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Captain Kirk and Star Trek

by Calamaroo
5 replies
I just watched some old episodes of Star Trek.

I noticed that Captain Kirk is not as good as Mr. Spock when it comes to using logic and probabilities.

He is not as good as Dr. Bones McCoy when it comes to medicine.

He is not as good as Scotty when it comes to engineering.

He is not the natural ship navigator that Sulu and Chekov are.

His sensitivity to sound and language is not as developed as Uhura's.

Yet despite all of these lacks in specialized skills he is the leader of these team of specialist. He is also very effective in getting results.

Naturally, he couldn't manage all of these differently skilled people if he didn't know some stuff about their stuff. In other words, if he didn't know anything about navigation, he wouldn't get the respect of Sulu and Chekov. Neither could he adequately communicate with them at a level that would be functional. But at the same time, he is not as knowledgeable and as skilled as them.

Which begs the question. What is the minimum level of knowledge that one must possess in each of these internet marketing specialties in order to manage the people that one is outsourcing these individual activities to, without necessarily becoming an expert oneself?

Niche Picking
Keyword Research
Domain Naming
Content Creation
Intra-Website SEO
Article Writing
Link Building
Copywriting
PR
Social Bookmarking
Link Wheels
List Building
Upselling and Backend
Web 2.0.
Blogging
Forum and Blog Commenting
Managing All Of The Above
ETC.

I figured that if Captain Kirk isn't an expert on each individual component of his "business" it logically follows that I don't have to be an expert in each component of my "business" either. Yet I have to have a certain threshold level of each. What's the balance? Assuming I am dedicated to "outsourcing everything". And no, I am not making excuses for not learning. In fact, I am studying SEO books right now.
#captain #kirk #star #trek
  • Profile picture of the author Scott Ames
    I say dive in and do it. Experience will get you further than reading.


    He's intelligent, but not experienced. His pattern indicates 2-dimensional thinking.
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    Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm. -Winston Churchill

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  • Profile picture of the author winebuddy
    Captain Kirk is required to have detailed knowledge of all of the Enterprises systems. That is a requirement to graduate from starfleet.

    It is also a requirement of IM. You basically have to KNOW how to do all of the things you listed. If you don't, then you will have no idea if the people you hire know what THEY are doing.

    I was chatting with a php develoiper today about a site problem involving WP. He and I worked thru it but I actually solved the problem - not him. Note: I DO NOT know the php language but I DO know how the site works and have a basic knowledge of programming.

    Without that - I would have had to pay him big bucks for who knows how much time.
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    "Knowledge is NOT power... ACTION on Knowledge is power"
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    • Profile picture of the author bgmacaw
      Kirk's niche is leadership.

      Of course, it helps if you have a big Fed starship and crew at your disposal.

      Now, here's a big damn hero of a captain living on the raggedy edge...


      Let's face it, most of us are more like Malcolm Reynolds than James Kirk.
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      • Profile picture of the author CDarklock
        Originally Posted by bgmacaw View Post

        Let's face it, most of us are more like Malcolm Reynolds than James Kirk.
        Now that's just goram shiny.
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        "The Golden Town is the Golden Town no longer. They have sold their pillars for brass and their temples for money, they have made coins out of their golden doors. It is become a dark town full of trouble, there is no ease in its streets, beauty has left it and the old songs are gone." - Lord Dunsany, The Messengers
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  • Profile picture of the author Kelly Verge
    Captain Kirk was a character on a TV show. He succeeded because that's how the episode was written.

    The real world isn't as black and white.

    If you could afford a top tier copywriter, for example, it really wouldn't matter how much you know about writing copy - only that you have the knowledge to hire well. That holds true across most areas that you could outsource. If you can afford the best, you can hire for results.

    Of course, if you try to hire the cheapest you can find to get "tasks" done, you'll need enough knowledge to be able to define and direct their work so that they are doing the tasks that will have the most positive impact on your business.
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