Bob Pearson, Chair, The Next Practices Group and The Bliss Group.
getty
The "middleman" of music was disrupted in 1999 by Napster. In an industry where our choices were dictated largely by companies and radio stations, all of a sudden, music was freely available and unlimited in what we could consume.
Lawsuits were filed, led by Metallica. Leaders were indignant. The marketplace was noisy. Fear of change prevailed. While the business world huffed and puffed, consumers smiled.
Meanwhile, the real innovators were like sailors who remain calm during a storm. They saw past the headlines and fear and angst and imagined what the future would look like. Then, they pursued their vision, invested in it and accepted the risk of failure since their view of what was possible was so clear.
Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon realized the major consumer trend was simple: Consumers wanted to curate their own music and listen to music their friends liked; they were never going to go back to accepting that companies and radio stations would tell them what to do. Ek and Lorentzon turned this "aha" moment into Spotify.
Steve Jobs had a vision that the mobile phone would be the main platform for music one day, so his team built a transitional device, the iPod (2001) until the phone was ready in 2007. His competitors all tried to outdo the iPod, while Jobs just stayed focused on turning the phone into a type of entertainment center never imagined before. He realized a device taken for granted could become the agent of change.
The rise of generative artificial intelligence (AI) is having a similar effect today.
It is interesting to think of how our brains often work when faced with a major technological shift. We wonder if jobs will be lost and imagine mistakes that could destroy companies or brands. Lawsuits are soon filed to defend rights. Government considers legislation to rein in innovation. Leaders ask us to go slower, even though they know they will be ignored.
While most people cycle through some form of angst, the next generation of innovators remains calm. They double down. They imagine what is possible and think ahead five to 10 years. They don't get caught in the rush of hype or concern and, quite frankly, are turned off by it. Instead, they make the effort to read the room and build from there.
I have informally studied innovation for decades, and what I have learned is quite simple. The future may be difficult to identify, but the pattern of innovation is straightforward.
Innovators generally follow four key steps during critical inflection points, even if they don't consciously realize what they are doing.
1. They isolate the one major consumer trend that matters. With music, it was the trend that consumers reject the middleman and want to curate their own music and share with their friends. It was and is an irreversible trend. It is as relevant in 2023 as it was in 1999. Major trends are powerful and timeless.
2. Their team is intellectually diverse. It is like electrons moving from atom to atom. It appears discontinuous, yet it is all part of the process. Imagine the mind of a software engineer, a communicator, a data scientist and a creative director brainstorming through an idea. They each have different mindsets and ways to express themselves, which appears discontinuous, but it is actually not. This is where breakthrough ideas come from. So remember, if your team is too like-minded, innovation is very unlikely to occur. Think of who you hang with when you brainstorm.
3. They know the solution is deceptively simple. It often takes years for the market to catch up with an idea, but when they do, the results speak for themselves. Spotify now has a market capitalization of over $25 billion. Innovators work intensely day to day while remaining patient that the world will eventually recognize and align with their vision.
4. They believe their ideas will change how we work or play. Many of us now pop in our AirPods and listen to our curated music and podcasts while we work or play. Our desire to consume the content we want when we want it will never go away. It's a form of freedom we are loathe to change. Similarly, advances in AI will unlock the value and power of content and devices and new ideas will emerge.
The emergence of generative AI is getting us to rethink what we do. How will we create new concepts for campaigns? How will advertising change? When will media planning evolve? Can listening platforms become more precise in how they alert us about emerging issues? How will we clone the voices of spokespeople to expand their reach? How will the customer experience change? And more importantly, why? How does this change the phone or the apps inside?
The number of ideas with potential will explode. Most will fail since they won't center themselves on the path innovators tread to create what's next. It will start with isolating one powerful trend that will change how we work or play for the long term. Not two trends. One trend.
New eras are exciting and intimidating at the same time, which is why simple solutions that scale will often win the day.
Let's lean in to improve our organizations and society. Innovation depends on our participation.
We are entering a new Napster-like era. Technology will unlock the power of words, images, audio, video, insights, ads and more to tell powerful stories, deliver new insights and build new ways to work, think and play at home and in the workplace.
Communications and communicators have every right to be at the forefront of driving the future.
Forbes Communications Council is an invitation-only community for executives in successful public relations, media strategy, creative and advertising agencies. Do I qualify?
