Why Blog?

Why should I blog? Why should you blog?

When I started blogging (5,5 years ago) I did it because I wanted to publish a book. My blog helped me to learn. I learned how to write and what to write. So, my book Management 3.0 has been out for a while, and many readers consider it a success. Done! Mission accomplished. Woohoo!

…

What now?

For a while I used this blog mainly as a promotional tool. I promoted the Management 3.0 courses, the new Happy Melly business, the DARE conference, and the new Management Workout book I’m writing. But in each of these cases my dear old blog acted merely as an outlet for anything I wanted to share with the world. And yes, that works. (I’m doing it right now. I know a few of you will click on one of the links in this paragraph.)

But I don’t want that anymore. For me it’s not really fulfilling. I want this blog to have a real purpose again!

Why Blog?

Everything starts with Why, says Simon Sinek.

I want to repurpose my blog as a learning tool. My blog should help me along on my journey. What is my journey? Oh, that’s easy! I’ve been thinking about that for a while, and I realized I try to learn how to improve my life as a worker in the creative economy.

I read this on the Harvard Business Review Blog yesterday:

Connected individuals can now achieve what once only centralized organizations could. The implications for this are huge. It changes the basis of market power for organizations because size no longer protects competitive advantage. It changes management because people can figure out for themselves what needs to be done to implement the larger strategy. It changes careers because we no longer need to belong to an organization to be able to create scale or impact. […] Today, what matters is the ability to create, not the ability to first prove you can.

– Nilofer Merchant,
“Your Brand is the Exhaust Fume of the Engine of Your Life”

There’s my journey!

This is exactly what I’ve experienced in the last three years.

The Connected Creative Individual

My self-published book, my business in courseware licensing, my talks at 25 conferences per year, my idea for a business network, and everything else I do. They all confront me with challenges. The challenges are part of surviving and thriving as a connected creative individual in the 21st century.

And so, I found a new purpose for my blog:

Exploring the Networked Economy,
Creating the New Ways of Work.

Yes, this includes being Agile. And Lean. And management. And complexity. But it also includes entrepreneurship, “work-life balance”, value, happiness, and everything else that I, as a modern creative worker, seek experience with. This is about my individual perspective on creating great work.

You’re going to see some changes on this blog. Some topics will get less attention. Others will move to the front. And each new post should cover a different aspect of this blog’s new purpose. My blog will help me learn again.

Will you join me on my journey?