For several years now, I've had the dubious distinction of trying to explain to people what it means to be a media psychologist. The trick is to get the definition out before their eyes roll back in their heads. A larger problem, though, is that my definition of media psychology fits better with the term 'transmedia multipsychology,' which admittedly sounds a little silly. Why does it matter how we define things? Because definitions create the field of play Media psychology has to address the convergence of technologies, the messaging process, the blurring of boundaries between roles of producers, consumers, and distributors. All of these create psychological shifts at individual, organizational, and national levels in a world because our basic assumptions about communication and interaction with everything is continually changing. Definitions, like cognitive maps, define our view and in doing so, limit our vision for innovative problem-solving and inquiry unless we take steps … [Read more...]
Drucker and Facebook–Organizing for Change
There's a story about the demise of Facebook in the Washington Post: Worldwide ebb for Facebook. I like the logic--when a company's been around long enough for someone to make a movie out of it, then it's probably on the downhill slide, even if they do get Justin Timberlake. That people are interested in something new shouldn't be surprising to anyone in business, marketing or evolutionary psychology. Same ol', same ol' won't cut it, especially in a world where expectations about the speed of change have reached new highs. But rather than speculate on trends and following the migration across social media tools of whoever's cool, it's time to revisit some words of wisdom from the original management guru, Peter Drucker. Organizations must be organized for innovation. Using economist Joseph Schumpeter's term "creative destruction," Drucker said companies should be: organized for the systematic abandonment of whatever is established, customary, family and comfortable, … [Read more...]
