The Future Is Elastic!

Today the word would be quotelasticquot Here is a simple definition of that word Elastic resilient springy flexible supple means able to endure strain without being permanently injured Elastic implies the property of resisting deformation by stretchingInvite job candidates to apply live during the Media and Advertising Communityamp8217s Black Talent Outreach Week at MediaVillagecom and AdvancingDiversityorg October 1720 Apply for jobssubmit your resume hereamp160The future is elasticPeople are increasingly living elastically in the way they shop consume media and work They are stretching definitions and flexing and twisting Those individuals most elastic in mindset who are ready to continuously iterate and adapt are more likely to thrive in transforming and changing timesThe organizations that will thrive in the future will align with peoples39 new expectations and behaviors by being elastic in their structure and approachHow people shop and consume media today are increasing elasticThe customer quotjourneyquot or quotfunnelquot is no longer recognizable Once upon an imaginary time there was a purchase funnel with awareness consideration intent and purchase as its four key movements and one could map a consumer journeyIn a world of fragmentation empowered customers with super computers in their pockets and media like TikTok which collapse above the line with below the line fuse offline and online commerce and destroy any line between search ecommerce video social and mobile businesses are dealing with millions of journeys beginning ending and lurching all overThe neat little boxes and orchestrated behavior have dissolved into a cacophony of improvised jazz as the Gartner chart above illustratesElastic companies will need to be not just omnichannel across all analog and digital platforms but also across multiverses as the future of AR and VR begin to scale Source for chart below World Economic Forum and UpworkHow people will work increasingly elasticallyWithin five years projections suggest that most workers will have multiple employers Today we are living in a world of distributed and unbundled work a process that began before COVID19 and was just accelerated across office home third places and event In a world where software hardware and the Cloud allow many individuals to have access to the same technologies and platforms as large firms the nature of work is in flux The future of employee will be a flexible combination of the fulltime employee the contract employee the fractionalized employee and the freelance employeeIn addition in most countries with declining populations pretty much everywhere outside of Africa and for a little while India businesses will combine advanced technology and cast a wide net for employees who are increasingly diverse older and distributed around a multitude of locations working for a varying number of hours The work forces will span generations cultures working styles and mindsets like never beforeA multiverse of talent is what companies will need to be prepared for Their big tent will need to be elastically stretchy offering a wide menu of ways to workSuccess will require the need to stretch one39s mind and skill setsThe rate of change today is speeding up and unless one is constantly learning adapting and questioning the status quo we could find ourselves like the frog in the boiling water who did not pay attention to the rising temperature till it was too late to jump before being cookedEvery modern successful organization and leader is a target for disintermediation if we do not stretch ourselvesSatya Nadella reinvigorated Microsoft after a decade of slumber increasing its market capitalization fivefold in five years by stretching out to incorporate open source GitHub social media LinkedIn gaming Minecraft and now Activision Blizzard expanding into Cloud Azure while torching stack ranking which pitted employees against each other which made no sense when connection and collaboration are key dropped the Windows Operating Division legacy roots that were poisoning the ability to see in new ways and most importantly made sure that everyone in his leadership team read and learned about Growth Mindset from Carol DweckIf we do not upgrade our mental and organizational operating systems to adapt to a high velocity and increasingly connected world we will fail to thriveBecoming ElasticEvery individual team and firm can become elastic Here are five ways to stretchAlign with the future Stop benchmarking against existing competitors and fixating just on current marketing platforms Two years ago many were convinced we were living in Google and Facebook world While Google and Meta remain critical and are likely to do so for many years we now have TikTok Amazon and Apple that have scaled as significant marketing platforms joined by a plethora of commerce platforms like Walmart and Roundel from Target In addition many companies are creating their own connection platforms whether it be Marriott or McDonalds It is no longer a twohorse race As we enter the Third Connected Age of the Internet today39s ecosystem will look simpleReThink every aspect of the organization with a tomorrow lens Like never before does the future not fit in the containers of the past The future work force will be distributed diverse unbundled empowered and older They will be highly informed with many ways of monetizing their skills and often working for multiple companies It39s no longer a question of if or when but how fast Companies focusing on returning to the office versus maximizing the benefits of inperson interaction while ensuring flexibility have not truly grasped the seismic changes in the future of work where this is just one of many challengesAccelerate speed of decision making and collaboration Stretch one39s ecosystem by incentivizing teamwork being open to external partnerships and expertise and investing in upgrading skill sets and learningRecognize that in a world of machine learning and fragmented behavior data will be exponentially more important Not data itself but the ability to use data to illuminate opportunities partnerships and ROI by understanding patterns combining math and meaning to drive data driven storytelling and create an underlying infrastructure of intelligence and form that keeps the business focused and informed in a chaotic media consumer and competitive environmentCombine roots and wings Elastic means to stretch but not to be deformed It is critical that as companies and individuals create new wings to soar into the future they do not forget the roots that made them and will continue to make them who they are Whether this be purpose values brand reputation or culture it is key to combine what39s next with what has been coreBecome elastic as the future becomes elasticClick the social buttons to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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The Future Is Elastic!

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Rishad Tobaccowala

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The Future Is Elastic!

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