Your Altitude is Relevant

Chris Brogan asked a two pronged question through his Twitter network late yesterday that got me thinking about the impact that perspective and relevance have on the context of a conversation, and how it’s important to understand and adjust your altitude before making a comment.

To be fair, the second part of Brogan’s query belied his open-minded humility when he asked. “Am I being too purist?”

Everyone can agree that the conversations revolving around Web 2.0 can be mighty heady stuff. Even downright evangelical at times as Big Picture concepts are floated in select company, where thinking even remotely old school can get you thrown out on your 1.0 ass.

This phenomenon of human nature is nothing new.

Every conversation, whether it’s about Web 2.0, high end audio or fashion design has its Thought Leaders operating in rarified air where they have no time for anything but the White Hot Now.

And that’s all good. I’m glad they’re there, figuring it all out for guys like me.

There was a time when these Thought Leaders had the conversation all to themselves. They met at exclusive conferences, in universities and within their industries where they collaborated inside invitation-only sandboxes. Eventually their big ideas trickled down to the masses and became consumerized, and the Though Leaders went on to think on some new stuff.

And there is still a fair amount of that going on.

But now, anybody with an Internet connection and an opinion can throw in their two cents, even if nobody asks.

As technologies and ideas trickle down from the Thought Leaders to the masses, the combination of the blogosphere and the explosion of online social networks have blurred the previously firm boundaries of Conversations which were previously the exclusive domain of the Thought Leaders.

It’s as if somebody left the door to The Club open and people are walking in off the street.

But there’s no closing this door, kids, so what to do about it?

How about you just listen, Empathize, Validate, and Learn.