being unconnected for five days of camp- ALUMNI ing. “In Yellowstone we were completely cut o≠, not even a cell-phone signal,” she says. The hotel o≠ered the chance to “to- tally geek out for an hour with all of our Plugged In wires—and that’s when we got the com- ment. Some people may look at how con- nected my family and I are as a negative, Networking with a digital-age provocateur that we don’t interact with ‘real’ people. But technology actually enables me to be more connected, to reach out beyond my daily work, home, and school routines “We gave ourselves an and connect with people I know in unex- hour of quality Wi-Fi pected ways.” time,” says Charlene Li This new wave of technological social- of a recent hotel stop on a family vacation. izing, of having hundreds—or thou- sands—of “friends” (the very definition is shifting), of sharing personal informa- tion more freely, of “being connected” 24/7, tends to push people’s boundaries. And that’s part of Li’s purpose; she is something of a digital-age provocateur in geek’s clothing. Li first made a name for herself as a marketing analyst at Forrester Research Inc., where she covered media and tech- nology; she has followed Google and Yahoo! from their inceptions. She was among the first analysts to push for and get her own company blog (in 2004), through which she dispensed news and analysis of current events, promoted re- ports, answered press questions, and n a recent trip to Yellow- At the campsite, the octopus of elec- communed with current and prospective stone National Park, Char- tronics was left in the car—virtually un- clients—all of which established her pro- lene Li ’88, M.B.A. ’93, and missed. But upon leaving, the family fessional identity while bringing in her family took along some spent the night in a Cody, Wyoming, “significant revenue” for the firm. Oitems to ease the 20-hour drive from their hotel where Wi-Fi was o≠ered in the Today, she speaks at conferences and Silicon Valley home. lobby. “We gave ourselves an hour of counsels businesses, such as Sony, on dig- According to Li’s blog, Midnight Mus- quality Wi-Fi time,” Li reported, “but we ital strategies through her own fledgling ings, the list included: three laptops with also received several looks—and verbal company, Altimeter Group. Her views on work files, movies, and her son’s favorite disdain—from fellow travelers…to the the critical need for businesses to em- games (her daughter’s misbehaving iBook e≠ect of, ‘In my day, we wrote letters in- brace social technologies—wikis, blogs, was left behind); two Nintendo DSs with stead of all this fancy Internet stu≠.’ My forums (threaded discussion boards), wall and car chargers; two cameras, with son took it in stride, and just declared the Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, chargers; a Treo and its car and wall older gentleman was ‘not with it.’” LinkedIn, and others—are spelled out in chargers; a BlackBerry and BlackBerry For Li, an authority on the interface be- Groundswell, the 2008 business bestseller mini-USB; iPod and Zune music players tween advertising and social networking, she wrote with Josh Berno≠, a vice presi- and their respective USB connector cords; travel with such accoutrements is not dent and principal analyst at Forrester. a portable GPS (which broke down the only the norm—it’s the future. “Soon so- Li specializes in what’s come to be second day, leading Li to joke, “We had to cial networks will be like air,” she likes to known as Web 2.0—the next generation navigate with—gasp!—paper maps”); a say. “Your friends and the people you of Web development and design that Sony Ericsson/TMobile PC card for wire- want to connect with will be everywhere “aims to facilitate communication, secure less access; and an iGo universal charger and readily accessible.” The Cody sce- information sharing, interoperability, and with interchangeable tips. nario, she explains, was the result of collaboration” on the Web, according to 60 May - June 2009 Photographs by Josh Hallett Magazine, Inc. at 617-495-5746 Reprinted from Harvard Magazine. For more information, contact Harvard Wikipedia, the free, online encyclopedia crosoft’s own engi- that perhaps epitomizes the best kind of neers. (Interesting- virtual community. ly, she says, Apple is But how can businesses tap into Web among those firms 2.0? The answers represent a massive para- that are more resis- digm shift for traditional sellers of goods tant to employee- and services, Li says. “I think of the old driven marketing, ways of advertising as yelling at someone, such as blogs.) and if they don’t respond, you yell louder Southwest Airlines and more frequently in more places. Today, has assigned one of advertising is not about controlling and its schedule planners Li, here addressing a technology network- pushing a message. It’s about going out to to blog about flight ing group in Palo Alto, tells clients, “You the customer and saying, ‘Let’s talk...you plans and field ques- will always feel a little bit queasy if you got a problem we can help you with?’ It’s tions and complaints. are doing this right.” more of a personal, intimate conversation, “He’s someone cus- building a relationship. And the key part is tomers know; he’s a face, he’s a person. out on spreadsheets, data, financial re- not just talking, it’s listening.” They can go to him and know they will be ports. I do Sudoku and logic puzzles for She has had to adjust to the change her- directly answered,” Li says. The Discovery fun,” she says. “My kids and I were talking self. When she speaks at industry confer- Channel has embraced fans who run wikis about the di≠erence between a nerd and a ences, both in-house and online audience about individual episodes—creating new geek—we decided it was social skills. members are often Twittering to each content and sharing news and resources. I’m a closet geek slowly coming out.” other on what’s called the “back chan- “They’re the ones who are passionate In college, Li concentrated in social nel”—on laptops, BlackBerrys, and about Discovery,” Li says. “Why not let studies and wrote a thesis on American phones—while she is presenting. “No- them do all the work?” foreign policy toward dictators in Iran body is looking at you. It can be horrify- There is an immediacy and intimacy and the Philippines. Then she moved to ing,” she says. “People are talking about to this kind of customer relations that Amsterdam to work for the consulting you while you are talking, and laughing at has not existed since business outgrew company Monitor. something that you can’t see, and you are the mom-and-pop model, she adds— There, she discovered an interest in no longer in control of the situation.” along with a level of unpredictability technology; using the company’s ISDN Yet she remains a passionate proponent that many businesspeople aren’t trained line, which sent files and presentations to of such scenarios. She reviews the “Twit- to cope with. As she told a group of its other o∞ces, she figured out how to tered” feedback after the event to hone her Google managers at a recent workshop: communicate with a friend who had ac- own material—which is essential to her “You will always feel a little bit queasy if cess to a UNIX terminal server. This was own business’s success. “Not everyone can you are doing this right.” around 1991. In her second year at Harvard take that kind of feedback—it takes a “The traditional ‘org’ chart is becoming Business School, one “odd” professor had thick skin,” she admits. “But it’s like you obsolete,” she explains. “The CEOs who students send in their case studies by e- have to give up control to be in control. see the opportunities and the employees mail, which she found fascinating. She was And this way of doing business is very who are involved love it. But middle man- one of only a handful in the class to pursue threatening to a lot of leaders because they agers are hating life right now because a job related to wired communications. Be- see it as taking away their power.” they are usually defined as the gatekeep- cause she liked newspapers’ community Li says H&R Block, on the other hand, ers between the top layers and the bot- focus, she decided to work for Knight Rid- has opted to engage with social technology tom, and those roles are being redefined.” der, but insisted on a post at its San Jose by proactively seeking out anyone posting The revolutionary change is that social Mercury News because “the hotbed of re- tax questions or holding tax discussions technologies are integrating customers search was Silicon Valley,” she recalls. “I on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube—and “into the everyday process of how the wanted to have direct impact in a small then joining the dialogue as experts. “The work is done,” she reports. “They are a content company doing this wacky thing idea is, ‘We’re here to help: what do you key part of running the business.” with the Internet. I was lucky that I was in need?’ versus ‘Come to our o∞ce!’ or pro- Helping corporations make sound deci- the right place at the right time.” moting incentives to use their services,” sions within this vortical digital atmos- In the next six years, Li married HBS she notes.