Sound familiar? This is the 53rd thesis from the Cluetrain Manifesto. During the Cluetrain at 10 event, we were asked to break up into small groups of about 10. We were then given a sheet of paper with a small subset of the 95 thesis statements and asked to choose one. We chose number 53. Our assignment was to discuss what this statement meant to us; and outline tactical steps we can take to make the thesis come to life in our respective organizations. Here is what our group came up with after about ten minutes of discussion (doing my best to remember exactly what I presented):

The challenge for organizations is to identify the relevant conversations that are happening in the market; and have those same conversations internally. This requires an apparent culture shift within the organization which will be difficult in some organizations and easier in others. By aligning these conversations, organization can then equip their teams to begin participating in these conversations. Tactically, we can summarize these conversations and email them to senior management and/or add various quotes from these conversations in our email signatures.

I, being the only male in the group, was elected (or forced) to present our findings, so I have no video. Nonetheless, here are the other group presentations: