Like a slew of other executives, Martin has taken to blogging and using Twitter and social media to share details from his work and life, reach out to potential collaborators, and spitball ideas publicly. Whether he intends it to be or not, Martin is part of a movement, with players like Sun Microsystems president and CEO Jonathan Schwartz, Dallas Mavericks owner and HDNet chairman Mark Cuban, Best Buy chief marketing officer Barry Judge, and Kodak's CMO Jeffrey Hayzlett.
Each of these executives is doing his part to transform corporate culture from one of secrecy to a wired, early 21st century brand of transparency and two-way communication. Far from cultivating an air of mystique around themselves or their companies, they're reaching out—occasionally lashing out—in ways that would've seemed risky or downright insane to executives a generation ago.
There wasn't enough use of tools like this in the workplaces I knew; too much secrecy and command and control. I'd like to see adoption grow in all organizations.
I remember seeing a related post recently at Denise Graveline's blog, emphasis mine:
Conferences -- and what happens at them -- have seen fast and furious changes in the past year. Live-tweeting at meetings has gone from controversial to commonplace, for example. Event happenings can be shared around the world in near-real-time. Audiences want more and more participation, and the static forms of public speaking are shifting to make way for more hands-on activity. Conferences are selling out--particularly those that bring together online networks for in-person contact.
Seems to me that employees and members do too.