I make a living by being an intermediary. I connect non-profit organizations who need funding with folks who have money. Being an intermediary is not a new phenomenon. Grocery stores have forever connected the food-eater with the food-grower. Mechanics have bridged the divide between Toyota and me. I’ll even credit my husband for his work – filling the void between currencies. You want some Canada loonies, but only have some Mexican dinero? You need him.A good intermediary is worth their weight in gold. A bad one just needs to get out of the way.
Before I took a keen interest in understanding the deep insides of the Internet, I relied on the information of others. I assumed that if I had a request and my IT intermediary told me it could not be done, then it could not be done (period). A little knowledge is a dangerous thing and an intermediary who thinks that they hold all the cards is naive.
Today when I want to design a website, I can join an online theme club (intermediary) that helps me with the design aspects that I lack. Even with minimal experience, I can find other folks (intermediaries) through forums and blogs who can answer my questions on how to include a widget for photos and a plugin to add an author’s photo. One the site is launched, there are others (intermediaries) who help me think about search engine optimization and maintenance. The people and knowledge that I can access due to the Internet live in every corner of the world. Having access to them allows me to create in ways I never imagined.
Even with the Internet’s ability to connect us to vast sums of knowledge, the search for a great intermediary is an age old tale. Great service is great and bad service is bad and a second opinion is never too far away. At the end of the day, even with all we know, we can’t do everything and even if we try, it’s usually worth it to find someone else to do it better.
Instead of shrinking the role of intermediaries (think travel agents, bank tellers, etc), our access to knowledge actually seems to be increasing the opportunities. The Internet now allows us to learn more quickly and then package that learning with a website & a blog & a business. It’s exciting that we can now find tons of talent around the world while perched on our couch. At the same time, it can be overwhelming to choose (though there are also intermediaries to help us with that.)
By having increased access to great talent, I’m finding that my tolerance of bad service and unhelpful intermediaries is shrinking. Where in the past, I might have chalked it up to someone having a bad day, now I have less patience for poor outcomes, bad advice, or excuses. Worse yet for these folks, I can now broadcast how I feel to the world.
This brings even higher stakes to the role of being an intermediary. It’s not enough to simply provide a service and then cruise on through the next twenty years. People now have the ability to ask questions that only ‘professionals’ should ask – or better, they already know the answers. When done well, organizations and individuals who provide services are of enormous use and value. And when no value can be found, must ask themselves whether they should get out of the way?
Be useful. Or get out of the way.
