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KEEP IN TUNE WITH THE EVER-CHANGING EVENTS TAKING PLACE IN BUSINESS!Have you ever wondered just what the direction of business in the future will be? I know I have! I think it's important to reflect where we have been and where we are going. I recently read a great book called digital aboriginal, The Direction of Business Now: Instinctive, Nomadic, and Ever-Changing, and had the opportunity to meet one of the authors Mikela Tarlow. This book published by Time Warner in April 2002 offers some great insights into just where we are headed in the business arena. The biggest change Mikela sees is in the current economic landscape, which can be summed up in one word: Collaboration. She sees this as a key skill that we all will need to navigate the future. "A small town in Colorado would get their phone company to put in high-speed lines. The Company said it was too expensive. The town banded together and put in their own system with a lower monthly services fee and is now helping other small communities form their own cooperative based on this model. This is just one of the hundreds of examples she indicated she could give where individuals and businesses are banding together to accomplish something greater than they could do alone. Her prediction is that cooperatives, alliances, shared efforts, networking, learning communities, co-branding, and new social landscapes ARE the trend of the next decade." "The Internet roll will be that of a more integrated role. Our online creativity will be imbedded in our everyday activities. It is the marriage between on line and off line where the most exciting creativity will happen." "The kids already get it. Dartmouth College is now completely set up for wireless Internet access. The interesting part is all the inventions, technical and social that are spontaneous arising because the kids are so integrated with this world. They go online and off line in short bursts. Classes integrate this on line capacity within the live discussion in class. The applications for the business world are extraordinary." We will also see some significant changes in the marketing of our products and services. "Few would argue that most of us are suffering from information glut. We can't remember where we heard what and why it was important anyway. There are a couple of stages that unfold from that point, but the end result is that authentic, one to one, meaningful relationships become ever more central to everything we do. It is the only thing we remember." "We will listen to trusted people in our life and remember what they say, in a way that all the ads in the world can't achieve. This is why social responsibility, community service, authentic connection with those that you serve will become ever vital." This is good news; we are recreating a small town feeling no matter how big the city is that we live in. An we are recreating the small town accountability that could help us restore a sense of trust again. Changes will affect advertising as well. "Advertising will head in two directions. Either, it will become more high tech, high cost. The last ad for New Balance sneakers cost almost as much as a 30 minute TV show. Ads of the future will be artistic events in and of themselves, promoted and pitched just like a feature movie. We will see articles about upcoming ads. The other direction is low tech, grass roots. Sony music just launched a new singer through the use of instant messaging, one teenager passing the news of the new CD to the next one on-line. No ads, no MTV, no high cost promotion. They created a hit record through old-fashioned chitchat. Grass roots, guerilla, one to one, gonzo marketing will become ever more essential for the average small businessperson. Marketing of the future WILL rest on the power of intimacy." Changes will take place also that will be important in creating marketing materials and web sites, etc. "As soon as high-speed lines are the norm, sites will become full spectrum publishing tools. People will think of them, as they're own mini-TV station, with streaming video, well thought out programming, featured special events, etc. The exciting part is that it will force everyone to consider the creative, artistic side of what they do." We are once again setting the stage for heightened collaboration, where two or more people get together and develop "programming together." The Tarlow's book is truly a book to make us make sense of a vast array of exciting events that have happened and are happening in business and help us find underlying patterns. We are certainly witnessing a transformation that goes far beyond the dot.com hype and the subsequent dot.com bust. We will look back in time and realize its magnitude is beyond the Renaissance in its power to redefine our culture and the surrounding economy. "We are living in the equivalent of a second Renaissance and it is all happening in fast motion. We don't have to wait until the next century to see how it turns out; we will be there with front row seats to the action." "Last month, the Conference Board announced that 50% of the American public says they don't like their job. I can't help but think that the major reason people don't like what they do is that either they feel that what they are doing is not important or that they can't creatively contribute to the place where they work. At the same time, every business in the country says they want innovation and for their employees to take more ownership. Both sides want the same thing, yet our ability to bridge this gap is not very well developed. " As I see it, addressing this mismatch is number one priority for all of us. It is too great a loss for that many people to feel disillusioned and unconnected to what they do. It is too great a loss for our economy not to have access to their creativity and enthusiasm. If you would like to learn more about the future of business and how it will impact you and your business check out the Tarlow's web site www.digitalaboriginal.com or call toll free to 866-259-7386 Changes are coming and if you can understand what they are and be ready, you and your business can continue to chart your course to continued success! *********
Robbie Motter |
