Shift Happens

As we go deeper into the connection economy, it dawns on us that we must retire the old way of conducting our everyday business lives. A shift must occur in our thinking to make any progress in this new environment.

One idea that may never need to be retired comes from the iconic thinking of Dale Carnegie. Way ahead of his time, Carnegie understood that being market-based is truly the only sustainable advantage. The amount of widgets we make and the never-ending quest for material gains has dominated our mindset for decades.

But the industrialist mentality has run its course, and the shift in thinking must go back to what Carnegie preached. We must change our focus to think about people, rather than consumers. We must concentrate on experience, rather than products. And we should think about dialogue, rather than merely delivering information.

And while the advice seems so simple, the commitment to this kind of selflessness is rare. We are selfish creatures and ultimately want to make things happen for the people who matter most. But if everyone fights that battle, it becomes the path to commoditization.

It is somewhat ironic that this kind of mind shift is in demand when most of us have our heads buried in technology. However, the idea of putting others' needs ahead of our own will never go out of style. So, maybe it is true what they say — shift happens.