Jeremiah Owyang lays out and updates his Three Spheres of Web Strategy once more considering some more relevant and timely trends for 2009/2010. Not unlike his other observations, this one’s been well-received and is pretty accurate as far as I’m concerned.
One of the conversations that I’ve had often with other technologists and “web strategists” is where they “fit” in terms of this sphere and the general principles laid out within it. As Jeremiah notes, there are three core foci:
- Community
- Business
- Technology
For many the goal has been to become a well-rounded (pun intended…?) web strategist; one who can really pull from all three circles and who “gets” it from all three angles. I used to have this opinion and this drive but I no longer desire that, and partly because it’s unstable and unsustainable.
I’ve decided that for my own sanity and clarity, there is without question a definite strength in the technology-related sphere. I can play the other roles well enough, but I’d rather get a team around me to help fill those gaps.
More importantly, I’m not jazzed up by the other two (and let’s just say for the record that they are indeed very significant and important to the business) as I am with technology; I’d rather find people that are passionate in those spheres to complement me rather than do it all myself.
Where do you fit? Can you possibly be just one?
Jim says
I come from the business side and gradually learned the other parts…but in theory i agree with a balance…it can be difficult to get a customer to understand all 3…
j3ff says
I heavily fall into the Technology & Community side with little understanding of the Business sphere.
human3rror says
cool. good stuff. are you interested in growing the biz sphere?
klreed189 says
I fall into the community side and a little bit of technology. I am working to incorporate all three in a healthy relationship. But I have seen that if you do not do them equally and well people will see right through what you are doing. A unhealthy balance of business is obvious, but put that together with community and technology and you have yourself a very good balance, much like church crunch.
@epjohnson says
Good point. It's not that any one individual needs to perfectly embody this ideal, but as a team, we should strive for this type of balance. An additional benefit: the work is usually more effective and well thought-out if it comes from a team.