I came across a great video today by crowd favorite Gary Vaynerchuk (@garyvee). In this video he talks a bit about "whuffie" a concept described by wikipedia as:
Whuffie is the ephemeral, reputation-based currency of Cory Doctorow's sci-fi novel, Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom. The usual economic incentives have disappeared from the book's world. Whuffie has replaced money, providing a motivation for people to do useful and creative things. A person's Whuffie is a general measurement of his or her overall reputation, and Whuffie is lost and gained according to a person's favorable or unfavorable actions.
As a consultant, I often share advice as well as seek it quite a bit. Rarely in these situations is currency exchanged but I always walk away with a great feeling and the hope to pass it on. Sort of a "pay it forward" but with knowledge. Although I didn't have a term to wrap around this exchange before, hearing and learning more about the concept now makes me want to acknowledge the people who I believe have grand social capital or "whuffie" cred.
The first person who comes to mind is Dave Taylor (@davetaylor). Dave is a person, who in my mind, has exemplified the meaning of whuffie. Dave maintains three weblogs, The Business Blog at Intuitive.com, focused on business and industry analysis, Ask Dave Taylor devoted to tech and business Q&A and The Attachment Parenting Blog, discussing topics of interest to parents. As part of the number of books, projects and speaking events he is a part of, Dave always shares what he has learned and coaches others on the power of educating and sharing what you know.
My point isn't to do a public service announcement about the greatness that is Dave Taylor but more to demonstrate what he does for the community and for me. I have been having coffee with Dave for years and in every situation, I was asking for advice, comments and suggestions on different things I was working on. Dave always made the time and I always left with a great deal of information. The other thing I walked away with was the urge to pass it on or help someone in the way that he helped me. No obligations, no currency exchange and no expectations.
We are seeing a great number of examples of how "whuffie" is creating a positive impact on the way that we work. I understand that there are points to this economic system that are subjective but for now I would like to focus on the positive.
Who would you nominate for a whuffie award and why? You know mine.
Look for a book on the subject from Tara Hunt (@missrogue) in April or order the Whuffie Factor early on Amazon.
