Last Friday, I sent out my new email newsletter for the first time. There were a couple of problems for people that received it, which I haven’t been too happy about:
(1) I changed DNS servers for michaelsampson.net about 10 days ago, and some internal DNS servers have not updated, meaning that when people have clicked on the links, they haven’t worked; and
(2) the way the newsletter came through put what was supposed to be a sidebar at the top of the message, making it look like I was trying to give priority to some things which were not supposed to be given priority in the message.

This is how it was supposed to look …

Oh well, I live and learn … and this week will do it through a different service, so … hopefully it will work better.

Anyhow, Mark sent me this feedback today, which made the above two issues reduce in impact for me:

“Thanks for sending the newsletter. There were some good links contained in there which lifted me out of my daily chore of attempting to ‘collaborate’ in the knowledge economy !!

I was reflecting on one blog on knowledge workers trying to be all things to all people. Setting the vision is critical, in the agricultural revolution it was providing enough food, likewise the industrial revolution delivered a tangible product. What we deal with today is so often an intangible deliverable (software, a balance sheet, insurance quote). Therefore the unifying purpose is even more critical as the process to success is difficult to identify and thereby more frustrating to recreate, needing greater collaboration.

You cannot go too far wrong if you conduct your collaborative efforts in line with the first two NATO principles of war;
– Selection and maintenance of the aim
– Momentum“

Thanks Mark!