NORTHERN PLANNER

It's good being in a job that's about people. What is more interesting than the wonderful, scary, frustrating, contradictory human race? The ones in real life, not the pen portraits I mean. 

It's also a constant challenge because while basic human  behaviour, tech and stuff means that the culture ad folks are really competing with (not the market) is shifting faster than ever. Certainly the media, paid and otherwise we exploit to try and reach them is evolving right in front of our eyes. 

And the pace is only getting faster. 

Knowing when an how to adapt is the trick, and when and how not to change, but adapt we must. 

The industry, your organisation and most most importantly,  you.

You'll find if you don't keep your eyes and ear open that sometimes your employer has become obsolete and you go down with them. 

Sometimes you wake up and see you have become obsolete in your organisation. Like the moment someone switches off a fridge and you only then notice the buzz, all of a sudden, something has been happening under your nose, your place has moved on, you haven't just like that, you don't matter any more. 

This shouldn't frighten you, it should excite you. If you're a planner, wisdom rather than information (data!!!) will always matter, as will the ability to look at things in the way others don't. But how you apply that, the tools you use and who you work with is, and will continue to constantly shift. You won't get bored and if you're one those who can embrace change and also keep core competence, you'll have a fine future. 

In other words, keep soaking up stuff from the world around you like always.

But keep a sharp eye on yourself, your specialism and your employer. Sometimes they need to change, sometimes you need to change, sometimes other places have magically evolved into the perfect place for you, where you're at and where you want to go. 

Keep moving, like a great white shark, you'll be fine, its only when you decide to stop moving forward that the problems start.