Polly Pearson's Blog: The "Everything Has Changed. Have You?" Conversation

I'm in the middle of a lot of meetings and conversations lately that could be summed up as,

"Everything has changed. Have you?"

It is getting kind of fun, actually. Seeing the light bulb go on. A year ago, you could tell people just weren't there. "All that stuff" was fool-hearty and for kids, not for real businesses.

But now, mid-way through 2010, I'm seeing the lights go on. People are ready to "bust a move" and start thinking a-new!

EXAMPLES:

I've seen some of the most senior executives in the world, including CEOs, HROs, and brand & marketing leaders, have their eyes go wide when they see the stats on the increasingly remote/global/virtual/networked nature of work, workplaces, workers, work tools, work norms, and (!) worker expectations.

-- That "work" of course also includes our collective customers "at work" -- how they want to buy and engage in today's world order. --

I've heard the nervous laughter have a more positive lilt, when the concept of "allowing your people to have a voice in the public airwaves" comes up.

SURE ... the jokes are still there.

"Wise"cracks like, "If you have time to blog, then you don't have enough work to do."

"Hey -- are you going to Twitter that!"

Those come from the same folks who will proudly work hours on perfecting an email, or a PowerPoint presentation that relatively few people will see, and will mock those who craft content which could be found by millions in increments of time measured in minutes.

BUT THE TIDE IS CHANGING.

These are SMART people. ACCOMPLISHED PROFESSIONALS. I can tell that they kind of knew a lot of this information on the surface, but at the same time, they had no idea it had all gotten this big, or this widespread.

The light bulb, for the leaders, is going off like that Clicks & Bricks light bulb went off when they realized buying stuff on-line was more than a fad for the Silicon Valley types.

"Oh my, I need to start changing my thinking."

The inside-the-head talk track might include thoughts like these ...

C-Suite & HR: "No way. Telling employees what to do, and issuing policies, so they don't mess it up, isn't a good way to be a leader anymore?"

Marketing: "Wow. This means our telephone calls, emails, brochures, direct mails, white papers, and static web sites might be dated? You mean I'm not spending my limited money as well as I might? Really?"