The Silent Future
jQuery is the de-facto library for the web, installed on 85% of websites. There are calls for the last few major release versions to be shipped in all major browsers. However, look what just came along. Two way data binding in the form of <angular />, Ember.js and friends. Suddenly the very thing that jQuery is so good at, DOM manipulation, is abstracted out of the picture.
The lesson, which we all know, is that change comes not from beating the incumbent at their own game but from focusing on what’s going to make their strength redundant. The interesting thing I’ve just realised is that the Internet makes communication redundant.
So far, the main impact of the Internet has been to change the way we communicate. However, the real shift is towards a pervasive web where information is implicit. Just as <angular /> abstracts out DOM manipulation, implicit information abstracts out whole tranches of activity. Communication, for so long the core skill of successful brands, people and organisations becomes entirely irrelevant.
It may be tempting to view a future of no communication as a land of the blind where the one eyed man is king. In a world with no marketing, surely the business that buys ads will thrive? However, this misses the pivotal cultural shift. As HG Wells illustrated so well, people’s behaviour is governed by the culture they operate in.
Ours has already changed, forever.
It’s called a Pull Strategy
What should leaders think about? What’s the strategic conversation that cuts to the heart of the matter?
If you look at my last post, it’s all about web strategy and content strategy. We know that the web has disrupted and continues to disrupt everything, so it’s clear that organisations need a strategic approach to it. However, one of the fascinating things to learn from Jonathan Kahn was how he uses content strategy as a trojan horse: a conversation starter leading to something more fundamental.
Yesterday was my first board meeting as a Trustee of London Creative Labs. The two founders, Mamading and Sophia are setting out on a journey to demonstrate and refine how jobs can be created through local enterprise: skills camps to build confidence and capacity, labs to stimulate social enterprise startups and incubation to help those startups grow.
The conversation, largely steered by Gloria Charles, ranged across topics, including outreach and communication. Part of the challenge is to engage people on the ground and part is to show the world there is a better way to create work. To deliver on the second part, Mamading and Sophia need to develop pull.
They need to build a profile and following to benefit from the acceleration and serendipity provided by people, organisations, clients and funders seeking them out and - here’s the real point - so does everybody else. London Creative Labs is a great illustration of a general truth.
Web, content, communication and even business strategy are secondary to pull strategy. The web is a channel to build pull. Content is a means of building pull. You communicate to build pull. Business is a matter of pull.
Discussing pull is the most fundamental strategic conversation.
