Managing Your Website in Turbulent Times: Creating a Sane Asylum in a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Web World

I am a ghost writer.

In life, I was an American engineer, inventor, and science administrator, who, during World War II, headed the U.S. Office of Scientific Research and Development (OSRD) through which almost all wartime military research and development was carried out, including initiation and early administration of the Manhattan Project. I was also known in engineering for my work on analog computers, for founding Raytheon, and for the Memex, a hypothetical, adjustable microfilm viewer with a structure analogous to that of the hypertext that structures the World Wide Web today.

I am appalled at what has happened to the Internet and the World Wide Web since I died.

The manager of a large mutual fund wrote recently: "We are deferring to the professional we hired to help us make the best decisions as it is his business and he is handling very large national and international accounts with the significant expertise he has to offer us."

From the White House to Number 10 Downing Street, from the Kremlin to Zhongnanhai, from Lockheed Martin to Ford, from Harvard University to LaGuardia Community College, from Delmonico’s to Charlie’s Pizza Parlor, one of the most egregious errors committed by managers is deferring to the professionals—the "experts." In the language of Main Street, such deference is "passing the buck."

As the manager of your website, you are responsible for the technical aspects of your website. As the manager of your website, you are responsible for the management of both your web developer and your website.

Your website does not have to be a "black box."

You can master the fundamentals of web design and web hosting. In fact, you must master the fundamentals of web design and web hosting!

In these turbulent times, taking personal responsibility for your website is critical to the success of your customers, clients, patients, and constituents. Taking personal responsibility for your website is critical to the success of your management team, your stock holders, your directors, your creditors, and, yes, your web designers and web developers!

Managing Your Website in Turbulent Times will show you how to create a sane asylum within the virtual insanity of the Web.

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