February 12, 2007: Life in the Fast Lane: An Industry in Hyper Change

This sentence caught my eye this weekend when I was catching up on some reading I couldn't squeeze into the Monday-Friday timeframe: "The nation's leading advertising executives believe we are in a period of hyper accelerated change for the media and advertising world and that things are likely to speed up even more."

Aha, no wonder we're all so busy! Our industry is in "hyper change" mode. What are the implications for our operations, business models, sales, products...really, everything we do? Online technologies and options are turbocharging the evolutionary process, with community media and audience empowerment clearly in the vanguard. As the article points out, a lot of ad executives are still struggling to keep up with the media consumption and creation preferences of the audiences they're chasing.

While I certainly don't have all the answers, there are some clear implications for those of us running a media business in the hyper change environment. First, with change happening so quickly, we must operate without the long-term visibility we were used to in the old days. Mid-term is the new long-term. Second, with greater risk, we should hedge by trying more things. Hyper change is exactly the wrong time to get overly cautious. Don't be frivolous, but make some educated guesses and put a number of irons in the fire instead of betting the farm on one big one. An upside to hyper change is that missteps will quickly recede into the past, especially if they're not too large. Hyper change means you don't have to be 100% right...just make sure you're not 100% wrong.

Recognize that with change comes an educational responsibility. You may find that the burden of communicating and explaining your initiatives increases. This isn't necessarily a sign that the people asking questions lack confidence in what you're doing; maybe they're just not up to date. Be prepared with extra documentation and analysis.

When you're hiring, especially look for and value the ability to learn and grow. There's no way the people you hire today will have all the skills you'll need two years down the road. Find people who are willing to "hyper change" their own lives and careers so they can grow with your business.

Otherwise, fasten your seatbelt. If the observers quoted above are right, the pace isn't likely to slow down any time soon.