Social Media & Digital Marketing in Singapore

It’s A Revolution – Which Side Are You On?

I’m currently reading Here Comes Everybody by the brilliant Clay Shirky and in one chapter he writes:

“The hallmark of revolution is that the goals of the revolution cannot be contained by the institutional structure of the existing society.

As a result, either the revolutionaries are put down, or some of those institutions are altered, replaced or destroyed.

The increase in the power of both individuals and groups, outside traditional structures is unprecedented. Many institutions we rely on today will not survive this change without significant alteration…”

Let’s make no mistake about it. We’re currently living in a time of revolution.

Perhaps it’s not the same kind of revolution as the printing press or the Industrial Revolution, but it is one that is more subtle and yet pervasive. It is one that is increasingly changing our perceptions of what is “normal”.

And existing organisations are not ready for that. Look at the Toyota fiasco this year or Dominos last year (or any other brand in between). They only reacted to the revolution when they needed to – and by then, arguably it could be too late. What if Toyota embraced the need for communication and transparency and had acted from the first defect instead of waiting for it to kill someone before acting? Would that have mitigated some of the PR nightmare that they’re facing now? I think so.

So here’s the question: Are you embracing the revolution or are you going to be caught unaware – and maybe destroyed – by it?

I don’t think there’s a middle ground. The way we live, interact and communicate as individuals and businesses is fundamentally changing and every day you delay the choice to embrace this new (and scary) way of life, is a day you’re heading towards extinction.

[image credits: Chris Corwin]

Tags: clay shirky, Dominos, fundemental changes in communication, goals of revolution, hallmark, here comes everybody, industrial revolution, institutional structure, pervasive, printing press, revolution, revolutionaries, society, subtle, Toyota, traditional structures