Last week, Spike (a mentor; more on him in a moment) was meeting with Marti and me to talk about our business. He looked me right in the face and said, “What made you hot isn’t hot anymore. So you need to figure it out. And fast.”
Spike’s in his 70‘s. He was a protege of Deming, had a red-hot quality consulting firm in the 80‘s, and a best selling book. Then Deming died, the economy hiccuped, and Spike and his staff of 70 weren’t quite so busy.
So if anyone understands what it’s like to have a “hot” business, and then feel the eerie chill as it cools, it’s Spike.
To understand just how “un-hot” we have become, consider that in 2008 and 2009, we sold about $55K/year in books. This year, we’ve sold about one-tenth of that.
What we’ve done well since 1998 - capture the zeitgeist of the next generation - is relatively less important in an economy where Millennials are the most unemployed generation and cities are focused on hanging onto jobs more than hanging onto talent.
Simply put: if we don’t change our business, we won’t have a business.
So, we’re going to pivot. We will continue to offer our “classic” line of services - the speeches about generations, the consulting services to I.D. your “handprint,” etc. And, we’re going to analyze dozens of other trends, to help cities and companies navigate the future with greater insight and certainty.
We are not abandoning our “next gen” specialty. We’re adding to it.
Repositioning our business may not be simple, but I’m confident we can do it, because we’re passionate. And smart. The team is totally onboard. Speaking only for myself, I’m completely stoked. I think I’ve always been a closeted futurist. With a next-gen specialty.
Why am I telling you all this? Because last week when we talked with the team about repositioning the business, Joseph asked a great question: “How should we communicate this transition to our clients?”
My vote: transparency and candor. I’ve always been a say-it-like-it-is-kinda-gal, and this is not a time for sissies.
So there you have it. Now, let me ask, what trends do you think merit our analysis and consideration? Have you been studying a trend that we can post for our readers?
Post a comment below, or email me: rr@nextgenerationconsulting.com.
Comments
Agree that the next wave isn’t going to be a report on what a city or organization should do; rather it will be on the development aspect of the next set of leaders of all ages. From every stat we see, there are 12K employees leaving the workplace for retirement, but there will not be enough replacements to perform at the same level. On average the current employee can only accomplish 80% of their work load that has increased as organizations have “right sized.”
The next movement is quick development of leaders in a results oriented fashion.
And talent is still employed, they are going to be plucked from one company to another by great recruiting firms.
The talent is still there, they are just busy and are removing their LinkedIn accounts because of the recruiting calls they get.
