Member Article

The eight rules of reinvention economics

I believe ’Big Companies’ no longer work so well, unless they stop behaving the way big companies once behaved. They have to stop thinking or wishing that they still lived in the past, and feel happy and excited about eating breakfast in the future, there at the table sharing the Shreddies thinking digitally. Here are my eight rules for business success in a digital world.

Rule 1: Never stand still, always move forward

Forward-motion is the thing. Making yourself a moving target is being a smarter target. Sharks need to continually swim forwards, otherwise they sink. So, be a shark, never a duck.

Rule 2: Never revere conventions, instead by happy iconoclasts

‘Happy iconoclasm’ is a bit of a happy rant for me.

No one ever changed the world by repeating how it was done last time. In a digital age, every business is now a challenger business - because every business model can be suddenly subverted. And the trick is to subvert right back. The trick is to keep audiences guessing by keeping everyone curious.

Rule 3: Don’t lose sight of the fundamentals

The music industry became a first act casualty of the digital revolution. Why? Because it lost sight of what it fundamentally gave people. Don’t become a business where how you make money today straight-jackets you from how you might make money tomorrow. Never lose sight of the fundamentals.

Rule 4: Be more open-minded, less signle-minded

The crew of Apollo 13 would have simply died if they hadn’t improvised. Their story is a famous one, famous because it’s a metaphor of such crisp simplicity. In the digital age, “successful navigation” requires a lot of lane-changing, with the kind of oblique thinking and problem-solving skills that would earn you a trip into space, and a safe return.

Rule 5: Recall your inner child & follow De Niro’s lead

Remember the DeNiro/Pacino movie Heat? Remember the diner scene, where they go crazy-eye to crazy-eye, and that ice-cool quote delivered by DeNiro’s character? “Don’t let yourself get attached to anything you are not willing to walk out on in 30 seconds flat if you feel the heat around the corner.“And what becomes interesting is that by being willing to walk away, start afresh, remain only part-formed and still child-like, we may potentially achieve so much more than we ever actually abandon.

Rule 6: Be more like Robert Duvall (aka. the consigliore positioning)

Product supply chains work to the economic assumption that everyone has to take a cut Instead, consider ‘The Godfather’ with Robert Duvall, poised, sage, even (in 1972) with some hair, sitting at Marlon Brando’s right hand. For commercial relationships in the digital age to be truly effective, I believe the stance (and contribution) needs to be that of the trusted advisor - that of a consigliore.

Rule 7: Be less hierarchical, more informal; more human

Employee “Disaffection & Disgruntlement” feels almost “20thCentury” in today’s tech-liberated Make-Create culture. The challenge businesses face is to make disaffection anathema to the work-place. The 21st Century company needs to provide good company to its employees. I think it’s helpful to underline: people don’t mind working hard and putting in the hours if it’s something they like doing, done in the company of people they like. I believe companies can be more informal, without being less professional.

Rule 8: Get the right people in the room

If you’re going on a mission, you want your dream team. You need the right individuals, and they need to fit together in a way that’s complimentary. That’s the key word. Complimentary. Clones can’t add to a sum total greater than the individual parts - whereascontrasting specialisms and perspectives make for a whole that’s really worth a damn.

Final thought

The consensus in most boardrooms today is that whatever industry vertical you’re in, your (current) industry is going to be unrecognisable 5 years from now. It’s definitely time to think and be Digital…

Simon Pont is a writer, commentator and brand-builder. His latest book is Digital State: How the Internet is Changing Everything (Kogan Page)

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Simon Pont .