e that their boring lives are ' stable' and
' sec ure' - whereas y our c ourage threatens their ‘ c om fort
zones’ fundam entally .

C om fort Z ones are disc ussed here:

http://www.jonathanm ac donald.c om /?p=7

So what? At the end of the day , y ou either ' get busy living or
get busy dy ing' ( as the exc ellent line from ‘ Shawshank
R edem ption’ goes) .

Y ou m ay be in a c om pany that has suc h and extrem e legac y

that it' s very hard to c hange things, even if y ou have the
c ourage to do so. This brings a need for extrem e c ourage
and a brilliant leader. Are y ou willing and able to take the
c hallenge?

I f y ou are, the c ourage y ou need has to be trained into the

rest of y our c om pany . Y our whole organisation needs to be
c ourageous. People who are c ourageous enough to assist

Welcome to Involvism – Jonathan MacDonald

and enable positive c hange m ust be awarded and rewarded
so they are inc entivised to keep being c ourageous. Those
who prom ote the status quo and whinge about the ' barriers'
that stop c hange happening, need to be given the c hanc e of
learning a new way - or if that fails - by passed. Quic kly .

I f y ou only had one c hoic e from this introduc tory series of

8 m ethods of I nvolvism , the one to take on board is this one.
Y ou m ay not know the direc tion to head in, y ou m ay not
know how to restruc ture y our organisation, y ou m ay not
know the roadm ap ahead, y ou m ay not know whether y ou
are ' doing the right thing' but all of these things c an happen
in tim e, so long as y ou have the c ourage to get there. At the
very least, c ourage will plac e y ou in a strongest of positions
to enable value, effic ienc y , produc tivity , profitability and
sc ale.

Welcome to Involvism – Jonathan MacDonald

About The Author

Jonathan M ac Donald is the c o- founder of this fluid world

( http://www.thisfluidworld.c om ) , whic h is a c onsulting servic e
that assists c om panies in their searc h for business and
c om m unic ations exc ellenc e, fitting to the 21 st C entury .

He is also the M anaging Direc tor of JM A

( http://www.jm a.c o.uk) , whic h is an agenc y delivering spec ialist
exec ution in c om m unic ation strategies.

Jonathan has spent over a dec ade assisting over 10 0

c om panies inc luding V odafone, Ogilvy , Unilever, Kodak, B P,
Am eric an Express, B ritish Airway s and M otorola.

His experienc e, c ontribution to the industry , entrepreneurial

spirit and passion m eans that Jonathan is widely c onsidered
as one of the prim ary strategists and thought leaders in
the digital spac e. He is well known for his popular blog
( http://www.jonathanm ac donald.c om ) and speaks at m any
c onferenc es around the world.

He has written a num ber of powerful whitepapers – the

m ost rec ent being:

15 M inute Guide To Survival in a New C om m unic ations and

B usiness World:

http://public ations.thisfluidworld.c om /hom e

M ac ro Trends of the 21 st C entury :

http://www.21stc entury m ac rotrends.c om

Previously , Jonathan has been the Sales Direc tor of B ly k,

C om m erc ial Direc tor of M inistry of Sound, C EO of a Sky TV
c hannel and a C hairm an of the M usic I ndustries Assoc iation.

Jonathan is also the founder of Every Single One Of Us

( http://www.every singleoneofus.c om ) , whic h is a resourc e
environm ent for public ations, c ase studies, researc h,
ac tivities, events and opinions that involve a strong foc us on
c itizen identity , personality , advoc ac y and experienc e in
c om m erc ial c om m unic ation.

Welcome to Involvism – Jonathan MacDonald