Ramsay/cluetrain mashup
I don’t know if this is such a good idea, but I’ve been watching Gordon Ramsay’s kitchen nightmares, re-reading the Cluetrain Manifesto and helping a client write a set of guidelines for social media .
And I just realised what each has in common…
Voice
Ramsay, when you remove the f*** word, talks always about authenticity and simple, true food.
A big chunk of the cluetrain, and the part that I connected with when I first read it, is about communicating with a true, authentic voice.
And the core of social media is about being real, being yourself and communicating with people as a person not as a corporation.
In every case, the authenticity, realness and honesty is most important, and will always be so.
June 18th, 2008 at 4:18 am
I totally agree. Similarly, I always have to think about consulting when I watch Ramsay Gordon. Telling the clients to keep it simple, keep it focused, and them wanting to go for the flashy stuff.
June 18th, 2008 at 5:18 pm
@Peter - Ruth did an awesome presentation at BarCamp Canberra earlier this year on exactly that topic: http://www.ruthellison.com/2008/04/20/gordon-ramsay-a-guerrilla-ux-consultant/
June 19th, 2008 at 7:41 am
How can I not comment when there’s a blog post on Gordon Ramsay?
Thanks for the link to the barcamp presentation.
I haven’t heard of the Cluetrain Manifesto before! I’ve just had a look at the website and the book sounds fascinating. I’ll add it to my to-read list.
June 19th, 2008 at 7:58 am
@Ruth Cluetrain is great. It is old-ish now but still really relevant to everything web and social media. I keep losing copies by giving them to people! Andrew has a copy that you can borrow as long as it comes back
July 1st, 2008 at 10:09 pm
Yes, good post Donna.
What’s interesting, talking of authenticity, the owners of at a local cafe recently went to see Gordon Ramsay in Sydney do a cookery show and queued with others for hours to get books signed and it does seem as if G. himself is authentic and honest. I wonder if that is a major contribution to his popularity? (QED Cluetrain
I’ve just lost a terminology battle at work - I now have to refer to library users as ‘clients’ on the web site…I had another look at Cluetrain - thanks for the reminder about it! - and giggled to myself as I was reminded about the TQM (Total Quality Management) phase and how in the UK at least, companies ended up saying they were ‘TQM’ organisations often enough to believe it and I feel the same with ‘client’ … “yes, we’ll be providing a better service to you, because you are now our clients not library members.”
July 4th, 2008 at 12:07 am
Donna, I winced when I saw the Cluetrain Manifesto reference. When it first came out, I thought it was a load of crap. Right before the Internet bubble burst in the U.S., people were salivating over the 95 theses, but to me it always sounded like this dialog from the movie Mystery Men (about a group of superhero-wannabes):
Sphinx: He who questions training only trains himself at asking questions.
Furious: What??
Sphinx: Patience, my son. To summon your power for the conflict
to come, you must first have power over that which conflicts you.
Furious: Okay, am I the only one who finds these sayings just a
little bit formulaic? “If you want to push something down, you have
to pull it up.” “If you want to go left, you have to go right.” It’s–
Sphinx: Your temper is very quick, my friend. But until you learn to
master your rage–
Furious: Your rage will become your master? That’s what you were
gonna say, right? Right?
Sphinx: …Not necessarily.
But because I love you Donna and value your opinion, I took my first look at the theses in a few years and I have to admit that looking at them in light of the emergence of social media, they age well. I still can’t stop myself from mocking them after reading the first fifty or so, but that’s just me. Now I still don’t know f**k-all about Gordon Ramsay, but thanks for melting a bit of the cranky ice that is my brain …
July 4th, 2008 at 10:08 am
@Dan - you are quite mad
The cluetrain theses do read like that, but the book does have a lot more depth. I liked it then and do so now, but I’ve never salivated over it;)
August 4th, 2008 at 10:15 am
[…] Gordon Ramsay’s style, from management to consulting (for instance there’s me, Ruth, Donna, Craig and even The Australian) that it’s becoming boring. He’s obviously good value, […]