Results for articles with tag 'blackswans' (1 total)
12/21/2007 07:18:40 AM 
One of the non-fiction books of the year is Nicholas Taleb’s Black Swan, which examines the significance of rare and unexpected events and the lack of human understanding about these areas.
As human beings we are always looking to explain things and develop theories to explain the unexplainable.
The more we develop plans and process to create outcomes, its less likely that these will generate something breakthrough.
Taleb believes that tinkering and doing is the way to create and make something interesting, this isn’t about following a predictable and prescribed pathway that’s based on past events.
“Let us go one step further. It is high time to recognize that we humans are far better at doing than understanding, and better at tinkering than inventing. But we don't know it. We truly live under the illusion of order believing that planning and forecasting are possible. We are scared of the random, yet we live from its fruits. We are so scared of the random that we create disciplines that try to make sense of the past--but we ultimately fail to understand it, just as we fail to see the future.”
Forbes- May 23rd- 2007
While it’s undeniable that tracking and accountability are essential elements of responsibility for the agency: client relationships, there’s significant danger in believing that past results can predict future success.
In the end, it’s all about allowing and encouraging accidents to happen.
Maybe Account Planners should change their title to Accident Makers.
Agencies should look at how they can create environments and situations that allow these accidents to happen.
This could involve a radical look at how creativity is developed and the environment its developed in- our office space, etc.
We need to be more comfortable about embracing chaos.
Most significant of all, is that in a world where breaking through is getting tougher by the minute, agencies must teach their clients how to embrace “the accident”, instead of falling back on tried and tested formulas.
For many, this will involve throwing away the rules, this will be hard to do, but it’s likely that those who don’t embrace and encourage unexpected accidents, won’t achieve the success both they and their brands desire.
Here’s an interview Charlie Rose did with Nicholas Taleb in August of this year.