Tuesday, September 28. 2010It Seems That I Have Wasted My Time........John Linton ....for the past three plus years in writing this blog......at least according to one person. I got an email yesterday from a customer who said he had read my blog for the first time and it caused him to immediately transfer to another provider. He said he had expected "the blog of a company CEO to be very positive and to promote the great things the company was doing and the bright future the company had - like the other blogs of CEOs in the industry". He was dismayed to find that "all your blog does is point out how bad things are, how you have no idea how to deal with your competitors and regulators and all you can do is bad mouth everyone and every thing in the foulest language". He went on to say many other things that offended him especially my references to "sheltered workshops and idiotic public servants". His interpretations of much of what I thought was very plain text was impossible for me to understand how such views could be reached. I thought about replying but decided it was a waste of time. I am unaware of "blogs by other CEOs in the industry" - if anyone knows of any I would be interested in reading them. Perhaps those blogs are written in consistently up beat terms about how great the individuals writing them are, how brilliantly they are coping with every aspect of these very difficult times and how much they admire the ACCC, ACEMA and the current politician's decisions on how they can get re-elected. I would be interested to read their daily views and thoughts on what is happening in their daily business lives. My, obviously negative, disrespectful to my 'betters' (now there's a word I haven't heard for a very long time) and generally useless daily maunderings since late July 2007 have been, against the eight criteria I was advised that such writings would achieve, very successful and have more than met all the expectations I was given to believe would occur up to January of this year when I changed my objectives in putting in the time to write them each day. I was very happy with the immense value that Exetel derived from me taking the time publishing my thoughts and the financial benefits especially have been very, very substantial.....apart from anything else. I have had a new objective since making this blog a 'closed' audience piece of writing and it's too early to determine whether it will be successful in achieving that, much more difficult, objective - but even if it doesn't it will serve a secondary, personal, purpose. There are an infinite number of things that any small business manager needs to do each day to try and ensure the business firstly survives and secondly, if that's possible, continues to grow. My email correspondent yesterday took the view that I must be a total fool and completely unaware of how what I write would be regarded by anyone silly enough to read it. That was very disrespectful but it exemplifies the, completely incorrect, self belief of so many people who, 'educated' by the ill manners and anonymity of posting their views on electronic fora, seem to forget that when they address specific people with specifically demonstrated expertise they need to think beyond their own limited experiences and understandings....most of such people automatically regard themselves as being more intelligent and more knowledgeable than the person they are addressing - in almost every case a completely erroneous assumption. If you could be bothered to read some of the better respected, quasi-academic writings on how and why blogs by various different types of people can generate value in commercial endeavours you would find, pretty much, a consensus on what those values should turn out to be along with various first hand experience stories by senior company executives of companies both large and small that detail their experiences and the results. I was first encouraged to write a blog by a chance encounter with an old business colleague while I was on holiday. I can recommend the writing of a blog, perhaps not daily, as very few people seem to do that. If you ever do decide to do it list the objectives you would like to achieve and then see how well those objectives are achieved - my own experience is that a blog can achieve every objective you set for it - and in my personal experience will succeed beyond your wildest expectations. Perhaps such people as the person who emailed me yesterday should consider why anyone would, for over three years, every day of those years, take the time every morning of their life to write 600 or so words of their current thoughts about the industry they manage a small company within? I would have thought that it's very unlikely that they would expend that time in the expectation that the efforts would result in negative results for the company Perhaps not all people believe that blogs are written for a positive purpose (hard to believe but possible I suppose) and are constantly measured against that purpose - like the individual who wrote his careless email to me yesterday though....I think he almost certainly lacks the intellectual capabilities to understand such things. Copyright © Exetel Pty Ltd 2010
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Thanks for your blog, John.
I enjoy reading it each day - it is one of my windows to the communications industry. It's also relevant to me as I am a small residential Exetel customer with a range of services. Good to see you are sticking to your own agenda. Regards, Harry. Comment (1)
I enjoy reading about the challenges you face and the complexity of your business and would be less inclined to read a blog that was more about marketing spin. Also appreciate the way Exetel floats ideas here and in the forums and seeks feedback from customers.
However,I am sure you realise that your approach and the way you view many things is different to that of others. You have pointed it out many times yourself. Your email correspondent is right, using terms like sheltered workshop to describe organisations you diagree with is not a good look. I'm sure the public servants are big enough to look after themselves but real people do work in sheltered workshops (which wikipaedia tells me is an outdated term) and deserve better respect. I doubt your correpsondent thinks you are a total fool - you seem to jump to that conclusion often when someone suggests something you haven't explicitly mentioned - and I can't believe you bothered to post you thought s/he was being disrespectful given the above comments and the tone of at least every second blog entry where you insult pretty much the entire Australian public. I'll continue to read the blog and cringe my way through the tough bits. Looking forward to hearing how dumb I am! Spectator Comments (2)
I am surprised that you, or anyone else, would bother reading something you continually find offensive; let alone writing comments on it.
Why do it? It isn't as if there is a lack of reading material in the world. Comments (5)
I've invested a lot of time, energy and support in Exetel and if you read Spectator's post, you'll get a bit of an idea, he feels similar to myself as I'm sure many others do -- must I spell it out further?
I am very much interested in this blog and matters raised; I cannot agree on many things, but some things I do -- that is normal. I will cringe and wait to be called an idiot once more. Thank you. Comments (3)
As stated above, I read the blog because you provide an interesting insight into some of the challenges you face that as an outsider I would never know for myself. Also you often flag upcoming changes here. I commented this time because you seemed (or feined) surprise at this person's reaction.
Was on Virgin Broadband at Home contract for 2 years and for much of that time just waiting to make the switch to another provider. I read the blog a lot in that time and it was a factor in me deciding to choose Exetel as you genuinely seemed to be looking to create value for your customers. Just because I don't agree with everything you say doesn't mean I don't find reading your blog interesting or I don't want to be a customer (hopefully my connection won't be suddenly terminated!). There are many things I like about the blog and Exetel. Surely I don't have to agree with everything. Like Paul T says - I don't get you. You seem to invite feedback (which I think is great) but can react badly if it's not what you want to hear. You are (rightfully) very hard on customers that are disrespectful of your staff yet are happy to be quite aggressive to others publicly (and no I don't think your comments to me above are aggressive). I find it so hard to reconcile these aspects of what I see of your personality I actually sometimes wonder if you are playing a character for your own or someone else's entertainment. To do what you have done to create and maintain Exetel you are obviously extremely capable yet sometimes you give a great impression of a toddler in the midst of a tantrum. Honestly, it sometimes seems like customer/reader says "I disagree with this one little thing" and you hear "your blog is crap, exetel is crap and I hate you". I hope you have not surrounded yourself with people that are too afraid to disagree with you. Something I had not considered is that you might not actually want comments on your blog. Can you clarify? I assumed because the field is there you are inviting them. I also thought I read in a previous blog that you thought this was a valuable way of receiving feedback on various things. Maybe I was wrong. Comments (2)
One thing I really appreciate about this blog is the honesty. Sometimes the honesty is painful, but that serves as a reminder that it is honesty - JL is clearly not trying to please anyone but himself.
Were John to tone down his language the blog might be easier to read, but it would also be less honest and so less valuable. Were John to change his character so that his honest opinion was not so denigration of others as it appears ... then he may well lose an important part of what drives him to make exetel what it is. So I wouldn't be encouraging John to change (not that I have any notion that such encouragement would have any effect at all). The other thing I particularly like about this blog is when commenters provide cogent arguments which disagree with the opinion in the article - they give a great perspective. So keep it up all around guys. Comment (1)
the only other blog by a CEO I've seen is the Internode one, by definition of the URL it's a blog http://blog.internode.on.net/ however it isn't a tell it how it is type blog rather just marketing spin, why you should pay more and get less and still feel good about it, I don't really think it falls into the same category
Comment (1)
I wouldn't really call that a blog.
More a marketing exercise. Comments (5)
Hi John,
It would be interesting if you could list your objectives -- old and new. Thank you. AndrewM Comments (3)
Most people don't understand communication theory but rather have a myopic view of communication. So as someone giving a message, most people think that their communication of that message is crystal clear and only an idiot would misinterpret what they are saying. Similarly, most people on receiving a message think that their understanding of that messages is exactly and precisely what the communicator meant.
I wonder whether both of you have done exactly this. The emailer has assumed his/her interpretation of your blog was exactly what you intended - there was no other possible alternative meaning. You on the other hand perhaps don't seem to grasp that someone reading your blog could possibly come to a different understanding from what you've written - well not unless "he almost certainly lacks the intellectual capabilities to understand such things". Such statements actually reveal more about you than they do of the person who sent the email. Actually that you spend more than 800 words on someone sending an email says more about you than the emailer! Personally I find you quite enigmatic. You show elements of elitism. You often put down others who think differently to you (like the emailer), and express things in ways that would be offensive to some (sheltered workshops, Screech Owl, Krudd etc). I've seen responses to comments that appear ferocious. (See Tony in https://johnl.blogs.exetel.com.au/index.php?/archives/4745-Not-Only-Are-The-Times-A-Changin........html#c9261 ) Yet you can't be a complete elitist because you read and respond to many comments often constructively. So to be honest, I don't get you - not yet. That though doesn't effect my decision to be a customer of Exetel - though if you treated my comments like you did Tony's (see reference above - 17/09/2010) then if there was a similar offer, I'd move too. Comments (3)
For the last time - why does any sensible person read material that they find offensive?
It is not a decision I would make nor that I would expect any sensible person to make. For such people to comment on it is even more senseless. To take the writings of an individual who basically plays no part in the delivery of a service they use as some sort of facet of that service goes past senseless to just plain warped. To return to reading the comments of someone they disagree with and find offensive borders on sociopathic. You can fix YOUR problem by simply not reading what I write. The fact that you can't work out why I write the way I do or make the comments or use the phraseology is not my problem - it is clearly yours. I write for the purposes I have in mind and to produce the results I try to achieve. It takes time, effort and, at the risk of sounding "elitist" not a little skill. (actually, on reflection I don't find the word "elitist" as derogatory as you obviously mean it to be). So, please, if you don't like what I write just don't read it. It really is a pointless exercise on your behalf. I am not a fool nor am I insane - I am using a 'commercial tool' that has been, and continues to be, of immense benefit to Exetel and that is obviously not something that you understand - no problem - there are an infinite number of things I don't understand and doubtless that is the same for the majority of the rest of humanity. Move on. Comments (5)
I didn't say I found the blog offensive, nor that I disagreed with everything you said. You've assumed that. I didn't say being "elitist" was bad either. You assumed that. You don't know why I read your blog and it may not be for reasons that you think people ought to be reading your blog. For example, if I were to do any significant business with Exetel, I would read the blog. It is a small window into the mind, personality and current mental state of the CEO of Exetel.
I'm also surprised that you would assert that someone only read something that they liked and didn't find offensive. While most people read to reinforce their own thoughts, it is hardly enlightening to do so. Comments (3)
"It is a small window into the mind, personality and current mental state of the CEO of Exetel."
No it isn't - at all. It is an indication of whatever the writer, for his own purposes, chooses to write in a context much longer and wider than any individual entry. Comments (5)
You might want to do some reading on Communication theory. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communication_theory)
You have little control over how I might interpret your blog (the entire work or a single day's entry). The way you choose to communicate (language, rhetoric, that it is a blog, etc) tells me something about you that might be completely orthogonal to your intended message in a particular day's entry. So you might believe that there is no "small window" but in doing so illustrate my point that there is. Comments (3)
Are you really trying to tell me I don't know what I'm doing?
Do you really think anyone would put this much effort in to any task without also putting in the 'tools' to measure its success or lack of success? In fact do you know, or have you any way of assessing, how much effort, time and self discipline is required to write a daily blog of 600 or so words? I also very much doubt that you know anything about me at all beyond the bleeding obvious. Comments (5)
Dear John,
What makes you so sure that your tools for measurement have direct co-relation to this blog? I would say that there are many parts positive and many parts negative and many more parts completely irrelevant -- to this blog. I cannot imagine how it would be possible to reasonably and reliably quantify the value of this blog one way or another. You make all sorts of assumptions regularly and quite often they are wrong, just as people "seem" to make wrong assumptions based on what you have written. Your effort in writing the blog is phenomenal, but I'm quite sure that your "methods" or "tools" to assess the success / failure of this blog are in themselves "flawed" or at minimum based on assumptions that just might be wrong. Although you sound like a teenager -- "I always know everything and there is only one point of view, mine", quick employ a teenager whilst they still know everything. Kind Regards AndrewM Comments (3)
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