{"id":6482,"date":"2022-02-12T06:41:55","date_gmt":"2022-02-11T19:41:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insight.thomsonreuters.com.au\/legal\/?p=6482"},"modified":"2022-08-03T16:03:29","modified_gmt":"2022-08-03T05:03:29","slug":"marketing-partner-forum-leading-change-in-risk-averse-cultures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insight.thomsonreuters.com.au\/legal\/posts\/marketing-partner-forum-leading-change-in-risk-averse-cultures","title":{"rendered":"Marketing Partner Forum: Leading Change in Risk-Averse Cultures"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

At the Marketing Partner Forum, embracing change & seeking reinvention take center stage as ways to strategically adapt to periods of continuing uncertainty.<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

AMELIA ISLAND, Fla. \u2014 Amid a still-continuing global pandemic and the economic upheaval it has brought, people need to realize that embracing change and reinvention \u2014 rather than a push to \u201creturn to normal\u201d \u2014 will enable them to navigate the crisis more successfully, according to Brian Solis, a world-renowned author, digital anthropologist, and futurist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Solis, who gave the keynote talk on Thursday at Thomson Reuters\u2019 29th annual Marketing Partner Forum<\/a>, encouraged attendees to embrace change. \u201cThese times are anything but a \u2018new normal\u2019,\u201d Solis said. \u201cIn fact, this isn\u2019t even a race toward normalcy. It is actually a moment to do the opposite.\u201d He implored the audience to change their view and see this era as a time to \u201creinvent\u201d everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Expanding on his vision of embracing change, Solis cited several key factors that law firms or individuals can leverage to ensure success. Not surprisingly, resilience<\/em> is at the top of his list. How business, organizations, and people addressed the challenges they endured over the previous two years greatly determined whether they were able to earn a degree of success from those efforts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Solis also cited optimism<\/em> as another factor in successfully adapting to the change brought by the ongoing crisis. Indeed, optimism is \u201cthe only thing you truly need to be innovative,\u201d he said, adding that, admittedly, this quality is in rare supply these days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the describing these more aspirational factors, Solis pivoted to focus on a concept he termed Digital Darwinism<\/em> – situations in which organizations themselves were disrupted when their customers\u2019 expectations and behaviors changed but the company does not adjust or have either resilience or optimism. Entire industries have been and will likely continue to be disrupted as a result, he added. For example, Solis discussed how organizations and entire industries can have their own Kodak Moment \u2014 that moment when you realize that customer behaviors and preferences have changed so dramatically from your assumptions that it is too late for you to change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few gasps could be heard in the audience at this, which really underscored the ramifications of a moment like that if it were to happen in the legal industry. Solis, quoting MIT\u2019s digital technology visionary Jeanne Ross, said that \u201cleaders must reassess how digital technologies and information can create new customer value. The alternative is to try to succeed in a digital economy with a pre-digital value proposition\u201d \u2014 which likely will not work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Embracing the digital transformation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Solis also warned of some of the pitfalls of so-called innovation traps – change for the sake of change that doesn\u2019t really solve the users\u2019 problem. For example, someone create a chatbot, but is it really solving a customer problem or creating more frustration? Typically, these innovation trap issues arise because of a concept he called \u201cout of touchness\u201d – the gulf between customers\u2019 expectations and what the business is offering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are driven by the pieces that hold us back,\u201d he said. \u201cThe idea is simple but powerful.\u201d For instance, company executives think about what they believe to be a solution to a problem; meanwhile, customers are expressing a need, which goes unfulfilled. Speaking to attendees directly, Solis asked them: \u201cDoes your C-suite have enough digital smarts\u201d, the kind that goes beyond technology to \u201cempathy\u201d? For law firm leaders specifically, Solis asked, \u201cWhat if today was 2030? How would your firm look?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Indeed, the level of savviness needed to survive may well take \u201can understanding \u2014 developed thorough experience and education \u2014 of the impact that emerging technologies will have on a business success over the next year,\u201d he explained, adding that sadly, only 23% of large companies have digital savvy executives. This alone creates further divide between the business and its customer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pandemic clearly showed that there are two key experiences that every business needs to keep front and center \u2014 the customer experience and the employee experience. Indeed, it may have been surprising to some attendees to hear that employee satisfaction and happiness was nearly as important to business success as the customer experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fortunately, innovators are seeking better ways to engage for both the customer and the employee. Solis noted that 61% of people will spend more time online after the pandemic, and 76% of customers want to see integration across marketing, sales, and service, which of course impacts both the customer and the employee. When this integration trifecta is accomplished, both groups are more satisfied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his concluding thoughts, Solis pushed people to think of innovation as not limited to technology. \u201cIt\u2019s a mindset,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you\u2019re waiting for someone to tell you what to do, you\u2019re on the wrong side of innovation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As people eventually go back to the office, everyone would do well to focus on three concepts:<\/p>\n\n\n\n