What's Next > What's Now

Given the disruption to lives and livelihoods caused by the coronavirus, this piece was a struggle to write. Is it too soon to think or talk about “what’s next”? I know that so many people - myself included - are caught up in the personal, emotional and professional impact of the crisis, and that it’s virtually impossible to think beyond “what’s now.”

My heart goes out to all of those feeling that way. I hear you, and I feel you.

Over the last few weeks, whether I've been in conversations with friends, clients or colleagues in the hospitality industry, in food & beverages, in film production, or in advertising and marketing, the news is consistent, scary and disheartening.

But I had a call the other day with a friend and former colleague who shared an insight which reminded me we still need to make time to think about what's next, to think about what happens after this is over.

Because there will be a next, there will be an after. This will be over.

This friend happens to be the CEO at Observatory, the CAA-backed creative agency in LA, and he has a unique purview over the company's talent, the consumer brands they work with, and the entertainment properties they provide content for, including Netflix, Disney+, etc.

His comment was that those entertainment properties are burning through content at an unprecedented rate with so many people at home, people who can no longer go see movies or sports or any other forms of entertainment.

And that as a result, those firms are preparing to double down on their already significant production investments to create more content for when this thing is over (or, God forbid, if it drags out longer than is currently expected).

By the way, Netflix is already spending $14 billion a year on content. This is a company with a “problem” we’d all like to have, but instead of resting on their considerable laurels, they’re trying to figure out how to accelerate out of this situation. How to do even better.

For those familiar with the movie “Apollo 13,” it’s a bit like the decision that was made to slingshot the lunar module around the moon and use the moon’s gravity to propel it back to earth. A decision, by the way, that saved the lives of the astronauts, and likely the space program itself.

Which is why I say what happens next is greater than what happens now.

And that’s why I think it’s important now to ask what your organization is doing at this moment to help you accelerate out of this crisis.

Because it’s clear that every industry - every business, every brand - will have its own path, its own timetable, its own trajectory.

But in the same way that Apollo 13 needed to perfectly time their slingshot around the moon in order to gain the acceleration necessary to get back to Earth safely, brands of all kinds need to time their acceleration back into the orbit that is a new and/or evolved consumer mindset.

Bit of a personal but hopefully relevant aside.

My extremely intelligent brother Ned and I are Irish twins, born in the same 12-month period. For 11 days of every year, we are the same age. Every year I longed for those 11 days because, as my brain saw it at the time, when you were a year older you were a year cooler (and who didn’t want to be cooler?).

Of course, Ned did nothing to dissuade me of that, in fact encouraging it throughout the year by saying when he was 13 and I was a mere 12, “Matt, when you’re 13 you’re cool.” Reminding me I still had 354 days to go before I reached that milestone.

So when I turned 13, 11 days before he was to turn 14, I remember waking up and proudly saying, “Ha, I’m 13, and you said when you’re 13 you’re cool.”

I can practically picture him making his bed, not deigning to turn around to acknowledge the shrimpy little brother that shared his room, chuckling as he said, “Matt, I hate to break it to you, but you’re not cool until you’re 14.”

DAMN.

And yet what I didn’t realize until I was in my late teens/early 20s was that at some point, it was actually cooler to be younger. And that there would be so many more years of that as our lives stretched out ahead of us than the 5-10 of the older brother being the “cooler” one.

So now, every year on my birthday, I proudly call him and tell him that it’s cool to be my age, and he better enjoy it now because in 11 days he’s gonna be OLD.

And we chuckle, him a little less than me these days.

My point? What we’re experiencing right now is like those years when I thought being older was cooler, not realizing how many years there would be in which being younger was actually cooler. This virus will have long-term effects, no doubt. There will be organizations that suffer irreparable damage, many that will go out of business. Many of those that survive will be hurting for a long time.

But it will not last forever. There will be a next, there will be an after. This will be over. And there will be many more years ahead than the months we're immersed in right now.

Unlike teenage me, the smart organizations are thinking ahead to that moment in time when they can switch the narrative, slingshot out of the now and accelerate into the next.

Because yes, what’s next IS greater than what’s now.

So. What are you doing now to prepare your organization for what’s next?

Thanks for reading. This will be the first in a multi-part series on "What's Next > What's Now." In the second installment, I'll review what some brands are doing now, how they're adapting to a different consumer mindset, and how they're preparing for what's next. As always, I welcome your thoughts, suggestions, questions, and contributions in the Comments section below, or you can DM me directly. #whatnextVSwhatsnow

Haven't read the whole series? Binge them now with these easy links!

What's Next >What's Now. Part 2 - Breakfast Club

What's Next >What's Now. Part 3 - Apple & Frederick

What's Next > What's Now. Part 4 - Shawshank Redemption

What's Next > What's Now. Part 5 - LL Bean

What's Next > What's Now, Part 6 - Homeostasis & Aron Ralston

What's Next > What's Now, Part 7 - Live Nation

What's Next > What's Now Part 8 - Listening

What's Next > What's Now Part 9 - Jigsaw Puzzle

What's Next > What's Now Part 10 - India and Showing Up