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Game Theory
I just returned from this year’s We Media conference in Miami, where Demand Media was presented a “Game Changer” award for excelling at the forefront of innovation and inspiring change through media. Wow! To be singled out as a game changer in an industry as dynamic as ours is truly an honor. It also reminds me of the difficulties we will face as we work to extend our success amid such dynamism.
Abraham Lincoln once observed: “It is said an Eastern monarch once charged his wise men to invent him a sentence to be ever in view, and which should be true and appropriate in all times and situations. They presented him the words: ‘And this, too, shall pass away.’” One hundred and fifty years later, how fitting that phrase still is for our world of today! And looking ahead, it grows even more apt: it recently struck me that my four young children will still be in the job market in the year 2070. How do I as a parent prepare them to thrive and prosper in that unknown world? What skills can I teach them today that will still be relevant in a world where all of the games have changed?  In my role as Chief Innovation Officer here, I face a very similar challenge. Historically, major media companies witnessed their game change every 20 years or so and were provided a great deal of time to adapt with it: think of the very gradual transition from radio to TV to cable to Internet. Now, however, we no longer have the luxury of contemplative reflection on the river of change. Today we are caught up in its rapids, thrust forward at ever increasing speeds, with no sign of ever slowing down. So how should today’s companies attempt to navigate such uncertain waters? I believe the key is to embrace the wisdom of Lincoln’s story: that the only constant is change, and in this day and age, change that is ever-accelerating. The most successful organizations will work that understanding into their DNA. For us, that has meant working to institutionalize two basic skills: the ability to detect change and the creativity to respond to it. And the results? Well, drop me a note in 2050 and ask me. The game will no doubt have changed, but my email address will be the same. Byron Reese is Demand Media's EVP of Innovation.
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