On May 26, 2011 Mark Bonchek contributed the following interview to QuestionsForLiving.
QuestionsForLiving: Are there any core questions that led to your current profession of building collaborative communities and helping businesses make the transition to social business? If so, what are they?
Bonchek:
- What’s fundamentally different about the Internet compared to other media?
- What’s fundamentally the same about human behavior that transcends technological change?
- How can you transform your audience into a community, and create value for that community?
QFL: What are some questions that you ask yourself when helping Sears, and other companies, improve their customer experience through community and network-based initiatives?
Bonchek:
- What are the key moments and touchpoints in the customer experience?
- What social interactions exist, or could exist, at each of these touchpoints?
- What is the social life of your product or service in the lives of your customers?
QFL: What are the core questions that you ask for leading positive change?
Bonchek:
- What is wanting to happen?
- Where is there a lack of trust, vision or communication?
- How can individual motive be aligned to collective purpose?
QFL: What are the primary questions that you ask yourself to increase Sears' associate and customer engagement through the use of social, mobile, and local media?
Bonchek:
- How can we use technology to solve a problem or create a distinctive experience?
- How can we make their lives easier, more interesting, or more fulfilling?
- How can we connect them with people and ideas they would appreciate?
QFL: What are some primary questions would you advise others to ask themselves that if asked regularly would contribute to making the world a happier and healthier place?
Bonchek:
- What is my unique gift to the world?
- How can I best share that gift?
- How can I play a bigger game?
Comments
Mark Bonchek is Senior Vice President, Communities and Networks for Sears Holdings, the nation’s fourth largest broadline retailer. Mark is responsible for improving the customer experience through community and network-based initiatives. His work spans the organization to effect transformative change and increase associate and customer engagement through the use of social, mobile, and local media.
Prior to Sears Holdings, Mark served as the Founder and CEO of the Truman Company, a consulting practice helping companies build collaborative communities and make the transition to social business. His client list included IBM, Citi, Manpower, Avaya, Adobe, and the U.S. Department of Education. Mark also held senior positions at McKinsey & Company, Strategos, and iXL, and served as a Research Associate at the MIT Artificial Intelligence Lab.
Mark holds a doctorate in Political Economy and Government from Harvard University and a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Princeton University. He is the co-author of Analyzing Politics and a contributor to the book The Firm as Collaborative Community. His doctoral thesis, completed in 1997, predicted the rise of social networking, citizen journalism, and online campaigning.