I watched this video of Rishad Tobaccowala (Chief Innovation Officer at Publicis) this morning and it really resonated with me.
Rishad discusses the important role talented people play in building and sustaining successful creative businesses. Talent is so critically important but seems so inexplicably overlooked and undervalued in the publishing industry.
I truly believe that the industry and the companies that have a disproportionate share of passionate talent will beat everybody.”
Rishad Tobaccowala, 2010
So do I, Rishad.
During these times when the publishing industry has the potential to enter a renaissance; brimming with new opportunities, it will only be the companies with a talented, motivated and inspired team that will taste true success.
How do you motivate and inspire talent?
The next generation (my generation of 20 something ambitious professionals) want wealth. As Rishad explains we want three kinds of wealth.
1. Experiential wealth
Give me an opportunity now and make it exciting.
2. Educational wealth
Surround me with good people and teach me.
3. Economic wealth
Pay me appropriately and allow me skin in the game.
If the next generation of talent are not given the opportunity to grow their wealth in these ways they will find somewhere else to build. This will be the death of the professional publishing industry. No builders, no products, nothing to sell, no money made, business dies.
The publishing industry is in flux, which makes it difficult to provide this triple play of wealth to the next generation of talent because it is predominantly tied up and focused at the previous generation who are motivated and incentivised by building and maintaining their own seniority.
Unfortunately the value in real terms of the previous generation during the renaissance is completely out-of-sync with their price tag when compared to the talent that will make the new business models, which are so frequently speculated on, a reality.
I’ll finish with another quote from Rishad, which perfectly sums up how I feel the publishing industry should be thinking.
Let’s get back to the audacity and the dreams, and you know what, the spreadsheets will fill up beautifully.”
Rishad Tobaccowala, 2010
Every facet of the publishing industry stems from talent. Nothing else even comes close. If you don’t sit up and recognise that your business is a Dodo.
(Via Cultural Fuel)
