What is Blockchain - The Santa Claus Perspective
Typically when people ask, “What is Blockchain?” the conversation quickly dissolves into “How” blockchain works. How blockchain works is actually only important to about half of 1% of the top tenth of techies. Business, Thought Leaders and pretty much everyone else pretending to understand how the tech works, should leave those technical elves to their wizardry and focus on the big picture. Being the proverbial Santa Claus. Cause really have you ever actually even heard of Santa doing anything? So why does he exist?
The Santa Claus of Blockchain Strategy
If I asked you “What is the Internet?”, assuming it’s three decades ago, would you run through the technical aspects of how ISP, LAN and DHCP work? Or would you tell me all the cool shit that it will spawn? How would you advise me from a strategic standpoint on how to understand the “www”, to position my business and investments to be relevant, successful and fabulously rich for the next three decades? That’s Santa Claus’ job. Not to do what the elves do-build stuff-but understand that their energy and passion for building needs focus, vision and strategy to implement successful outcomes. Then it’s up to Santa Claus to deliver.
What is Santa delivering in the Blockchainverse?
Vision - Time travel and to see how blockchain, as an infrastructure, will be the foundation of technical advancement for the next 30 years. Cause if you think we’re getting to MARS, deploying fleets of driverless cars and IOT on dial up, I’d like to sell you a bridge.
Strategy - Now that you’ve time traveled to 2028 and beyond, review your notes. If you knew in 2002 that Amazon (then trading at $5 per share) would be what it is today ($1712 as of June 15 2018), what would do? Not just from, “Hey buy Amazon stock”, but what would you do strategically to ensure that as this thing called ecommerce rose like a lion, that you were part of its pride? Blockchain is a mutherfucking dragon - Drago. So what is the plan for the next decade of dominance?
Leadership - Making a decision is different than taking action. Being accountable for that action, even when executed by someone else, that’s called leadership. As a leader, how are you addressing the next chapter of digital transformation that is blockchain? More importantly, who have you recruited to achieve success? As leadership isn’t how you solved the problem. It’s how you inspired other people to. How are you taking your vision and strategy and inspiring your stakeholders to believe in the future? Your investors to invest in the future? And your team of elves to build the future?
Execution - Delivering is the only thing Santa Claus actually does. Vision, Strategy, Leadership and Execution-they all end at Results. So that whenever Christmas morning arrives for you, your stakeholders, investors, or customers the gifts are all neatly wrapped and under the tree.
So as we talk about Blockchain and ask, “What is it?” Let’s not think like elves. Be Santa Claus - a visionary leader, who delivers results. Need help delivering? Let’s chat samson@axesandeggs.com
PS - I secretly think Mrs. Claus does all the work. But alas, she is a woman so...you know. All the work, none of the credit.😉 Thanks Isioma for inspiring me to write this. Without your consummate professionalism and leadership, Christmas would arrive to a dead tree and lumps of coal wrapped in garbage bags.
My name is Samson. I’m a human and an anthropologist in fintech. If you like this post, share it! If you hate it, please tell me why below in the comments. If you have a specific fintech, blockchain or crowdfunding question you can reach me via my CfPA profile here.
Finally, I would say thoughts are my own but I probably stole them from a woman. Today, her name is Isioma.
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