Connections & Voyeurism: Why Pinterest is My Happy Place

You do good stuff, you want people to know about it: whether it’s a really cunning hat you just knitted, or a kickass pitch that won a giant account. Work or play, everyone wants some kind of recognition for a job well done.

For arty crafty stuff, Pinterest is a very fine showcase; you share a photo and get likes or repins or comments, maybe some traffic back to your website and a few new hat orders. Maybe you use that crowdsourced feedback to redesign or refine your creation, or maybe you just sit back and revel in the adulation. You could even find a like-minded individual in the crowd; someone whose ideas resonate with yours, and with whom you can go on to make bigger and better things.

(Like a cunning hat with SEQUINS!)

We’ve said before that it’s a really good - motivational even - idea to celebrate achievements in your company, and to do it publicly. You could take this a step further and get all technological by looking into social recognition systems that create and publish attaboys and achievement badges internally, maybe throw a soupcon of gamification into the mix.

One potential offshoot of all this public back-patting and positivity is generally improved communication; better insight into what everyone’s working on, and what their strengths and weaknesses are.

So if, for instance, you’re trying to knock off a really tricky project and see that Andrea’s just received the NITRO badge for blowing stuff up (in the good way), you could maybe reach out and fold her into the welcoming bosom of your team - for the good of all and the annihilation of project roadblocks. Kind of like calling on the Mighty Eagle in Angry Birds, but maybe without the sardines.

On Pinterest anyone can check out your pins and make assumptions about your interests - which is OK - but also make assumptions about your morals and lifestyle choices. While you would (probably almost) never have a potty mouth at the office, your profane e-card filled boards might tell that HR lady a different, less professional, story.

The rule of thumb is, don’t pin things you wouldn’t want your mother to read (because the demographics suggest she’s already looking) and you’ll probably avoid the things most likely to raise an HR eyebrow. The usual caveats against participating when drunk apply.

It’s no LinkedIn, but we don’t think it’s a stretch to say the world of performance management can learn a thing or two from the pinboard approach (especially for your creative types).