philosophy

This is a guest post from John Haydon. John is a guy of many talents. He’s a teacher, a learner, a singer, a comedian with a very dry wit and one of the nicest guys you could meet.

He’s also a damn fine blogger and the Blogger Outreach partner for 12for12k. I’m delighted to have John here today.

An ancient Buddhist parable involves a young Zen monk asking his teacher about the difference between Heaven and Hell.

His teacher replies, “Both Heaven and Hell have an expansive dining hall with a steamy vat of noodle soup at the center of the hall. The soup smells delicious and everyone has equal access to the soup. The strange thing is that each diner has to eat this soup with chopsticks that are 4-feet long.”

Puzzled, the young monk asks, “So, if both Heaven and Hell have this huge dining hall with this great soup and these strangely long chopsticks, then aren’t they the same?”

The teacher replies, “Yes, they appear to be the same. But how the diners eat is the critical difference.”

“How’s that?” asks the student.

“In Hell, everyone starves because no matter how hard they try, they can’t get the noodles into their mouths. The chopsticks are too long.

“In Heaven, each diner feeds the person sitting across from them at the dinning room table. Everyone is happy and eats to their hearts content.”

How does this relate to social media?

• Understanding technology is important. Twitter’s potential is lost if all you do is post what’s new with you, just like long chopsticks aren’t placed at tables for one.
• Giving to others nourishes our souls, just like feeding each other brings joy and full bellies. Supporting other people’s agendas with social media has surprising and immeasurable business value.
• Everything works better if you put them together, like the two pairs of chopsticks work by feeding each other. There is no “Twitter or Facebook?”, only “Twitter and Facebook.”
• Are you ready for another bite? There is a very good reason that Listening is the very first step in most social media strategies. Why boil more Spaghetti when all along they wanted Soba?

And finally:

There is enough noodle soup for everyone.

• John Haydon does social media strategy and training for non-profits and small businesses. He is also a songwriter and a father to a 5-year old boy. You can find out more by subscribing to his blog or connecting with John on Twitter.