The New Normal
By any measure, the growth of the economy in the last decade can be likened to the roaring 20's-30's, consumers (and American ones at that) fueled a consumption binge that unleashed a wave of cashflow and optimism which was then leveraged by various financial instruments until finally the bubble burst.
Today we have a relatively more modest/humbled marketplace in the developed economies, and the hope/anticipation that emerging (BRIC) economies can help pickup the slack.
To make things even more interesting, we can add in the pending pricing of carbon into our goods and services, digital and the power of social resulting in a new landscape where the benefits of scale are no longer predictable. This alignment of forces raises questions about how one competes, builds value and differentiates.
I recently came across this conversation at McKinsey where a number of CSO's (Chief Strategy Officers) discuss their views of the "new normal". Click here for a video link to the conversation (you will need to complete a free registration) or here for pdf transcript.
Go ahead, we'll wait.
So what do you think?
What are the indisputables in your sector?
Do you think the long tail is going to replace the normal distribution curve as our underlying view of the world?
How about speed and nimbleness. Does that portend an eventual shift to smaller business units?
What of the shift to adaptive planning/budgeting/programing. No doubt it's necessary when the groundshift is severe..but what of the longer term, and more importantly are we the cause of it?
What about brands, are they more or less relevant in this environment? Will we see the rise of new regional brands or global?
Lots of points for discussion.
I hope to hear your thoughts. Just what is the New Normal?
