Something is in the air. Is it change? Could it be? Is the business world really ready to work a little differently? Evolve business models and offerings? Offer new solutions? Or will we cling to how it's always worked for us in the past? Maybe you work in sector where advances in technology and evolving human behavior hasn't affected what you do. But most of the readers here are feeling the change. Feeling it daily-sometimes hourly, seconds, nanoseconds. Growing pains. Friction. Tension. If your lucky-growth. And in many cases success. Most of us work in organizations with clearly defined hierarchies. Some of us work in organizations that support working in both hierarchies AND networks. Regardless, I have to wonder if change is in the air for real? Have we really woken up the sleeping giant-and if so, what will happen next? Some food for thought to chew on as we witness the sometimes awkward waltz between digital natives and digital immigrants:
"Agile is the new rigid. In order to thrive in the digital age-individuals, brands and business must adapt, evolve and demonstrate a nimble flexibility that bends rather than breaks. Flexibility rules in the form of never-ending beta releases, experimentation and innovation. In the digital age-planning will be essential, but improvisation will be required."
~Digabilities (Experience Matters)
"OK, it's not necessary for everyone to be able to build the next great Facebook app, but everybody needs to be curious about and aware of what kinds of digital innovations are cropping up and where marketers might fit into them. Crew's Ms. Wall said her account team "needs to be on top of the Facebook open application program or the new [Apple] Leopard blogging software."
~The Digital Skills Job Seekers Need To Survive Now (AdAge)
"We are studying it and we expect to make that free, and instead of having one million (subscribers), having at least 10 million-15 million in every corner of the earth,"
~Rupert Murdoch
"The changes that we are all feeling in the workplace and within our industries which are requiring us to think and work slightly differently. We can no longer afford to over-analyze our challenges. We must try to get things launched-learn from these experiences and refine. We must define ourselves and what we do more broadly while retaining the potency of our our crafts. It's about going from left brain to right brain and ending up on "light brain". We must become "fuzzy".
~The Fuzzy Tail
(Visual By Idris Mootee)
"These talents are the innovators or collaborators of innovation. They make it possible for companies to come up with new business model that help them to survive today's rapidly changing and disruptive business environment. They are the people who produce and manage the intangible assets that are the primary way companies in create economic value. Unfortunately the educational system of the world is to provide a uniform level of competence based on the faulty metaphor of education as a factory ( It's worth recalling that Steve Jobs' brief college career included an utterly impractical interest in calligraphy."
~Enterprise 2.0 and the concept of Virtuality
It's important to remember that while we may be feeling the shifts-in reality it may take much longer for outdated models to reform. But it's hard to deny that the world is spinning. The giants are waking up. The only question is how long will it take? So has your job changed in the past 5 years? If so-how? I'd love to hear about it.
Update:
Just found out that the agency.com Dallas office closed it's doors. I worked at agency.com (Chicago) with some really great people for nearly six years. That office is still present-yet most of the people I worked with have moved on. Digital and non digital companies alike are not immune to change.
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