Strategy - Don't force - Let the play develop

Early in my career, I had the good fortune to work with Bob Thetford and Pat O'Sullivan of Maxon Electronics, in Kansas City. These gentlemen were connected in a previous life with John Madden and the Oakland Raiders. Since John hated flying, as a sportscaster he crisscrossed North America by rail or bus, and occasionally it worked out that he would drop by Kansas City for a visit which I was privileged to attend.  

I learned things from these sessions that influenced my thinking about social comm and brand development.  One of John's favorite sayings was "Don't force - Let the play develop", and he backed it up with lots of great 'real game' stories.

The idea of 'letting the industry set the pace' or 'letting consensus develop' is more important today then ever before.  Why is this the case?  Because a desire for 'authentic experience' is what is driving virtually every decision in our economy today. Joseph Pine was the first person I heard identify the move from a 'service' to an 'experience' based economy.

In 2011, PetLynx provided Summit Alumni with a copy of Joe's updated book, 'The Experience Economy' and presented Tom Trifaux as the keynote speaker on 'abundance' versus 'scarcity'.

The 2012 Summit will provide alumni with Bob Johansen's book, 'Leaders make the Future'. The Summit will also feature really important and strategic conversations that can move the companion animal industry along. I have encouraged conversation leaders to be authentic, patient and to let consensus develop. How we as leaders make the future today has a lot more to do with letting the play develop and understanding where opportunities will come from then ever before.

Take an opportunity to refresh your memory on the experience economy from Joeseph Pine's TED Talk in 2004 and then reveal the areas where you think the industry is forcing behavior instead of waiting to 'let the play develop'.