Why do you blog?

I like to seek and pass on information. I have throngs of family, friends, coworkers and clients that ask for my opinion and I love to give it to them. Unfortunately I have more questions and more folks in need of assistance, though, so sometimes even my family gets mad that I’m not responding.

But, it is what I’m good at.

I like to listen.
I like to read.
I like to learn.
And, I love to share what I’ve learned.

Sharing is even more important when I’m wrong. I appreciate it when folks tell me I’m off my rocker. Today I got in a passionate tiff at work about the boundaries of my responsibilities and my job. Truth is, it was a tiff because I hate boundaries. I don’t want my team and I arguing about what my job is versus what their job is. I just really want to get a group of heads together to fix the darn problem! That’s it!

Under times of stress at a company, we like to push back on responsibilities and boundaries. Isn’t it funny that when you start up a company that those boundaries don’t exist? Everyone simply kicks in because they all have to if they want to survive. How do we keep that momentum as you grow from 5 to 10 to 5,000 clients? I think it’s one of the best kept secrets of large companies. To heck with processes, paperwork, pointing fingers…. just get it done! That’s why I’m in business and not politics. I despise politics, especially politics in business.

So I yelled, and they yelled, and I yelled some more and stormed out. Afterwards, we got through it. We’re a better team because of it. Do I wish it never happened? Absolutely not! They must understand how I feel and who I am so we can get the job done right. I respect them much more for pushing back than not. And now I have an appreciation for their perspective.

I want to have these debates with everyone. I’m a better person when you express yourself to me. I’m not going to say that I’m right or you’re wrong… we each have our own perspectives and beliefs. We’re better as a team because of our diversity.

It’s why I blog!

I get to throw my ideas out to anyone who wishes to read them. I have a couple hundred readers a day now and every few days one of them will throw me a comment or a short note that makes me think about what I’ve written. Yesterday, the leader of a well-respected GIS company passed on 2 words regarding my last entry on Google Maps: “Nice implementation!”. It made my day!

It’s why I blog.

I have a group of trusted folks around me that I’m constantly bouncing ideas off of. But it’s not enough. I want to bounce my ideas off people I don’t know. People outside my industry, outside my country, outside my race, etc. I welcome their response! I really do! We’re better when we understand each other. Nothing can stop us.

So why do you blog?