My cynical predictions for 2018 are:
That most business leaders will dig out their plans for 2017, change the date to 2018 and little else. Most, not all.
That most people in marketing and advertising will continue to do what they think they should be seen to be doing (especially if it’s new and shiny), rather than what they think is genuinely the right thing to do. Most, not all.
That too few managers will speak truth to power when asked or instructed to do the wrong thing or to accept conditions or demands that are unacceptable.
That those doing 1 will be repeating behaviour and hoping for a different result – and we all know what that means …
That those doing 2 will have their eye off the ball of what is really deliver business results, again, because the stuff that can deliver business results is difficult to do.
That those doing 3 will be stressed, demotivated and unhappy.
That much of January 2018 will be spent paying undue attention to predictions (especially ones involving things new and shiny), regardless that most of them will be wrong. And anyway, predictions are rarely checked at the end of the year, so what does it matter? Does anybody even check whether the groundhog's forecasts were accurate?
I got an email from a friend of mine today in which her parting thought was:
Consider the tortoise. He only makes progress when he sticks his neck out.
Enough said.
David Meikle. Author/Founder How to Buy a Gorilla
Book: www.howtobuyagorilla.com
Company: www.htbag.co.uk
Twitter: @htbagorilla.