I worked at the LinkedIn offices in Mountain View after I'd taken some courses in technical writing and was committed to get going on a real career. A friend who worked there helped get me an interview, and I ended up with this group that was trying to get a new project off the ground. We were isolated in a little corner of the office on the third floor and only a few of us had contact with other people in the company. They gave me a desk and the HR people emailed me something about the health plan and then I was ready to go.

My manager was a fellow named Hayward who had been with the company long enough that he was given leeway to work on his own ideas. He had formed this new group and took me into his office on my first day and explained what we were trying to do.

"This is all about information flows, " Hayward told me. He played with a large plastic paperclip as he spoke. I sat down across from him, dutifully taking notes.

"Are you aware of the various theories out there concerning information flows?" Hayward then asked me.

"I don't believe so, " I told him.

"There was this fellow named Hastings who taught at Cambridge, " Hayward said. "He's retired now. Most of his work came out in the 1960s. But the thing is that it's still relevant today. Can you believe that?"

"I suppose he was a visionary, " I said.

"What's that?" Hayward said.

"He was a visionary, " I said. "He could understand what was going to happen to us in the future."

Hayward thought about that for a moment. "That's not it at all, " he then told me. "He wasn't some kind of fortune-teller."

"That's not what I was trying to say, " I told him.

"Yes it was, " Hayward said. "I know you think you understand how this sort of thing works. There are these geniuses sitting in their offices trying to figure out what's going to happen next. But that's not how the world works."

"Maybe I misspoke, " I said.

"No you didn't, " Hayward said. "I'm not trying to be critical here. But this is a common misconception. I'm really into this stuff, you know. I read extensively. And the thing is that Hastings and people like him aren't into this notion of predicting the future. That's what the newspapers want you think. What they do is look at present circumstances and then they try to make sense of them. They see things that the rest of us don't. They look like 'visionaries', to use your word, because their findings are still relevant to us today."

"I suppose that makes sense, " I said.

"The world isn't changing as quickly as people like to think, " Hayward said. "Do you understand what I'm saying here?"

"I guess I'm still trying to make sense of it all, " I said.

"I'll give you his book, " Hayward said. "Remind me when we're done here. The point I'm trying to make is that the work we do here is very much based off of Hayward's ideas. What we want to do is control the flow of information inside a sub-network. That would be a network inside a network. We want people to be able to exchange information and disseminate it efficiently. Of course you'll have to talk to the developers to get an idea of exactly what's going on. And we have one writer with us already. So we're not throwing you in the deep end here."

"I can get up to speed quickly, " I said. "I promise you that."

"I hope so, " Hayward said. "I heard good things about. I guess the issue is that we operate under a different philosophy as compared to the rest of the company. So maybe that's why we seem to have our wires crossed here."

"I think I just misspoke, " I told him. "Earlier on, I mean."

"People don't misspeak, " Hayward said. "That word should be stricken from the language. It doesn't even make any sense."

"Maybe you're right, " I said.

"I almost forgot, " Hayward said. He spun his chair around and reached over to a bookshelf he had beside his desk. He pulled out a thick hardcover and then turned back around and handed it to me. "Read what you can tonight, " he said.

The book had a blue jacket with a very plain cover. The title was printed in typewriter-style letters. It read, "Information Landscapes." Underneath it, in a smaller but identical font, was the author's name: "Robert Hastings". Underneath his name was a photograph of a film reel. That was it in the way of decorative touches.

"I'll get through it as quickly as I can, " I said.

Hastings waved a hand dismissively. "Read what's relevant, " he said. "This isn't a detective novel."

I spent most of the rest of the day meeting with other people on the team. When I got home that night I flipped through the book. The text was small, and there were tables and charts all over the place. I tried to find something that interested me. I turned to a chapter entitled, "A Brief History of Interactions", which was somewhere in the middle of the book. I copied down a section of what I read here to show to Hayward the next day. I still have a printed copy of what I wrote that day, which I'll cite below:

"Imagine having a conversation on the telephone. How does it work? The phone rings. You answer it. Hopefully the person on the other line is someone you know. You talk. When you're finished talking, you hang up. Is that it? Well, not quite.

"When most people think of phone calls, they think of themselves talking to some other person via a receiver that they hold in their hand. But is that all there is to it?

"Here is a question to ask yourself: why do we feel the need to have phone conversations in the first place? What is the point?

"You might tell me that certain conversations are important. A family member calls you up with news. This news could be good or bad. If it is bad, we probably need to act about the information we receive.

"Or you might tell me that certain conversations are frivolous. A friend phones you up and you talk about your day. Such conversations may last an hour or more. The information we receive during the course of such a conversation is typically not particularly important. That is to say, we do not need to act based on what we hear.

"You might think that these two examples represent entirely different modes of discourse. This would be a false assumption. The fact is that both conversations were goal-based. This is an important point to remember.

"In both examples, the goal was to impart information. In the first example the goal was to pass along information to be acted upon. In the second instance, the goal was more subtle. You and a friend exchange stories about your life experiences, thereby strengthening the friendship.

"This is what we need to remember, then: a telephone call is a goal-based activity.

"Communication is not always conducted in such a straightforward manner. Consider the example of a medieval village. The main gathering point for people in such an environment was the local church. When we think of church today we think of a place where we go to hear a priest or a minister speak while we listen in silence. But a church in the Middle Ages was more akin to a community centre. The priest did his preaching, of course. But often he had to shout over those who had gathered before him, as they were engaged in other conversations. Often he had to admonish his flock for not paying attention to him. In any event, people would gather long after a sermon was complete to keep on talking.

"Such exchanges differ markedly from telephone conversations. For example, they are not initiated by individuals. Rather, they are initiated by circumstances. You can call up a family member or friend whenever you'd like, within reason. But medieval villagers did not have this luxury. Instead, they had to talk to one another only when an opportunity presented itself. Since villagers were obligated to go to church, the church itself became the ideal forum for exchanging information.

"Moreover, the process of information exchange in such a setting was decidedly not goal-based, at least not overtly. Unlike with a telephone call, conversations began almost by accident. You might run into a few people you know well, greet them, and begin talking with them. You likely do not have a set agenda in mind regarding what you would like to talk about, since you cannot foresee the groupings that will emerge when an entire population of villagers gets together. That is to say, even though everyone is gathered in one place, such large groups have a tendency to hive off into smaller sub-groups. Such sub-groups are formed virtually spontaneously based on who it standing where at what time. Therefore, you cannot plan in advance what you are going to say before entering such a setting, since you do now know who will form the other members of you sub-group until the very moment that it forms.

"It is these considerations that must be kept in mind when we think about a phone conversation. It is an entirely alien mode of communication as compared to a gathering in a medieval church, or other similar gatherings. It is a new way of communicating, with its own set of rules."

I did speak with Hayward again for another week or so. I was busy learning the fundamentals of my new job. But eventually he came to my desk and invited me to come back to his office for another chat. He told me to bring Hastings' book with me.

"So, I hope you're feeling comfortable here now, " he said to me as we sat down across from each other.

"Everyone is nice, " I said.

"Everyone is always nice, " Hayward said. "That's the nature of the modern workplace."

"Well, it makes things easier, " I said.

"In some ways it does, " Hayward said. "Mind you, I'm not trying to rock the boat on this particular issue. But there are management methods that I'd like to try out here that are out of style. Not that I think we shouldn't be friendly to one another. But when we make that a priority, we tend to discount certain techniques that are available to us to enhance efficiency."

"I suppose that makes sense, " I said. "I'm not overly sensitive or anything. You can say what you want to me."

"People like to say that, but it's rarely true, " Hayward said. "But let's move on. I assume you're been reading the book."

"It's interesting, but some of it goes over my head, " I said.

"That's to be expected, " Hayward said. "We're not in the right setting to study its contents appropriately."

"I think I'm done with it for now, " I said. "You can have it back if you'd like."

Hayward waved his hand at me again. "It's not some keepsake, " he said. "I know what you think. You've probably made jokes with the rest of them out there about me sleeping with this book under my pillow or something. But I don't worship the man. You could throw his book in the ocean for all I care. It's not the book itself that I prize."

"I think many people would still label him a visionary, " I said. "Perhaps you misunderstand the meaning of the word."

"I understand its meaning, " Hayward said. "But it's an incorrect application in this particular situation. It's an insult to call someone like Hastings a visionary."

"Maybe you're right, " I said.

"You don't have to say that, " Hayward said. "You can have your own opinions. I'm not asking for you to agree with me."

"Then I take it back, " I told him. "I believe that Hastings would be considered a visionary. Though I'm not sure if I would think of him that way."

"So you don't like the book, then, " Hayward said.

"Perhaps I don't understand it, " I said.

"Well, thank you for being honest, " Hayward said. "I mean it. Keep it up."

"I'll do my best, " I said.

I went to log into my account, it stated to call in. My account was closed based on some other accounts under my IP address is what they stated first, then they stated it was someone made a complaint against me. I was advised by Loretta that she would call in the am. No response, 3 months later all they do is not respond. I leave messages in their customer service voicemail where they promise to call back in 24 hours. No callback ever. Also on their site you can send a issue to customer service, no response to what happened. I have sent emails, no response. Poor customer service. The only person who actually can get to is the receptionist who transfers you to the voicemail. No callback either. I have read other blogs and it seems to be the trend with Linkedin, no customer service person responds to anyone when they send a complaint or a question. All I am asking for is a response and to find out why my account was closed. I sent documentation like Loretta asked for, never heard back from her. Today 11/14/08 when I called, I was informed Loretta no longer works for them. Funny thing is I used the keypad when I called back and she has her voicemail still intact. So if she is no longer there after the middle of last month, why do I have proof she opened my email.