Summer project: My first book

July 16 2012

It's time to come out of stealth mode on my summer project this year. I'm writing a book, specifically a book about social business and product management. If all goes well, the book will be published in the first quarter of 2013, though that somewhat depends on you.

I have felt like I have a book to write for a long time. For me it is a bit of full circle -- my first real job in high school was at Waldenbooks, and until the day that I started a part-time summer job installing TCP/IP routers at Indiana University, I was convinced my career destiny was going to be to open my own retail bookstore.

When I thought about a book project over the last few years, what I really wanted to write was a "history of Lotus Notes", including behind-the-scenes stories and observations. The only problem with that concept is that I can't write that book while the product continues to be a significant part of IBM's business, and/or while I also am an IBM executive. It just doesn't compute. Someday maybe.

Earlier this year, my IBM Press colleagues Steve Stansel and Ellice Uffer approached me with a different idea. They suggested that it was time to write a book on how to be a social product/brand manager. There are obviously a number of books on social business lining the physical or virtual shelves these days, but most of these take a marketing point of view or are more narrowly about social media. No line of business owner has attempted to take the successful experience of using social business tools and turn it into a opportunities and lessons text for others. Yet here I was, with ten years of history documented in the pages of edbrill.com and my other social feeds, plus the inside-the-firewall collaboration within Lotus Notes and other tools.

At first, I was hesitant to sign up for the idea. What did I have to say that hadn't been said already? Everything I had done was just the right thing to do. Whilst I believe that the community around Lotus Notes is a key contributing factor to the product's continued success, cultivating it was not some social experiment. How would you all react to the idea that I was going to take real world examples from the last ten years and turn them into lessons for other companies?

Answering that question will be a significant measure of how successful the book will be.

The inspiration that moved me from "no, thanks" to "yes I'll write the book" came out of a presentation that IBM CEO Ginni Rometty gave when she was in Chicago a few months ago. Rometty talked about how important the "digital IBMer" would be to our success in our second century, and the emphasis that she was personally putting on making IBM an example of a best-in-class social business. In that context, our own analytics tools have surprisingly indicated that I am one of the more influential IBMers online. Rometty's presentation convinced me that as an IBM executive and thought leader, I needed to tell the story of how our evolution to be a social business had benefitted my piece of that business--and me personally.

I also think the story of IBM encouraging individual voices -- at the heart of being a social business -- is one of the key cultural transitions we have made as an organization, and the only way that an line of business executive like me could publish my part of our story. Looking at the success of other IBM Press efforts aimed at line of business, such as Sandy Carter's "Get Bold"/"New Language of Marketing 2.0"  and John Lamb's "The Greening of IT", I am confident that IBM Press can make social product/brand management a topic where IBM offers experience, expertise, and best practices.

As those of you who have worked on book projects know, the timeline is both extremely compressed and lengthy all at once. My objective is to have the first pass of the book done in the next eight weeks or so. After that, it's editing, production, and all that other good stuff that turns the written word into a finished product. Along the way, I'll be sure to share some of the process.

So what's your part?

Mostly, inspiration. My friend Michael Sampson, who has written several books, warned me that it takes about an hour to write a single page. He's been mostly right, even with all the material on edbrill.com and elsewhere that I can mine for content. It's a long slog. Having all of you along for the journey will keep me focused on getting this project done, and in a way that you, or your colleagues, will want to read it.

For some of you, I may ask for a little more. Occasionally, I will be quoting comments from edbrill.com or tweets or other social media. I'll usually need your permission if you made the comment, though, so watch for some requests in the next few weeks.

I've reached out to a few people already to ask for a more in-depth contribution, something of a sidebar or more in-depth insight on a particular topic along the way. I'm not quite ready to publish the outline or table of contents, but the general theme is to discuss how social business tools make for more successful products/services/offerings.

Some of you have that experience, too, and if you think you would like to contribute, I would love to have you be part of the book.

In the coming weeks, I'll obviously be talking more about this project, but I'll also likely be relatively quiet (as I have been since I started writing last month). I'm looking forward to sharing along the way!

Ed Brill | London, England UK Category:  IBM  Add/View Comments [33]

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  1. 1  Thomas Duff http://www.duffbert.com | 7/16/2012 8:31:40 AM

    Congrats on writing a book, and it's definitely a learning experience. :)

  1. 2  Mick Moignard  | 7/16/2012 8:32:32 AM

    Ed, Good luck with the book,and I hope you have fun writing it. Looking forward to seeing it next year.

    Mick

  1. 3  Mike Gotta https://twitter.com/MikeGotta | 7/16/2012 8:45:14 AM

    Ed, I can't imagine anyone more qualified to address the topic of "social" in the context/nexus of community, brand, and product. Best of luck...

  1. 4  Kit Davis  | 7/16/2012 9:00:33 AM

    Here's hoping you are a very old man before you feel the time is right to produce the "History of Notes" book. ;-)

  1. 5  Bhaskar Thalvayapati http://dominoxsp.blogspot.com | 7/16/2012 9:04:40 AM

    Hi Ed,

    Congrats and good luck.

    Thanks

  1. 6  Serdar Basegmez http://lotusnotus.com/en | 7/16/2012 9:08:29 AM

    Ed, I'm glad to hear that! Good luck...

    Are we going to wait for another 90 days as usual for a Turkish translation? :)))

    Looking forward to read it.

  1. 7  Christian Tillmanns  | 7/16/2012 9:10:04 AM

    Have fun and I am looking forward reading it.

  1. 8  Stuart McIntyre http://stuart-mcintyre.com | 7/16/2012 10:01:20 AM

    Great decision Ed, can't wait to read/hear more.

  1. 9  Thomas Leriche  | 7/16/2012 11:36:10 AM

    You should write "A History of Lotus Notes" book like you mentioned. I think IBM could use the marketing and it would be a great read. I know I would buy it.

  1. 10  Bill Malchisky Jr. http://billmal.com | 7/16/2012 11:46:01 AM

    Great news, Ed. Congratulations are in order. Looking forward to the finished work just after LS13.

  1. 11  David Hablewitz http://thenotesguyinseattle.com | 7/16/2012 12:21:31 PM

    Ya know, if you did it as a wiki...

    :-D

  1. 12  Mark Roden http://www.xomino.com | 7/16/2012 1:22:29 PM

    Writing a book is daunting and will take you longer than you want it to - but the reward of the final product is amazing and everything will then seem worth it.

    Good luck Ed :)

    Marky

  1. 13  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 7/16/2012 2:34:09 PM

    @3 I am really honored and flattered by your comment, Mike. (And the rest of you too, of course, but all the rest are from the home team!) With this kind of reaction, I can't help but think this is going to be a great project.

  1. 14  Steve Pridemore  | 7/16/2012 3:55:38 PM

    Ed, what's it going to take to get a signed copy of this book or even that "A History of Lotus Notes" book when they go to press?

  1. 15  Erik Brooks  | 7/16/2012 7:15:27 PM

    Count me in on wanting to buy a copy. It sounds great!

  1. 16  Palmi  | 7/16/2012 7:21:43 PM

    Ed please write the Social edition but history of Lotus Notes should only be written if the product is dead and its should not be a book just an articular. But if someone must then plase have it "Future of IBM Notes"

  1. 17  Mary Beth Raven http://www.marybethraven.org | 7/16/2012 9:09:55 PM

    Congratulations, Ed! I hope that in many ways this will be fun to write. Indeed you are an influential IBM blogger and were a great blogging mentor for me. I volunteer to be a reviewer :)

  1. 18  Yoges  | 7/17/2012 3:34:22 AM

    "In that context, our own analytics tools have surprisingly indicated that I am one of the more influential IBMers online."

    That's one super accurate tool indeed. :) Wishing you all the best!

  1. 19  Volker Weber http://vowe.net/about | 7/17/2012 10:56:10 AM

    That should be fun to read. And you have to do all the work. :-) A famous not-a-fighter-pilot once told me, there are three parts in writing a book:

    1. "I am going to write a book, a book, a book."

    2. "This is a lot more work than I thought."

    3. "I need to get out of this and finish it."

    Since you will be writing prose, this is not as easy as writing a manual where you can chicken out with lots of screenshots and procedures.

    One piece of advice: use as few words as possible.

  1. 20  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 7/17/2012 5:24:23 PM

    I have to do *most of* the work. Some of you have done some of it already, and will contribute a bit. Lots of permission requests for quoting to send out. Lots of them.

  1. 21  Rocky Oliver  | 7/18/2012 9:25:03 AM

    Hey Ed - LTNS! I would love to catch up - and after reading this, I would love to give you my input - for what it's worth - on bookwriting, etc.

    Talk to you soon (hopefully!)

    --Rock

  1. 22  Bernd Webster http://www.lntoolbox.com | 7/19/2012 1:58:43 PM

    Good luck with your book.

  1. 23  Libby Ingrassia  | 7/23/2012 5:53:46 PM

    Congrats, Ed -- writing my books was one of the best things I did for myself and my career. I can't wait to write the next one -- once I figure out which idea to tackle first. Can't wait to read yours.

    Good luck!

    Libby

  1. 24  Bryan Tsunoda http://www.aerospace.org | 7/25/2012 12:54:58 AM

    Ed,

    Great decision on your part. I realize that it's very hard work, but given your talent and dedication, I'm sure that it will be a stellar book. I can't wait to order it and hopefully I'll have a chance for you to sign it.

    A big fan!

    Bryan

  1. 25  Xavier Boulanger  | 7/26/2012 3:26:48 PM

    M. Brill you intend to write this book about using social networks to promote yourself as you travel the world at the expense of IBM, as we observe the disappearance of Lotus Notes, a product you personally manage, a product that was once the world champion?

    This is similar to the master of Concordia writing a book on "charting a safe boating course in Giglio" while all his disciples say "this is a fabulous idea."

    Why anyone would buy such a book?

  1. 26  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 7/26/2012 9:45:40 PM

    @25 I don't personally see the product disappearing. If it was, why would I be traveling the world to visit the customers and prospects who are buying it?

  1. 27  Xavier Boulanger  | 7/31/2012 2:28:57 PM

    You have not understood my reasoning, that is my problem. I mean that you are the party responsible for Lotus Notes and you are not doing your primary job, making it the preferred product in the world. Steven Jobs did not write books about how great is Apple. He simply made great products. You must follow his example.

  1. 28  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 8/1/2012 8:11:31 AM

    I am not going to let this thread end on a negative :-)

    I am absolutely doing my primary job, but I (and IBM) would define that job differently than you have. Not going to debate it here. It is definitely a topic addressed within the book, and probably in any future book project I would write on the history of Notes.

    There is a great article in Wired Magazine this month about Steve Jobs and whether it makes sense to follow his example. I would suggest reading it: { Link }

  1. 29  Fredrik Malmborg http://www.replikera.se | 8/3/2012 4:39:13 AM

    Agree about not ending this thread negative.

    I could not wish for any better product manager than you Ed for Lotus Notes. I am impressed by the professionalism and integrity in what you do.

    One thing that make me proud of being a IBM Business Partner is that we stick to facts and are honest to the customers. We seldom speak badly about the competitors just because we can.

    Ed Brill is definitely not a treath to the success of the Lotus Notes product.

    Some things change over time. Decisions are made not based on what we could wish for. The biggest losses is not for us, but for the companies that make "wrong" decisions.

    I am looking forward to a very exciting second half of 2012, because there will be good things comming in.

  1. 30  ellice uffer  | 8/3/2012 8:07:26 AM

    @27 IBM Press book authors (who are IBM employees) write books on nights and weekends. These books are written on their own time and not during the work week. These authors make huge sacrifices and typically spend a year dedicating their free time to writing. They give up play time and family time. They are dedicated to the products they work on and supporting customers with book content. We looked to Ed to write a book on social business because he gets it. He works his tail off and is smart as heck. No question on what his priorities are.

  1. 31  Lars Berntrop-Bos  | 8/7/2012 8:40:53 AM

    Great idea! Good luck with all the hard work! Quote me if you want to, no need for the permission bit. (doesn't posting to a public place imply consent?) A heads up suffices.