Many have said that Groundswell is a bible for companies using social technology. (Yes, I know there is a book that came out after ours called The Social Media Bible but indulge me for a moment here.) With apologies to my more religious readers (it's a metaphor, people), here are some qualities of the bible that I hope Groundswell shares.
- It helps a lot of people, so it sells a lot. (We're about 6 billion copies behind the other bible.)
- It’s full of useful advice (e.g. “Thou shalt not kill.” "Listen first before engaging the groundswell.")
- People get inspired by it and tell others to read it.
- It attempts to be the definitive authority on the topic.
- It uses stories to communicate messages.
- While it's useful by itself, it also creates an opportunity for people (priests, analysts) to spread and interpret the word further.
If you ever wanted to know what I'm doing next, here it is: I'd like to write another bible. We're looking at possible topics right now inside Forrester. They will be important, groundbreaking ideas for business; they won't necessarily be about social technology (since that bible's already written).
Assume any bible I write has the qualities I describe here. Keeping in mind that any future bible won't be out until spring 2010, what sort of bible would you like to read? Think big.
Photo from Robotlab, 2007, www.robotlab.de/bios/bible.htm , via Gastev
