Or better yet, how to thrive
Pema Chödrön, the author famous for her teachings on uncertainty has said, “We think that the point is to pass the test or to overcome the problem, but the truth is that things don’t really get solved. They come together and they fall apart.”
I have made the case for adaptation as a means of survival. But what if the goal isn’t to simply survive, but to thrive?
Knowing what your brand is up against is crucial. So is knowing who your brand is in culture. Its values, its objectives, its unique potential. Barrel ahead in reaction to change without careful consideration of these core facets and you risk breaking. Take what happened at the New Republic a few years ago: Chris Hughes’s plan for transforming the iconic opinion magazine into a “vertically integrated digital media company” resulted in the resignation of most of the magazine’s staff. By changing the essence of the brand instead of adapting it to the changing times, he broke it.
Hughes was quoted in a press release as saying “to preserve and strengthen great institutions, you have to change them.” But things come together and they fall apart, and come together and fall apart. Cultural shifts can be like untended stone walls — rock solid until they tumble down.
What is solid, what is changing, how things come together, and how they fall apart, is unpredictable. In order to thrive, brands must be both adaptable and discerning in how they plan for the unpredictable. Brand leaders need to be attuned to what needs to change and why, to understand whether the job at hand is refining, rebuilding or recasting.
Do you feel attuned? Do you understand the job at hand?
alicia johnson is a partner at brand boutique johnson + wolverton. this piece originally appeared on her blog, aj on brand. follow her for more on the collaborative life and business at the intersection of media, content, and advertising.
