Today, the challenge of trying to control chaos is very much at play – only this time without the slapstick. Where? The landscapes of many industries continue to get more complex. Whether it’s media or technology, science or health care, we’re witnessing a relentless drive to be part of the action. What does this mean to you? The free world might not be at stake, but  the need to control your place in your industry domain is.

To visualize just how chaotic some industries have become take a look at these fascinating infographics from Luma Partners. These are not the pictures of calm.

Here’s a popular one for the digital advertising display space.

Here’s another for the mobile industry.

What do these industry pictures show us? They’re cluttered. Messy. Chaotic.

What’s an organization to do that’s in the middle of one of these spaces – besides the primal urge to mark and claim territory? Here are some proven moves:

• Put yourself in the shoes of the executive who’s trying to understand what’s going on
• Own the problems trying to be solved
• Stop selling your solutions and start helping to navigate a clear way through the maze
• Make sense of the industry madness
• Become a calming source of relevant knowledge
• Create Thought Leadership that conveys your provocative point-of-view about it all
• Leverage that content everywhere and often
• Develop an industry Value Roadmap that delineates the way to create & capture value
• Publish it, teach it, disseminate it
• Train your organization on how to use the content to have new conversations
• Do this well and you’ll earn the coveted position of trusted guide to what’s important

If you follow these steps and execute this kind of work, you’ll go a long ways toward positioning your organization as the industry leader – a leader that can help companies rise above the industry clatter and clutter. But, hurry. It’s only a matter of time before someone else successfully stands out from the crowd.

For more insights, news and suggestions visit my blog at www.21weeks.com/blog or follow me on Twitter @ThomasButta.

Thomas Butta

For me 1WTC is less about what it is — a building — than what it stands for — the commitment to building something bigger, better and bolder. Think about it.

• A building is static. The act of building is active.
• A building is about what is. Building is about what can be.
• A building is the embodiment of how things were. Building is about forward progress and reaching higher.

Why is the notion of building so important — especially now? Because doing the opposite — not building — is a path to nowhere. Why?

• Consider the speed at which everything is changing.
• Consider how innovation lifecycles are shorter and shorter.
• Consider our easy access to just about anyone and any market.
• Consider the thousands of entrepreneurs and billions of investment currency committed to challenging conventional wisdom and current market leaders.

Taking pleasure from past success may be comforting, but it’s delusional. Continuing to operate in the same manner and style as how it’s always been may feel familiar, but it’s an insular trap. A new workout routine ceases to produce new results after six weeks. Budgeting off of past year models is an inside-out view that doesn’t reflect what’s going on in the market. Managing off of organizational practices built for productivity and efficiency will not produce the innovation and breakthroughs needed to prevail in a highly dynamic and fiercely competitive economy.

Contemporary thought leaders are actively promoting the need to think and act in this manner. Take Gary Hamel, who was ranked #1 most influential business thinker in the world by the Wall Street Journal. His latest book, What Matters Most, is about “how to win in a world of relentless change, ferocious competition, and unstoppable innovation.” You should also check out The Management Innovation Exchange. It’s “an open innovation project aimed at reinventing management for the 21^st Century.”

You have a choice. Remain as you are. And stay how you’ve been. Or courageously commit to aggressively building a bigger, better and bolder future for yourself and your organization. 1WTC may have eclipsed the Empire State Building as the tallest building in New York City, but it is committed to building the tallest building in the Western hemisphere and third largest in the world. Now that’s ambition.

The question is: Are you a building? Or are you building for a better future?

Thomas Butta