Health Systems’ Digital Engagement with Consumers Significantly Lags Healthcare Disruptors, Navigant/Centric Digital Report Suggests

Washington – New and expanding healthcare disruptors are outperforming nine out of 10 health systems when it comes to providing a seamless, integrated digital experience, according to a new analysis from Centric Digital and Navigant, a Guidehouse company. This digital engagement expertise is putting health systems at risk of losing consumers to disruptors offering more routine, lower-acuity care, the analysis suggests.A provider’s online experience often serves as a digital introduction for awareness and consideration of the care they offer, and how and where consumers can receive that care. The analysis (click here to access) of the digital presence of more than 1,400 hospitals and health systems, powered by Centric Digital’s intelligence platform to measure consumers’ web experience, found that 90% of health systems’ consumer digital experience scores were lower than the lowest scoring disruptor.The average score for health systems was 635 out of 1,000, compared to 771 for disruptors across five categories: online provider finders, innovative payers, health retailers, urgent care, and IT-enabled primary care. The analysis also found:

• Disruptors outperform health systems by over 140 points with search engine optimization for care needs.

• Only 45% of health systems allow consumers to search for available appointment times/request appointment information without logging into a portal, compared to 75% of disruptors.

• Only 3% of health systems have public chat.

“Disruptors are not only seizing the consumerization of healthcare in providing access, convenience, choice, and price transparency for lower-acuity services, they are also reaching customers with Amazon-like capabilities built into their tools,” said Guidehouse Partner and Healthcare Technology Leader Subra Sripada, a former health system CIO. “This is one example of how disruptors – the same organizations aggressively competing with traditional providers for market share – are changing the healthcare landscape. Hospitals and health systems need to revisit their access strategies and bolster their tools to both protect their market and drive differentiation.”Consumer digital experience scores were calculated using Centric Digital’s proprietary weighting model, which benchmarks an organization’s digital capabilities against a library of best practices. The report focuses on the digital best practices that fall within the following stages of the patient journey:

• Awareness – Search engine optimization, safe browsing and communication, and website performance (e.g., homepage speed).

• Consideration – Website usability and accessibility (e.g., screen size and device adaptability), mobile optimization, navigation usability, and content readability.

“The majority of healthcare disruptors are digital natives that put the consumer first with all of their digital offerings across all stages of the consumer journey,” said Peter Smith, chief strategy officer at Centric Digital. “For hospitals to compete, they will be challenged to rethink how, when, and where they should be engaging with consumers. An essential first step is to improve the digital experience of a consumer’s journey.”According to Guidehouse Partner James McHugh, “An impactful, enterprise-wide consumer experience strategy cannot be developed in the way providers traditionally think about care delivery – it must be developed from a consumer standpoint. Deploying an innovative digital operating model is central to any consumer-centric approach. Health system leadership should look to more digitally advanced industries as models for their digital offerings, to include hiring digital experience and technology leaders from them as they round out their teams."“Most traditional providers do not possess expertise in such areas as customer relationship management or the nuances of cybersecurity that a true digital operating model requires,” said Harry Greenspun, MD, partner and chief medical officer at Guidehouse. “Similarly, digital innovators frequently lack sufficient understanding of healthcare to deploy these services successfully. Providers need to ensure they have a full complement of skillsets across their partners to offer a well-rounded experience for healthcare consumers.”Navigant was acquired by Guidehouse, a portfolio company of Veritas Capital, in October 2019. Navigant will fully rebrand itself as Guidehouse in April 2020.About GuidehouseGuidehouse is a leading global provider of consulting services to the public and commercial markets with broad capabilities in management, technology, and risk consulting. We help clients address their toughest challenges with a focus on markets and clients facing transformational change, technology-driven innovation, and significant regulatory pressure. Across a range of advisory, consulting, outsourcing, and technology/analytics services, we help clients create scalable, innovative solutions that prepare them for future growth and success. Headquartered in Washington, DC, the company has more than 7,000 professionals in more than 50 locations. Guidehouse is a Veritas Capital portfolio company, led by seasoned professionals with proven and diverse expertise in traditional and emerging technologies, markets, and agenda-setting issues driving national and global economies. For more information, please visit: www.guidehouse.com.About Centric DigitalCentric Digital’s intelligence platform, DIMENSIONS™, measures capabilities across an enterprise’s core digital footprint – web, mobile, social – and compares them to industry standards and market leaders. Insights from Centric Digital intelligence data powers partner solutions, informs investors and guides C-suite executives through frontline managers to optimize business performance. Over 15,000 brands worldwide and across industries are tracked including the S&P 500. To learn more or schedule a demo, please visit centricdigital.com.

J.D. Power Launches Digital Experience Intelligence Benchmark Powered by Centric Digital

TROY, Mich.: 29 Jan. 2020 — With an estimated 49% of total U.S. retail sales today influenced by digital touchpoints1, customer experience is dictated by variables like website content, ease-of-use, page speed and search engine optimization. To get a better sense of which brands are getting the digital formula just right and to establish best practices for digital properties across a wide range of industries, J.D. Power is launching the new Digital Intelligence Benchmark powered by Centric Digital.“J.D. Power’s syndicated studies reflect a truth of the modern consumer—digital interactions have an increasingly significant effect on overall customer experience,” said Keith Webster, president of global business intelligence at J.D. Power. “For example, in a study of leading insurance companies, those that had higher digital intelligence had a higher voice of the customer score as measured by J.D. Power.”When brands get their digital strategy and execution right, customer satisfaction, retention and advocacy all benefit, but when they miss the mark, the legacy brand can suffer irreparable damage. In a world where customer expectations from best-in-class experiences drive expectations for every digital interaction, this cross-industry benchmark provides the necessary perspective on trends and best practices to inform digital strategies.The Digital Intelligence Benchmark (DIB) is complementary to J.D. Power’s existing Digital Studies by providing a view into performance of public-facing marketing websites against digital best practices. DIB scores are based on 250+ digital best practices, with 90% of the score weighted to the 25 that customers say are most important (based on J.D. Power Voice of the Customer digital studies). The quintile ranking segments national vs. regional brands.J.D. Power’s Digital Intelligence Benchmark is powered by Centric Digital as part of a collaboration the two firms announced in April 2019 to address the growing digital experience and transformation challenges businesses face. DIB will expand to other digital assets beyond public-facing websites in 2020.“Until now, evaluating best-in-class digital experiences has been a highly subjective exercise that has lacked standardization,” said Jason Albanese, CEO of Centric Digital. “By teaming up with J.D. Power we are providing proprietary competitive intelligence and digital experience roadmaps to help businesses exceed customer expectations.”For more information about the Digital Intelligence Benchmark product and methodology, visithttps://www.jdpower.com/business/digital-intelligence-benchmark.To see the complete list of companies in the Digital Intelligence Benchmark, click http://www.jdpower.com/pr-id/2020006.J.D. Power is a global leader in consumer insights, advisory services and data and analytics. These capabilities enable J.D. Power to help its clients drive customer satisfaction, growth and profitability. Established in 1968, J.D. Power has offices serving North America, Asia Pacific and Europe.Centric Digital’s intelligence platform, DIMENSIONS™, measures capabilities across an enterprise’s core digital footprint—web, mobile, social, etc.—and compares them to industry standards and market leaders. Insights from Centric Digital IQ data powers partner solutions, informs investors and guides C-suite executives through frontline managers to optimize business performance. Over 15,000 brands worldwide and across industries are tracked including the S&P 500. To learn more or schedule a demo, please visit centricdigital.com.Media Relations ContactsGeno Effler, J.D. Power; Costa Mesa, Calif.; 714-621-6224; media.relations@jdpa.comJohn Roderick; Huntington Station, N.Y.; 631-584-2200; john@jroderick.com

Insurers' mobile experiences improve: J.D. Power

The 8th iteration of the survey reached more than 11,000 customers between January and March of this year. Produced in partnership with Centric Digital, J.D. Power examined insurers' websites and mobile apps based on five factors: ease of navigation, appearance, availability of key information, range of services and clarity of presented information.

"While most companies’ websites are highly responsive and meet brand standards, they fall short on delivering the types of expanded self-service tools, integrated digital communications functionality and contextual insurance information that would put them on par with leading websites in other industries," the companies wrote.However, mobile apps perform well and lead to satisfied customers, the research found. Overall satisfaction with mobile services is 12 points higher on J.D. Power's 1,000-point scale than last year.“In many cases, mobile apps and insurer websites are the primary faces of these consumer brands," says Tom Super, VP for P&C insurance for J.D. Power. "As consumer behavior continues to evolve, insurers must keep pace as part of their overall distribution strategy or run the risk of irrelevancy.”Geico was the top-ranked insurer for digital service experience, while Mapfre took the top spot for shopping, the survey found.

Mobile Gains Traction with Insurance Customers, But Digital Interactions Fall Short of Expectations,J.D. Power Finds

COSTA MESA, Calif.: 23 May 2019 — Property and casualty (P&C) insurance companies have shown marked improvement in many of their digital offerings—particularly mobile self-service functionality—but still have work to do to meet customers’ rising expectations. According to the J.D. Power 2019 Insurance Digital Experience Study,SM released today, specific areas where insurers come up short when compared with mainstream digital consumer companies are with ease of shopping and servicing their policies, household-level policy management and inconsistent use of social media.“Digital has become so important to the modern insurance company by delivering two essential characteristics consumers seek from carriers: ease and accessibility,” said Tom Super, Vice President Property and Casualty Insurance Intelligence at J.D. Power. “In many cases, mobile apps and insurer websites are the primary faces of these consumer brands. As consumer behavior continues to evolve, insurers must keep pace as part of their overall distribution strategy or run the risk of irrelevancy.”The study, now in its 8th year, evaluates digital consumer experiences among P&C insurance shoppers seeking quotes and existing customers conducting typical policy-servicing activities. The study examines the functional aspects of websites and mobile apps based on five factors (in order of importance): ease of navigation; appearance; availability of key information; range of services; and clarity of the information. The study was conducted in partnership with Centric Digital, the leader in digital intelligence and includes Centric Digital’s DIMENSIONSTM measurement of insurers’ digital strengths, weaknesses and overall digital maturity.Following are key findings of the 2019 study:

• Mobile apps gain traction as preferred account servicing channel: Satisfaction with account servicing experience is higher among customers who use the mobile app channel than among those who use a desktop or smartphone website to interact with their insurance company. Overall satisfaction with mobile app service experience is 12 points higher (on a 1,000-point scale) than last year. Currently, 74% of insurance companies evaluated in the study offer the ability to access and manage policy and claims information via a mobile app.

• Insurers’ digital maturity stunted by lack of resourcefulness: While most companies’ websites are highly responsive and meet brand standards, they fall short on delivering the types of expanded self-service tools, integrated digital communications functionality and contextual insurance information that would put them on par with leading websites in other industries.

• Watch for insurtech partnerships in the months and years ahead: Insurtech start-ups are affecting the traditional insurance marketplace by providing customer-centric digital solutions and money-saving process efficiencies for insurers. Many traditional carriers, such as Nationwide, American Family and Allianz, have already partnered with insurtech start-ups—and more collaboration is expected.

“It cannot be overstated how important it is for brands to deliver digital experiences that meet or exceed cross-industry consumer expectations,” said Peter Smith, Chief Strategy Officer at Centric Digital. “This measurement and analysis show there are still many opportunities for P&C insurers to improve the consumer digital experience. While we’ve seen improvement over the past year, many insurers still have a long way to go when it comes to delivering world-class digital experiences.”

Study Rankings

GEICO ranks highest in the service segment with a score of 874. Allstate (862) ranks second and Farmers(857) ranks third.MAPFRE Insurance ranks highest in the shopping segment with a score of 811. Progressive (803) ranks second and Erie Insurance (798) ranks third.The 2019 Insurance Digital Experience Study is based on 11,151 evaluations and was fielded from January through March 2019.For more on the Insurance Digital Experience Study, visit https://www.jdpower.com/business/resource/us-insurance-digital-experience-study.J.D. Power is a global leader in consumer insights, advisory services and data and analytics. These capabilities enable J.D. Power to help its clients drive customer satisfaction, growth and profitability. Established in 1968, J.D. Power has offices serving North America, South America, Asia Pacific and Europe.Centric Digital provides industry leading solutions to measure and navigate digital transformation. Powered by proprietary platform DIMENSIONS™, Centric Digital has benchmarked hundreds of brands, designed multi-year transformation strategies, unlocked and managed $2+ billion of investment roadmaps. Centric Digital is headquartered in New York City, with offices in Chicago and Mendoza, Argentina. Visit centricdigital.com to learn more.Media Relations ContactsGeno Effler, J.D. Power; Costa Mesa, Calif.; 714-621-6224; media.relations@jdpa.com(link sends e-mail)John Roderick; St. James, N.Y.; 631-584-2200; john@jroderick.com(link sends e-mail)About J.D. Power and Advertising/Promotional Rules:www.jdpower.com/business/about-us/press-release-info

J.D. Power Teams with Centric Digital to Expand Digital Customer Experience Intelligence Solutions

COSTA MESA, Calif., April 2, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- J.D. Power, the global leader in data analytics and consumer intelligence, today announced it has formed an alliance with Centric Digital, a leader in digital intelligence, to jointly develop a range of new customer experience measurement and digital intelligence solutions.The collaboration was formed to address the growing challenges businesses face addressing digital transformation. Together, J.D. Power and Centric Digital will harness deep customer experience data to fine tune digital offerings on everything from website and mobile app user interface to the biggest digital stumbling blocks. The focus will be on industries that include automotive, financial services, insurance, travel and hospitality, utilities, technology, telecommunications and healthcare.

Drawing on the respective areas of expertise of each organization, the alliance will leverage J.D. Power data and analytics solutions and deep industry expertise and Centric Digital automated data collection technology, machine learning and natural language processing to unstructured data across a brand's digital footprint including web, mobile and social media. The combination delivers a unique solution for generating the digital experience insights companies need to improve operations, raise Net Promoter Score®1, raise Customer Satisfaction and compete more effectively against an increasingly disrupted market."Every company serving customers in every industry today is a digital company," said Bernardo Rodriguez, Chief Digital Officer at J.D. Power. "For some, that transition to larger segments of their customer populations interacting solely through digital channels has been smooth. For others it has been life-threatening. Increasingly over the past several years, we've observed a trend we call the 'digital dilemma,' whereby companies make huge investments in digital technology only to find those investments impede their ability to connect with customers in a meaningful way. Our work with Centric Digital, enables us to bring forth best practices and behavioral insights that are making it much easier for businesses to manage this challenging transition.""J.D. Power data and consumer insights provide a critical customer perspective on a brand's digital experience," said Jason Albanese, Chief Executive Officer at Centric Digital. "When combined with Centric Digital's measurement of hundreds of digital standards across thousands of brands, it creates an unmatched solution that will benefit enterprises around the world."J.D. Power is a global leader in consumer intelligence, advisory services and data and analytics. These capabilities enable J.D. Power to help its clients drive customer satisfaction, growth and profitability. Established in 1968, J.D. Power has offices serving North America, South America, Asia Pacific and Europe.Centric Digital's intelligence platform, DIMENSIONS™, measures capabilities across an enterprise's core digital footprint—web, mobile, social, etc.—and compares them to industry standards and market leaders. Insights from Centric Digital IQ data powers partner solutions, informs investors and guides C-suite executives through frontline managers to optimize business performance. Over 15,000 brands worldwide and across industries are tracked including the S&P 500. To learn more or schedule a demo, please visit centricdigital.com.

Kony DBX Mobile Banking App Rated a “Leader” According to Centric Digital

AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Kony, Inc., the leading provider of digital banking and low-code development solutions, today announced that Centric Digital, the leading provider of digital intelligence solutions, has named the Kony DBX digital banking platform a Leader based on a rigorous benchmark using its DIMENSIONS™ platform. The Kony DBX Retail Banking app received a total Centric Digital IQ score of 904 out of a possible 1000 points.

New Centric Digital Benchmark rates @Kony DBX Mobile Banking App a “Leader”! Rating Based on a Rigorous Benchmark of @KonyDBX Against 250 Standards in the Mobile Banking Dimension of @Centric Digital DIMENSIONS™ Digital Intelligence Platform

Kony DBX tapped the DIMENSIONS™ digital intelligence platform to measure, score, and critique its digital banking solution. For this measurement, Centric Digital evaluated 250 core capabilities within its mobile banking dimension against Kony DBX’s peers. Centric Digital determined Kony DBX to be exhibiting best practices across these capabilities, including the front-end experience of the platform such as navigation, responsive design, and content layout as well as in Kony DBX’s organizational ability to sustain a high level of excellence in the evolution of the platform. This includes digital skill sets, adaptive organizational culture, and governance. Centric Digital tracks over 15,000 worldwide brands across industries, including the S&P 500.“Gaining this recognition from an independent, third-party evaluator validates our unique approach to digital banking solutions,” said Jeffery Kendall, executive vice president and general manager, Kony DBX. “This is yet another example of Kony DBX’s momentum in the digital banking sector. We are constantly pushing the envelope to deliver the most innovative, flexible, and secure digital banking experience anywhere in the world. We appreciate Centric Digital’s thorough and rigorous scrutiny of the Kony DBX digital banking solution. Kony DBX is a serious player in this space, and we will continue to create world-class digital banking offerings all day, every day.”Kony DBX customer Logix Federal Credit Union’s Chief Information Officer Edward Chuang said, “The credit union industry is at a point where mobile and digital tools are essential for survival. We hired Kony DBX to extend our unique brand and customer service to members and prospective members through digital channels,” he said. “Kony gave us the power and flexibility to effectively add value. Member feedback continues to confirm that we made the right choice by going with Kony DBX. It has helped make a tangible difference to our 200,000 members.” Logix FCU was founded in 1937 and has more than $6.1 billion in assets.“Centric Digital continues to be selected by digital technology providers to demonstrate they are meeting best practices, and by their enterprise clients to ensure they are maximizing their digital investment. In addition to the rigorous benchmark of Kony’s application against leading standards, our assessment includes a review of client documentation and interviews with key stakeholders,” said Centric Digital CEO Jason Albanese. “Based on our assessment, Kony DBX’s mobile retail banking app has created a first class product user experience and has the organizational capabilities in place to sustain its high performance over time.”Kony is a fast-growing leader in digital experience development platforms and the emerging low-code platform market; and a recognized leader in digital banking. Kony Quantum provides low-code without limits, a next-generation low-code app development platform that delivers rich digital experiences. Kony DBX is the banking and financial services arm of Kony, Inc. and is a globally recognized leader in digital banking transformation. With a portfolio of modern, frictionless applications powered by the industry’s most recognized platform, Kony DBX enables banks and credit unions of any size to accelerate innovation — without compromising what’s critical.Kony has been named a “Leader” in the IDC MarketScape: North America Digital Banking Customer Experience Platforms 2019 Vendor Assessment report. Kony has also been named a “Leader” and was among the top Digital Experience Development Platforms vendors in The Forrester Wave™: Digital Experience Development Platform, Q2 2018 report. Kony is also a Callahan’s 2018 Innovation Series winner, and earned two top honors at the American Banker Digital Banking 2018 event: Runner Up for Best in Show and People’s Choice.About Kony, Inc.Kony is a fast-growing leader in digital experience development platforms and the emerging low-code platform market; and a recognized leader in digital banking. Kony Quantum provides low-code without limits, a next-generation low-code app development platform that delivers rich digital experiences. Kony DBX is the banking and financial services arm of Kony, Inc. and is a globally recognized leader in digital banking transformation. With a portfolio of modern, frictionless applications powered by the industry’s most recognized platform, Kony DBX enables banks and credit unions of any size to accelerate innovation — without compromising what’s critical.For more information on Kony DBX and Kony DBX Retail Banking, visit Kony DBX or connect with Kony DBX on Twitterand LinkedIn.About Centric DigitalCentric Digital’s intelligence platform, DIMENSIONS™, measures capabilities across an enterprise’s core digital footprint—web, mobile, social, etc.—and compares them to industry standards and market leaders. Insights from Centric Digital IQ data powers partner solutions, informs investors and guides C-suite executives through frontline managers to optimize business performance. Over 15,000 brands worldwide and across industries are tracked including the S&P 500. To learn more or schedule a demo, please visit centricdigital.com.

Utilities Continue to Lag in Offering Superior Digital Services, J.D. Power Finds

COSTA MESA, Calif., Feb. 27, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Utilities continue to struggle to get digital right. According to the J.D. Power 2019 Utility Digital Experience Study,SM released today, there is an improvement in overall satisfaction from last year, but although utilities still lag behind other industries when it comes to delivering a satisfying digital customer experience, there remains a path forward for them to further improve.

Now in its second year, the study assesses how customers interact with their utility based on their perceptions of the available websites and mobile apps as well as the social, email, chat and text functions of the 67 largest electric, natural gas and water utilities in the United States. A mobile channel is necessary to be ranked in this study. Centric Digital, a leader measuring digital intelligence, collaborated on this study by contributing a Digital Intelligence Benchmark powered by its DIMENSIONS™ platform, that includes digital experience analysis and cross-industry insights."Utilities that remain digital laggards are passing up a prime opportunity to make their operations more efficient and to reduce costs," said Jon Sundberg, Senior Digital Manager at J.D. Power. "Customers will choose the option that resolves their problems quickly, which in many cases will be via an online site or an app. Connecting with a utility representative via phone shouldn't be a default, but it can often become one when digital capabilities aren't strong. That can raise costs."Following are some of the key findings of the 2019 study:

• Utilities remain among lowest-performing industries in digital: When benchmarked against other consumer-facing industries, utilities continue to offer one of the worst digital experiences, according to the Centric Digital IQ Score, which is used to benchmark digital intelligence. The utility industry scores 512 on a 1,000-point scale, a near 60-point decline from last year. The retail sector, in comparison, scores 694.
• Overall customer satisfaction increases: The industry average for overall satisfaction is 844, a five-point increase from last year (839). Driving this increase is a surge in satisfaction with apps, which increases 33 points to 873 from 840 last year. Mobile web satisfaction increases to 838 from 829, and desktop satisfaction increases to 844 from 843.
• What apps do well: Apps have completely changed the way many companies interact with customers. Apps can provide a more tailored user experience with key functionality/design elements that increase the ease of use.
• Issue resolution of assisted online channels is high—but…: Usage of assisted online channels is low. However, among those customers who do use such channels, issue resolution on the first attempt averages more than 80%.
• Digital laggards: Only 29 of the 67 utilities included in the study currently offer a mobile app, and only 12 utilities redesigned their website in the past year. Utilities should place more emphasis on expanding their digital offerings, then reviewing and refining more frequently to ensure they are meeting customer expectations. Compared with other industries, utilities are updating their digital properties at a slower pace.

Study Results SRP ranks highest in overall satisfaction with a score of 882. AEP (877) ranks second and SMUD (876) ranks third. The industry average is 844.The 2019 Utility Digital Experience Study is based on evaluations from 15,894 customers of the 67 largest electric, natural gas and water utilities. To be included in the study, utilities must serve 540,000 or more customers. The study was fielded in November-December 2018.For more information about the J.D. Power Utility Digital Experience Study, visit
https://www.jdpower.com/business/resource/utility-digital-experience-study.See the online press release at http://www.jdpower/pr-id/2019029.J.D. Power is a global leader in consumer insights, advisory services and data and analytics. These capabilities enable J.D. Power to help its clients drive customer satisfaction, growth and profitability. Established in 1968, J.D. Power has offices serving North America, South America, Asia Pacific and Europe.Centric Digital's intelligence platform, DIMENSIONS™, measures capabilities across an enterprise's core digital footprint—web, mobile, social, etc.—and compares them to industry standards and market leaders. Insights from Centric Digital IQ data powers partner solutions, informs investors and guides C-suite executives through frontline managers to optimize business performance. Over 15,000 brands worldwide and across industries are tracked including the S&P 500. To learn more, please visit centricdigital.com.

J.D. Power Recognizes Citi with Mobile App Certification Powered by Centric Digital

New York – Citi has officially been certified by J.D. Power for providing customers with ‘an outstanding mobile credit card experience,’ ensuring ease of navigation, range of services, speed of completing transactions, clarity of information and appearance of the Citi Mobile App. Citi is one of only two brands to have been recognized with the J.D. Power Mobile App Certification as of January 2019.“J.D. Power’s Mobile App Certification Program recognizes brands that deliver an exceptional mobile app experience,” said Bob Neuhaus, Vice President of Banking and Credit Card at J.D. Power. “With this certification, we are acknowledging Citi’s position as a mobile-first industry leader, committed to offering seamless, always-on customer service.”“With the customer at the center of everything we do, we are committed to seamlessly servicing customers in their channel of choice—which is increasingly mobile,” said Alice Milligan, Chief Customer and Digital Experience Officer, U.S. Consumer Banking, Citi. “With double-digit growth in mobile users last year, this J.D. Power Mobile App Certification recognizes how we are continuing to deliver increasingly personalized, convenient solutions that meet customers where they are.”J.D. Power’s Mobile App Certification program powered by Centric Digital certifies top-performing brands within a variety of industries, including financial services, insurance and healthcare. As a first step, brands must rank among top performers in the most recent J.D. Power North American Mobile App Satisfaction Index. Benchmark rankings are based on overall customer satisfaction with the mobile app experience for 120 brands across seven industries.In addition, qualifying brands must pass a rigorous evaluation of 250 mobile app experience and operational best practices conducted by J.D. Power in collaboration with Centric Digital. The 250 are a subset of Centric Digital's DIMENSIONS, a classification system comprising more than 3,000 digital best practices called "classifiers" and used by industry leaders to benchmark digital performance.This certification follows the introduction of a number of innovative capabilities on the Citi Mobile App to better serve the full spectrum of clients’ banking needs nationwide. For example, Citi was the first major issuer in the U.S. to offer a number of credit card features, such as the ability to dispute a charge or a pending charge, track a replacement card, add an authorized user, and scan to activate within the mobile app. Recently, Citi was also among the first U.S. banks to offer the ability for customers to ask Siri for their bank and credit card balances, enabling a new, easy way to manage their financial lives.

Robots: Accelerating Automation

Reducing operational expenses while meeting increased consumer demand is a challenge that's driven nearly every industry to embrace automation. The advancement of robotic technology has made it an even more transformative solution. But it may come as a surprise that robots have been supplementing the work of humans since the 1960's. A prototype of George Devals "Programmed Article Transfer Device" was installed on a GM assembly line in 1959. Later referred to as a robotic arm, by 1961 it was the first of its kind to be mass produced for factory automation. The automotive industry was an early adopter, but as robots become less expensive to produce and feature enhanced functionality and dexterity, more industries are deploying them.With the growing adoption of robots, concerns loom that they will replace humans in the workplace. While select roles and functions may be displaced by robots, at present, robots or cobots ease operations while working alongside a human workforce. OnRobot, a Danish robotics company, has developed a programmable gripper that plugs into a robotic arm to perform a myriad of functions including sanding wood, performing quality control or doing party tricks. Grippers are safely operable by humans and look like a sophisticated arcade claw. Adding it to the production line has helped companies like All Axis Machining, a metal fabricator manufacturing company, continue operations during hard-to-fill shifts. After the introduction of robots, CEO Gary Kuzmin was so impressed by the increase in production and profitability that he went on to launch All Axis Robotics to help other companies incorporate robots into their operations. Kuzmin shared that he wants to "boost productivity, not replace people." With manual labor shifting to robots, humans are being re-trained to operate and manage them.The transportation industry has embraced robotics through autonomous cars and while tragedy in recent headlines has proven that the technology is not infallible, it does carry with it a promising future where road safety is improved. Alex Rodrigues, co-founder and CEO of Embark Trucks, is building a fleet of highway-ready 18-wheelers equipped with self-driving software. The trucking industry is a $700B market with no signs of slowing and is also experiencing a shortfall of drivers. Rodrigues says they've had success in proving their autonomous driver software is safe and that by licensing it, they are putting safer alternatives on the road.Retail is playing a large role in the boom of the trucking industry. As e-commerce sales continue to increase, automation has become pivotal - and led to new employment roles - as retailers build complex logistics networks and increase their number of warehouses and fulfillment centers. Robots can reduce the amount of manual labor warehouse workers do by processing and receiving new inventory shipments, retrieving products to be shipped, or preparing packages for shipment. It's true that the introduction of robots can potentially reduce the need for human interaction for select functions, however, increased demand and productivity has overwhelmingly created new job opportunities.While most robot sales are B2B, if you're holding out hope for a robot for personal use, they may be available in the not-so-distant future. At Docomo's December open house in Tokyo, Toyota treated attendees to a rigorous demo of the T-HR3 humanoid robot over a 5G network. T-HR3 can be controlled through a human avatar-like experience where the controller is strapped into a robot proxy, complete with a headset, to share the same view as the robot. Toyota's intended use for the T-HR3 is to assist humans in daily life activities, but creations like these have endless possibilities as tools for individuals with limited mobility, war zone combat or physically strenuous warehouse jobs.The common thread among modern day robots is customization. If you've ever lost an afternoon to watching Boston Dynamics robot videos then you've likely heard CEO Marc Raibert say they've designed their latest robot, SpotMini, as a customizable platform. Boston Dynamics is looking to its customers to tell them how their robots can best be utilized, and many robot makers are doing the same. Just as robots and autonomous cars are programed to be "smart" and adapt to their surroundings, the physical appearance and functionality of these devices will adapt as a growing number of industries explore the possibilities of automation and individuals test the boundaries of expanded capabilities.

Yahoo Finance: Centric Digital Co-Founder Brian Manning on emerging tech trends

Highlight: Centric Digital Co-Founder @brianmanning on emerging tech trends: "I think cashless and, frankly, cardless payments is really catching on." Also augmented reality to try on clothes. Full interview: https://t.co/ObzMOMFjVy pic.twitter.com/UYu89ioAIA

— Yahoo Finance (@YahooFinance) December 17, 2018

Are Millennials the New Entrepreneurs?

Millennials came of age in a world powered by the products of rockstar entrepreneurs - Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, Alexis Ohanian. TV Shows like Shark Tank, highlighting the aspirations and potential success of entrepreneurs, drew audiences of over 6 million. Meanwhile, the 2008 recession threw the stability of traditional career paths into question. It's no wonder, then, that millennials seem to look very favorably upon entrepreneurship. But is this younger generation actually more entrepreneurial than preceding generations? The data is split. In this final article in my series on how millennials are transforming the workforce, I explore what entrepreneurship really means to millennials.

Aspirations to Entrepreneurial Success

Most surveys on millennial perceptions of entrepreneurship reach a similar conclusion - this generation has set their sights on an entrepreneurial lifestyle. One such recent survey found that 66% of millennials had goals to start their own business. This may be because millennials view starting their own business as a path to financial independence and a flexible work-life balance. 61% of millennials expressed a belief that they could find more job security by owning their own business, as opposed to working for someone else. On the contrary, 64% of Baby Boomers felt working for someone else provided greater job security.These numbers are even higher and rising with younger members of the generation. Data from Oxford University shows that almost 15% of incoming students reported an interest in becoming entrepreneurs in October 2016. By the following year, the figure had already risen to 19%.

Failing - And Failing Often

Despite these high levels of interest in starting their own businesses, data shows millennials are actually less likely to be entrepreneurs than previous generations. Data from the US Small Business Administration found that fewer than 4% of 30-year-olds were self-employed full-time. At the same age, 5.4% of Generation X-ers and 6.7% Baby Boomers were fully self-employed, indicating decreased levels of entrepreneurship within the millennial generation. In fact, the number of self-employed Americans under the age of 30 has dropped by 65% since 1980.So what is preventing millennials with entrepreneurial aspirations from pursuing them? Lack of financial resources may be one factor. In fact, 42% of millennials cited lack of money as the primary obstacle to starting their own business. No wonder, when 58% also report they are still carrying student debt. It may also be that millennials are still feeling the after-effects of the 2008 financial crisis. US Census Bureau data shows that start-up creation rates have still yet to rebound to pre-crisis levels.One other possible obstacle is lack of experience. Data shows that the most successful founders are 45 years old, and those in their twenties are least likely to build a high-growth generating firm. Millennials, more so than older generations, believe that a lack of small business knowledge is one of the primary obstacles preventing them from starting their own business.

Transforming Industries

Despite this, millennials entrepreneurs are transforming industries. Those millennials who are actively starting their own businesses are doing so at a rate that well exceeds the entrepreneurs who came before them. A report from BNP Paribas shows that entrepreneurs between the ages of 20 and 35 had, on average, already founded double the amount of businesses as those over 50. This indicates that millennials who pursue entrepreneurship are not afraid to fail - and fail repeatedly - on their path to success in self-employment.Many companies founded by entrepreneurs seek to - and succeed in - turning traditional industries on their head. Stephanie Lampkin, 32, founded Blendoor to provide software that prevents and actively flags bias in HR recruiting processes. Her clients include Facebook, Google, Twitter and Airbnb.Richard Lavina, 30, started Taxfyle, which takes an uber-like approach to connecting users to licensed tax professionals. Taxfyle enables customers to file a return in an average of 45 minutes, and has over 30,000 users and more than 700 CPAs on the platform.Whitney Wolfe Herd sought to disrupt an already disruptive industry - online dating - when she launched Bumble. After experiencing harassment through existing online dating options, Wolfe Herd had the idea for a dating app where women initiated the first conversation. Bumble now has around 20 million users worldwide.It's not surprising, given research on the generation's values, that so many of the companies founded by millennials are driven by social purpose. While many of the generation are hindered by financial instability or lack of experience, millennials continue to seek opportunities to pursue a personal passion while taking ownership over their work-life balance. And with so many examples of non-traditional means to success - from startup rockstars to social media mega-influencers - entrepreneurship may seem like the solution. The question remains whether that outsized appetite will manifest in a groundswell of future action.

Millennials: Architects of the Modern Workplace

According to the Pew Research Center, millennials (born 1981-1991) make up more than 35% of the American labor force and they've had an outsized impact on creating today's modern office culture. Last week we explored the millennial effect on leadership and now we'll explore the core values millennials look for in their employers. Cultures that encourage empowerment, diversity and corporate responsibility are some of the standards more brands will need to address to recruit and retain millennial talent. Organizations could ignore these expectations, but as millennials become an even larger part of the workforce, they will inevitably influence and occupy more company leadership positions and create the change they want to see. So, let's examine the workplace shift millennials are helping to usher in and the social issues they champion.

Culture of Empowerment

An accelerated cultural shift has led to the exposure of workplace policies that have been ineffective in addressing sexual misconduct. The cascade of personal stories magnified by supportive voices and a surge of global activism has moved more organizations to dismantle toxic corporate cultures and policies that have disempowered employees from speaking out about harassment.

In 2017, Susan Fowler published an essay about sexism and harassment at Uber, uncovering a concerning culture that resulted in Uber's CEO and several other leaders being ousted. Even as she considered the potential personal cost of coming forward, Fowler told the NY Times, "...I wasn't just standing up for myself. I felt like I was standing up for everyone else that I was seeing at Uber who was mistreated." A cascade of similar stories within Uber were revealed and additional allegations of abuse committed by drivers resulted in considerable policy changes from the office to the road.

Fowler's story inspired others to come forward and further ignite the #MeToo movement that's fueled change from Silicon Valley to Hollywood. Recently Google employees staged a world-wide walkout in protest of the organizations' handling of allegations of sexual misconduct. Both Google and Facebook have ended forced arbitration for employees who face harassment or discrimination as one of many policy changes. While millennials are not the only voices contributing to these revelations, discussions, and activism - they are a generation that seems collectively inspired to create change for the better.

Defying Inequity

Despite sweeping change spurred by #MeToo, inequity in pay across industries, titles and demographics has been a long-standing issue that remains largely unresolved. Equal Pay Day was established in the U.S. in 1996 as an event to bring public awareness to the gap in wages between men and women and more than 22 years later, it's painfully evident how much work there's left to do.

Encouragingly, the Bureau of Labor Statistics says the pay gap is narrowing for the millennial generation. Their report sites education as a significant factor in the diminishing gap. Among millennials, 38% of women hold bachelor's degrees while men are at 31% and post-secondary enrollment rates are projected to continue to be higher for women. While millennial men and women may begin their careers on equal footing, both sides agree that having children would impact their ability to advance in their career. Surveyed women believe they'll have an uphill battle for equal treatment as their careers progress especially if they decide to start families. The concern is justified as bias and discrimination remain contributors to inequity in pay that can't be fixed by education alone.

While several states have passed laws to address pay equity including Illinois, Oregon and North Dakota, none have gone as far as Massachusetts. In 2016, the Massachusetts Equal Pay Act went into effect, prohibiting wage discrimination based on gender. In the same year Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh introduced a free salary negotiation workshops which has reportedly helped more than 7,000 women. Boston Women's Workforce Council is also partnering with the local business community to identify and solve for barriers that create gender gaps in wages and representation within their companies. It's going to take collective efforts likes these - across industries, government and education to eradicate gap earnings.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Brookings Institution, a nonprofit public policy organization, stated in a January report that millennials are the most racially and ethnically diverse generation in American history with minorities representing 44 percent of a population of more than 75 million. Surveyed millennials stated a belief that, "investing in a more inclusive America is essential to the nation's economic success." As members and advocates of this largely diverse population and with the largest representation in the U.S. workforce, millennials stand to forever change the face of business and politics and how the United States is viewed throughout the world.

Given these statistics, more organizations will need to deeply examine the makeup of their staff, leadership teams, boards and vendors to ensure they represent the diverse communities they reside within and serve. Diversity is a word we're all familiar with but inclusion takes diversity a step further and could require a shift in workplace culture where all are encouraged to lend their voices and expertise. Symantec defines inclusionas creating a workforce that embraces every culture, language, age, sexual orientation, disability, background and experience - and giving a voice to those differences. Creating an inclusive workforce has significant and tangible benefits that include higher productivity and greater innovation. A homogenous talent pool can lead to sameness in thinking, planning, and execution. Building diverse representation throughout an organization at all levels is a critical step in creating a diverse environment where all feel encouraged to participate in the growth of the organization. The byproduct is greater job satisfaction and increased diversity of ideas and strategic approaches.

Doing Good vs Good PR

As more organizations make Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) a priority, the Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship (BCCCC), says there's been a 75% increase in C-Suite roles guiding related initiatives over the past 5 years. The prioritization of CSR is unsurprising as it represents an opportunity to do good, introduce innovation, and increase profitability. Adweek reports that millennials represent $2.45 trillion in spending power, and according to Omnicom Group's Cone Communications, they are spending more with brands that support causes they care about. Global brands have taken note.

Nike is a household name that continues to be relevant in part because of their endorsement of millennial athletes like Colin Kaepernick, which affirms the brands' values. The brand has also embraced broader social responsibility as an opportunity to be a force for better and to internally inspire ingenuity. Nike's head of sustainability, Hanna Jones, told Fast Company that reframing how the organization approached issues like sustainability and labor rights opened the door to inventiveness. "Sustainability was always framed as something that was counter to business success, that if you made a product that was sustainable, somehow it would be less good or more expensive." While that can be true, Jones went on to say, "Whether it's about women's rights or sustainability or women in the supply chain, if you flip it to be about an innovation opportunity, people step into that space with less fear. And that creates possibility."

Brands intersect with social issues of the moment as their workforce and the communities they cater to are likely comprised of people who represent many ethnic and racial backgrounds. Millennials, much like the rest of the population, can tell the difference between authentic and thoughtful representation of deeply rooted brand values and PR stunts. Leveraging a diverse workforce to generate ideas that solve for social crisis is a solid start to building a brand that will resonate with generations to come.

Getting Better

While change in corporate culture has been accelerated by disruptor companies and recent political and social events, evolution has also been driven by generational shift. Millennials are more loyal to their career ambitions - compared to Generation X, which was more loyal to their employers - and that has likely contributed to how millennials are perceived. At a superficial glance, they've often been viewed as self-centered and self-indulgent. However, pursuit of fulfillment in the professional realm is driving them to speak out against abuse and discrimination, lead change and create opportunities that have a local and global impact. Their disruption of business as usual is making our companies and our country better.

Four Ways Millennials Are Transforming Leadership

Millennials are quickly becoming the most present population in the workforce - and in leadership roles. According to research by the Pew Research Center, by 2030 "all members of the Baby Boom generation" will have reached the retirement age of 65--with an average of 10,000 Baby Boomers reaching retirement age every day between now and then. By contrast, in 2014 millennials already represented a majority of the workforce, with more than half in management roles.But they are not content to take up the leadership style that has preceded them. More than a third of millennials surveyed believed that within 10 years, "the CEO role will no longer be relevant in its current format." This may stem from the fact that while 91% of millennials said they aspire to leadership roles, 83% would also prefer to work for companies with fewer layers of management - indicating that millennials are seeking out a less hierarchical approach to leadership. In this first of a three part series, I'll be exploring what leadership means to millennials and how that perspective is transforming the culture of work.Here are four core tenets of the millennial leadership style, and a few examples of how those tenets are playing out in the companies they are founding:

Evolution of the "Hero CEO" Archetype

Millennial leaders demonstrate little interest in the idea of an imposing, infallible CEO. They instead value traits of humility, openness and continual learning, promoting the importance of recognizing both your strengths and your weaknesses.Leigh Gallagher, author of a book documenting the success of sharing economy startup Airbnb, said of its millennial cofounder: "Those who know Chesky say he is relentlessly asking questions, taking notes, and trying to identify ways he can improve." Similarly, Brian D Evans, millennial, Inc 500 Entrepreneur, and Forbes' #7 marketing influencer in the world, says, "I allow myself to constantly be a student, rather than believing I'm the master of something. This hunger for more knowledge enables me to be open minded and discover ideas, inspiration and techniques in unsuspecting ways and places."Part of Chesky's drive for continual learning was motivated by his lack of formal business training or experience. Which belies another millennial trend - they emphasize the importance of leaders demonstrating soft skills like emotional intelligence over industry expertise or domain knowledge. Gerard Adams is one of the millennial cofounders of Elite Daily, a New York-based media company that sold to the Daily Mail for $40 - 50 million in 2015, only three years after its founding. After the sale of the Daily Mail, Gerard started Fownders, a startup accelerator located in Newark's Central Ward. The program focuses first on helping its entrepreneurs grow their soft skills like emotional quotient, mindset and collaboration - before teaching them more technical skills like digital marketing, testing and deployment. Says Gerard of Fownders, "We consider ourselves more of a 'human accelerator.' Every day, we're working on you as a human being, and really bringing that personal development aspect to our curriculum."

Emphasis on collaboration and flexibility over hierarchy and structure

Millennial leaders are quick to question policy for policy's sake. They expect both leaders and employees to be willing to examine and adjust policies that no longer appear to add value. Spotify, the Swedish music streaming company founded by Daniel Ek, structured their organization around this very principle. They are a fully agile company that began with a Scrum framework. As they expanded and grew, they found that some aspects of the Scrum framework weren't working well for their company. So they eliminated them, and designed a new agile structure they called "Squads".Formal hierarchies and robust structure or process also appear limiting to millennial leaders. Flat organizations allow individuals to continuously explore, learn and grow, following non-traditional career paths through lateral or upward moves. About 75% of millennials said that a successful business "should be flexible and fluid in the face of volatile working environments and not enforce a rigid structure on employees."Collaboration across flat hierarchies also enables leaders to avoid losing familiarity with the challenges their employees across teams face, incorporating the thoughts and experiences beyond management into decision making. Spotify, again, serves as a strong example. They organize their "Squad" teams around the principles of autonomy, alignment, and collective ownership. Each Squad, comprised of less than eight members, is empowered to make decisions about what to build, how to build it, and how to work together during the build without relying on formal approvals from managers and committees.

Doubling down on servant leadership

Nearly 50% of millennials stated that they believed leadership is the empowerment of others. Meanwhile, only 10% cited legacy as a primary attraction of leadership, and only 5% said they sought out leadership roles for the financial gain. The ideals of collective leadership and empowerment of employees permeates the statements and actions of prominent millennial leaders. Peter Cashmore founded Mashable, the digital media company focused on tech, in the UK in 2005. He shares his perspective on the core skill core of leadership: "The talent that has to be learned is finding out what someone's passion is and setting them up to realize that. You don't get the best work from people if you're guiding them versus them guiding themselves."Just as Gerard used his success at Elite Daily to focus on helping younger entrepreneurs, Michelle Phan, influential Youtube blogger and founder of beauty subscription box Ipsy, leveraged her influence to help others follow in her footsteps. Phan launched Ipsy open studios, a content creation platform that offers aspiring beauty vloggers free production resources to help foster developing future stars of the beauty industry. Brian D Evans did the same. As he describes, "I created Influencive to put all those missing pieces, all those secrets in my head in one place. And I attracted some other incredible entrepreneurs along the way to contribute their mind as well."

Aligning work and life values

According to a Deloitte study, millennials "are transforming the status quo by seeking purpose in the organizations they serve without sacrificing the flexibility to be who they are at work and live a fulfilling life outside of it." Millennial leaders build companies around personal passion and social purpose, and prioritize a positive work/life balance. As the line between work and personal life are blurred, the ability to connect company values to personal values becomes critical. Millennial leaders - and employees - prioritize social value over financial value. 81% say that a successful business "will have a genuine purpose that resonates with people." In fact, recent research found that millennials were the most socially conscious generation since the 1960s.Actress turned entrepreneur Jessica Alba created The Honest Company with the stated purpose of promoting ethical and non-toxic products. Phan cites her personal values as the core driver for her business success: "There is a lesson to focus on being happy and not on money. At the end of the day happiness will bring you real wealth that you can never buy...I knew I wanted to inspire women and build confidence, so everything was built around that goal." Renowned investor Warren Buffet said of Chesky, "[Brian Chesky] feels it all the way through. I think he would be doing what he's doing if he didn't get paid a dime for it." In fact, Chesky and his cofounders at Spotify were focused on values from the beginning - and the company still requires all interviewees to go through a set of "core values" interviews in addition to those specific to their role.As millennials continue to take on more management and leadership roles, we can likely anticipate even greater visibility and permeation of these values, as expressed by millennials and demonstrated by their age's entrepreneurs. In the next article of this series, I'll explore what it means to groom and manage millennial leaders.

Lessons from Tech Giants to Help Your Brand Thrive

In recent years, we've witnessed countless brands transform from startups into household names. We've also had a front row seat to the catastrophic fall of several Silicon Valley favorites. While the factors contributing to failed ventures can seem obvious in retrospect, the margin between success and failure is razor thin. Most of these organizations encounter two critical turning points along their path to growth, and the decisions they make on how to navigate these challenges is what separates the winners from the losers.1. Can You Set & Execute the Vision?The popular phrase, "fail fast and often" has inadvertently become a mantra that justifies short-term thinking. Gambling on perceived quick wins without a strategic plan can result in a gross misuse of resources and worst of all, a failing company. Jeff Bezos has famously stated that failure and innovation are inseparable twins, but he also said "good leaders are right a lot." Some company leaders are visionaries, others are masters of execution. Some prominent leaders, like Jeff Bezos, are both.Vision Meets StrategyWhen discussing LinkedIn's 1,000% membership growth rate with Forbes, Aatif Awan, Vice President of Growth, said it was a combination of vision and strategy that fueled their success: "...the most important thing has been to develop clarity on the goal of our growth efforts. It's a common pitfall to think of growth as moving a metric up-and-to-the-right but that often leads to short-term tactical thinking." LinkedIn has pushed beyond a narrow focus on member acquisition and developed a strategy informed by the overall vision of the organization, which is to create economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce. The growth team created an onboarding process that enabled them to learn who their members were and what goals they wanted to achieve. This led to more personalized content, product offerings and contact recommendations. Each line of business worked cohesively to deliver better products and overall customer experience which ultimately increased value and engagement for their members, resulting in higher rates of member acquisition and rapid organic growth.Visionary Force for GoodCNN hailed Marc Benioff, Salesforce founder and CEO, as the most important leader in tech. The cloud-based CRM provider is on a three-year streak for exceeding revenue growth targets, with more than $10 billion in annual revenue for the 2018 fiscal year. Salesforce.com was identified as a top-performing computer and tech stock by Zachs Investment Research, reaching number four on their list of 594 companies. How did Salesforce get here? They were disrupters, delivering an uncomplicated product with a value proposition that few industries could deny. In addition to creating a culture of tight alignment between each team they built trust by consistently demonstrating how their product made their clients more money. This strong foundation enabled Salesforce to survive the dot-com bust and thrive as one of the first and largest companies in the cloud computing market.In a climate where several tech companies have been fixtures in the news due to PR scandals or privacy and security concerns, Salesforce continues to thrive in part due to its CEO's perspective on the importance of establishing trust. Benioff shared with CNN that trust needs to be every organization's "highest value" over "power" or "monetization of ... your social network." Otherwise, he says, "the company risks losing customers, employees and top executives."2. Knowing When to Switch, Pivot or QuitCreating solutions for common problems is a great start to building a promising business. But what do you do when you discover your products are easily copied or you've overestimated demand? When the viability of your company comes into question, you have to take a hard look at your business model and be willing to make the difficult decision to switch, pivot or quit.SwitchAn infamous example of a company finding success after switching to a completely new service is Twitter. Twitter's founders, prior to becoming social media giants, formed Odeo, a platform where visitors could discover and subscribe to podcasts. When it became clear that Apple was going to dominate the podcasting market via iTunes, Odeo's operating team quickly and correctly focused their efforts on a new microblogging service project. Twitter creators Jack Dorsey, Noah Glass, Biz Stone and Evan Williams knew they were onto something, but they couldn't have predicted the iconic status their brand would reach or just how ingrained it would become in our daily lives. Users can tweet about an experience or check into their location without even opening the Twitter app. The features now synonymous with social media (@mentions and hashtags) were behaviors first introduced by early Twitter users and later permanently incorporated into the Twitter user experience. Adaptation is what led to Twitter's creation and given present day challenges, continued evolution could be the key to securing continued success.PivotWhen your business finds demand and profitability, it takes a special type of visionary to see beyond initial success to identify even greater opportunity. One such visionary is Brad Hollister, who left his successful startup Freight Access to launch the fastest-growing private company in America. After a difficult conversation with a top client, Hollister realized that while marketplace clients liked Freight Access' idea of selling freight space, it introduced new processes to manage. What his clients really needed was a better approach to supply chain logistics. Despite a bevy of clients and a successful venture capital round, Hollister left Freight Access to create Swan Leap, a platform that leverages AI to help large organizations across multiple industries save money on shipping and more efficiently manage their supply chain. Hollister tapped into a goldmine of opportunity by listening and pivoting. His new company has a three year growth trajectory of more than 7,560%.QuitLastly are the once-heralded brands that, despite having every advantage, are forced to shut their doors. The reasons for their demise are varied and unfortunate. One unforgettable example is Jawbone. They started liquidation in 2017 despite once being a leader in bluetooth earpieces and speakers before transitioning to wearable tech and raising over $900 million in funding. It's been argued that the funding itself led, in part, to the company's failure. Tech entrepreneur Sramana Mitra told Reuters that raising that level of funding can "create this artificially bloated valuation that doesn't compute with the revenue." It's also worth noting that Jawbone's struggles escalated when they entered the fitness trackers market. Plagued with product quality and production issues, along with complaints of deteriorating customer service were compounded by high leadership turnover. Collectively, these difficulties could not be overcome.Jawbone may have pivoted to the wrong product and clung to an ineffective model for too long, but CEO Hosain Rahman is transitioning again to the healthcare market. With a small number of Jawbone employees and a few investors, Jawbone is being rebranded as Jawbone Health. The new company will focus on health related products while continuing to support current Jawbone devices. The lessons here are plentiful. It's definitely clear that effective timing of a business pivot is critical. You may also have to accept that your business model needs to change multiple times in order to thrive or salvage your brand.The Final WordMarket changes, organizational deficiencies or challenges with funding can signal the end for many organizations. For others, navigating the variables that contribute to the success or failure of a firm presents thrilling opportunities to adapt or diversify. As we each seek success, even if we falter, great achievement can be found if armed with:

1. An in-depth understanding of your industry and organization
2. The ability to envision, execute and adapt
3. Social awareness and the drive to build upon an ethical foundation

Why Employee Satisfaction Is at an All-Time Low -- and What You Can Do About It

Odds are, your employees are unhappy. In a recent Gallup poll, 80% of the 1.7 million employees surveyed said their jobs did not set them up to do their best. Interestingly, as people reached higher levels of seniority and responsibility, the data showed that people were less likely to feel they were set up to succeed. This pervasive feeling - that people are not being supported to perform at work - leads to high levels of stress and unhappiness. 40% of employees say their job is "very or extremely stressful."

The cost

What does this mean for the companies that employ this dissatisfied workforce? Disengaged employees cost the US an estimated $450-500 billion in a single year, and turnover costs from unhappy employees who leave are estimated to be between 100 and 300% of the replaced employee's salary. Unhappy or stressed employees also result in decreased engagement, productivity and innovation. With the pace of disruptioncaused by digital and technological advancement, an inability to experiment and innovate can be deadly.

The cause

Daniel Cable, Professor of Organizational Behavior at London Business School and ranked among the top 25 most influential management scholars in the world, explains that we've reached this point of pervasive employee unhappiness because we have created systems that ignore human biology in the workplace. His research shows people don't begin their careers by being disengaged, or trying to do the minimum. There's a lot of evidence that humans have an innate, inbuilt tendency to explore and discover. Companies that can support this inclination help their employees feel fulfilled and happy at work, and reap the benefits of engaged innovation. Most companies, however, haven't updated their organizational systems to promote this mindset.

Cable defines three triggers that lead to fulfillment and happiness for employees in the workplace:

• Self-expression: Recognition and celebration of an individual's unique perspectives and strengths, and the value they bring to the company.
• Experimentation: Creating room for an individual to explore the frontiers of their knowledge and to engage in new, challenging tasks. Requiring employees to perform the same action day in and day out reduces motivation.
• Purpose: Finding a feeling of individual purpose isn't just about curing cancer or solving hunger. Instilling purpose means enabling employees to have a connection between their own cause and effect. Put simply, it's about feeling that you having an impact and seeing the result of that impact on other people and the world.

The history

Cable shares the example of a cobbler working in the period before the Industrial Revolution. Everyone working in the cobbler's shop would have had direct interaction with the person buying and wearing their shoes. During the Industrial Revolution and the decades following, production was scaled up. People become more specialized and more removed from the customer and their impact.

During this period, where success was achieved through mass economies of scale, experimentation and self-expression were abnormalities that posed risks to scaled production. They created the potential to fail and miss KPIs, quality targets, regulations, or customer expectations. When organizations scaled up they created rules, systems and controls to avoid this risk. To enforce these controls, they instilled a culture of fear and conformity. In a recent survey, nearly 50% of respondents said they regularly feel the need to conform within their organization, and more than 50% said that people in their organizations do not question the status quo. Many companies still use an approach to managing, evaluating, paying and rewarding their employees that was built for an earlier time when change wasn't as prevalent. As a result, these systems don't reward experimentation and innovation and don't prioritize individual employee happiness.

The solution

What can you do as a manager to help your employees perform their best and feel fulfilled by their work? Here are three critical steps you can take today:

Celebrate your employees and promote their individual strengths

Wipro, a company which provides customer service support for tech companies, had a severe problem with employee retention. To try and combat this issue, they added a one-hour workshop during onboarding that helped employees identify and focus on what they were like when they were their best. As a result of that one hour investment, 6 months later, employees were 32% less likely to quit and the customers they served were 11% happier.

Encourage experimentation

When social media was still in its infancy, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines knew they wanted to be active on channels like Twitter and Facebook, but weren't quite sure where to begin. Their management asked for employee volunteers to create a social media task force, and gave them a budget and the freedom to explore and test unconventional ideas. This led them to some groundbreaking engagement and discoveries like the "KLM Surprise" campaign and Live Reply customer service. While their team did encounter significant snares as they experimented, they were able to quickly learn and adapt from those failures earlier than brands with more hesitant or restrictive approaches. With a Webby award, NY Times recognition, and hundreds of case studies, KLM is now regarded as one of the most savvy social media brands.

Help individuals connect their function to their purpose

At Disney's Amusement Parks, they focus training of employees not only on their function, but on their purpose as well. Regardless of the employee's function - taking tickets, operating a ride, selling passes - all employees are told that their purpose is to "spread happiness." Helping employees understand the impact they are supposed to have by performing their function will keep them motivated and focuses on creating value. Tying that purpose to meaningful numbers helps quantify and track the impact they have over time, and connects the impact their work has on customers to the impact they have on the business' financial objectives.

Investing in your individual employee's happiness results in a workforce that is engaged, motivated, and invested in using their individual talents to drive the success of the company. As the pace of change increases and experimentation and adaptation become even more critical components of company growth, an engaged workforce can be your most important asset. As Lou Gerstner, the CEO who changed the trajectory of tech giant IBM, said, "Culture is not part of the game, it is the game."

What Does It Take to Build a Smart City?

Technological advancements have been eliminating complexity from our lives for decades. Phone calls can be made without touching your phone and a few swipes on an app can deliver a date, groceries or a babysitter to your door in minutes. We've been extended the best technology has to offer thanks to companies competing on a global scale to build differentiated value into their digital products.Despite these advances, far too many of us leave home and are immediately plunged into primitive experiences when navigating our cities. Your daily commute is one example. Time lost to traffic congestion and train delays and the environmental impact of emissions leads many of us to wonder, why hasn't innovation made navigating our cities easier? With the existence of IoT devices, LED bulbs with sensors, and live surveillance cameras, why aren't these resources being utilized to optimize public transit? Why aren't our cities as smart as our homes?A smart city is defined as one that uses data and technology to enhance operational efficiency and deliver sustainable solutions to enable economic growth and enhance the quality of life for its community. By that definition, most major cities have implemented services that allow them to say they're "smart". So let's explore a different question, why aren't more cities smarter?Why Your City Isn't SmarterThere are four key barriers keeping our cities from becoming smarter:

1. Lack of infrastructure to support citywide smart projects
2. Cities struggle to deploy technology efficiently
3. Lack of resources to fund smart technology
4. Limited alignment or visibility to smart projects across municipalities

Upgrading city-wide infrastructure requires investments in energy efficient and green technology as well as broadband internet. According to a recent Brookings report, a quarter of Americans live in low subscription areas where less than 40% have access to broadband. Beyond identifying infrastructure needs, cities need to employ experts to oversee the planning and execution of city-wide technology projects as they are complex and often require public and private resources. Pittsburgh and Atlanta have both appointed Chief Technology Officers to lead their city-level "smart" strategies.Atlanta is financing their smart city initiatives through a $250 million bond, however, the Deloitte Center for Government Insights published an overview highlighting the need for additional funding and grants through federal legislation to support the broader adoption of smart city technologies. Despite having limited or no federal support, several cities are already deploying smart projects, but these initiatives are often siloed, and it's difficult to connect them to a broader statewide or national directive. Without greater visibility, it's challenging for other cities to measure and understand how these initiatives perform, which impacts the planning and funding of future projects. Understanding how these cities have been able to effectively gather, analyze and action their collected data informs if these smart city projects are truly scalable.Defining objectives and metrics and allowing cities nationwide to harness this collective intelligence would increase the visibility of these efforts, inform further investment and eliminate duplication of ineffective programs.Success needs an ecosystemOne potentially surprising city making great strides towards becoming a "smart city" is Chattanooga, Tennessee. In 2010, Chattanooga was the first to introduce city-wide fiber internet. The internet reached 10-gigabit speed in 2015 and was foundational to the city government's goal of developing smarter infrastructure. While other major cities are now catching up, Chattanooga experienced significant economic growth by being the first to offer inexpensive access to the fastest and most pervasive internet. The city attracted hundreds of tech companies, entrepreneurs and venture capital firms by creating an ecosystem, supported by local government, where business setup and living costs were low and research partnerships furthered innovation. The variation of industries and business types within the Innovation District, Chattanooga's Silicon-Valley inspired tech campus, continues to attract great talent and collaboration. Educational curriculum and elective programs have been created across grade levels to continue fueling that tech talent pipeline.Unsurprisingly, Chattanooga has become a testbed for other smart cities. The city has also engaged in unique research partnerships by leveraging the enormous data capacity of its fiber optic network. The University of Chattanooga is working in partnerships with the Metrolab network, where university researchers and policy makers are paired to improve city infrastructure and sustainability. One noteworthy project is exploring "real time" machine to machine (M2M) communication on fiber and 5G to test autonomous vehicle networking scenarios in urban environments. These M2M principles are being explored to support the city's overall goal to improve large-scale fleet management which will optimize traffic patterns in consideration of ride sharing services, autonomous vehicles and public transportation.Don't get left behindCities not planning to address or currently deploying the following three technologies should be concerned:5G NetworksIn addition to Chattanooga, several other major cities including Miami, DC and Atlanta are already testing 5G networks that transmit data at incredibly fast speeds with low-latency. While this technology has been most commonly used for wireless mobile networks, 5G "gigabit" internet is already being deployed in homes and IoT city sensors.Improved Transportation InfrastructureMajor cities should look no further than Pennsylvania for guidance on how to create better transportation infrastructure. Cities that focus on solving for the causes of delays and creating the infrastructure to enhance mass transit will attract the businesses and talent needed to support economic growth. At minimum, public transit authorities should look for ways to empower riders with valuable information. For example, make bus and train locations trackable and visible to riders so they can better plan commutes.BlockchainCities should be planning how they can leverage blockchain to improve cybersecurity, manage energy systems or share secured information and execute smart contracts. European countries are already exploring blockchain e-voting systems. Realizing blockchain's capacity to improve large and small tasks between public and private sectors will be a transformative ingredient in the success of the smart cities of the future; from streamlined supply chain processes through transparent standards management to a reliable registry of local businesses. Blockchain can also facilitate swift and accurate payments or money transfers. From cybersecurity to business registries, applications of blockchain can be found in many surprising places.Final WordThe rapid rate of change will make investing in smart city innovations without succumbing to technology obsolescence a challenging task. However, a governing body that recognizes the power of creating infrastructure to support connected digital states and cities is key to enabling technological relevance. With the unified goal of implementing technology in high-density areas to address emissions, operational inefficiencies and quality of life, cities and states can begin to take collective action.Each municipality can uncover which services matter most to its citizens and where they have persistent problems. The data highlighting those inefficiencies is the best place to start exploring smart city projects that will have widespread adoption. The worst thing any city can do is invest time and resources into smart urban planning, only to develop services or experiences that no one recognizes, uses or values.

How to Identify Your Company's Champions

Differentiation and value creation are tenets that should inform more than your business model. If you want to build a team of high performers, these ideals should also be applied to how you identify the champions within your organization. Are you applying forward thinking to how you select KPI's, but still using outdated employee evaluations? Are you measuring performance based on generic goals or metrics that are often irrelevant within a month? Are your innovation goals reflected in your practices?

A "value first" ethos can help you create a culture that is inclusive of diverse voices, recognizing the members of your team that offer substantiated ideas and deliver quantifiable results. To meet the demands of a global economy, you need a team made of leaders that easily adapt to change, demonstrate initiative, and work in the spirit of collaboration. When looking for the high achievers in your company, ask yourself these 5 questions:

1. Who champions your mission but challenges your thinking?

For many organizations, your customer base is reflected in your workforce. Why not champion diversity of thought? Be open to the transformative impact of fresh perspectives and unique approaches to driving customer and brand value. Harnessing constructive ideas could be the key to staving off irrelevance or lack of differentiation. Celebrate those associates who constructively challenge business as usual.

Encourage the associates that apply evolutionary thinking to problem solving. A mark of leadership is knowing when to abandon efforts that have a diminishing probability of success and instead adapting your approach to create desired results. Ask yourself, who on your team makes the best use of increasing levels of autonomy? Who is demonstrating skills and capability beyond expectations to get the job done?

2. Who are the early adopters?

Industry disruptors and an ever-changing competitive landscape can directionally impact your business. Your champions should demonstrate that they are malleable and fluid to change. They aren't espoused to the basic requirements of a job description. They rise to the demands of a role. Your champions aren't just the go-to problem solvers, they also encourage their direct reports and their peers to adapt to change. The early adopters that will grow and evolve with your organization are often those seeking to expand their own skills - either through personally sought or company-led training.

3. Who is delivering value?

Working hard is an unequivocal ingredient of success. However, hard work has to result in tangible benefits to achieve and sustain success. While being the first to arrive and the last to leave is an appreciated and commendable effort, creating value supersedes working long hours without quantifiable results. Establish clear metrics of success for each team and team member, and work with them to set realistic goals that align to business requirements. Examine internal processes and standing meetings to ensure they have clearly defined outputs, and are in line with the goals set for each team member. By defining clear objectives - and regularly monitoring progress and providing feedback - you'll not only set your teams up for success, but enable your high performers to understand and demonstrate the value they create for the company at large.

4. Who repeatedly displays professional maturity?

Office politics can be a common hurdle and navigating perceived threats can take a toll on productivity and morale. Take note of your associates that demonstrate professional maturity and only display emotional contributions that add value. If you want to cultivate a thriving workforce, recognize and reward the associates that display a willingness to collaborate towards the success of the organization - not just personal or departmental success. Leadership teams should set the tone for the organization by displaying healthy discourse with an overarching goal of reaching consensus. Leadership's example will permeate your organization.

5. Who demonstrates initiative and seeks professional development?

Healthy competition and accountability can be a fantastic byproduct of encouraging an entrepreneurial spirit among your teams. When seeking status updates, are you taking note of those that can speak to the value produced and not just the effort behind the work they or their teams have completed? Equally important to establishing an ownership mentality is sharing credit where appropriate and congratulating peers when success is achieved. Are you observing who balances sharing praise and taking accountability? Lastly, seeking help may seem counter to taking initiative but it can be a demonstration of wisdom and discretion. Raising your hand after exhausting all other avenues to solve a problem can be a more valuable use of time and resources.

Final Word

Create the culture you want by objectively identifying and celebrating your top performers and greatest company champions. If you don't see enough of the above attributes being demonstrated across your teams, or your organization requires strict methods of employee evaluation, use these tips as a point of reference for training and promoting the capabilities most useful to your organization. Nurture the leadership qualities of your champions. Even if they aren't leaders in title just yet, they are influencers and will play a pivotal role in sustaining the company culture you're working to cultivate.

The 3 Skills Leaders Need to Succeed in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

A.I. is here -- and it's introducing an age of empowerment for executives. In the past decade, advances in machine learning and the growing availability of data have given leaders access to new and more detailed information, alongside a tool to aid interpretation of that data -- artificial intelligence. Access to this level of insight requires leaders to adapt their approach to strategy development, as the hard skills of leadership like domain knowledge and information processing take a back seat to soft skills like adaptability, vision, and engagement.

As collaboration between humans and machines increases, leaders will have to make a shift in leadership style to better manage teams who are augmented by A.I. capabilities. To ensure you are helping your teams realize success in the age of artificial intelligence and that your organization is poised to capitalize on the A.I. opportunity, you will need to focus on developing these three skills:

1. Adaptability

By automating repetitive manual tasks, A.I. reduces the barrier to entry for new competitors and allows even lean teams to operate with greater efficiency. This means that new ideas get off the ground much more rapidly, resulting in continually shifting landscapes. A recent survey conducted by Boston Consulting Group and MIT Sloan Management Review found that 85 percent of executives interviewed believed that A.I. would allow their companies to "obtain or sustain a competitive advantage."

With an accelerating pace of change, a preparedness to respond quickly to new opportunities or threats gives a competitive advantage. And an agile organizationrequires adaptable leaders. Here are two ways you can prepare now:

• Look to the data to stay informed about changes to your competitive landscape, threats to your value chain, and trends in your customer base
• Train your teams on agile business methodology, and embed these practices in your organizational model

2. Vision

That same exposure to vast amounts of new information can create a risk of being too flexible and responsive to trends. Establishing a clear vision and purpose is critical to ensuring an organization can focus its efforts amid change and create long-term value for its customers and bottom line. Building a culture that instills your vision is also key to ensuring that the activities of your team support the strategy you set at the leadership level.

Zappos's CEO, Tony Hsieh, established a clear vision for the company -- that of providing the best possible customer service. In his own words, "Zappos is a customer service company that just happens to sell shoes." To engage his team in this purpose, Zappos launched a number of rewards programs and peer-to-peer recognition platforms to align team motivation to the company's larger mission.

To ensure your team is guided by a consistent vision, even amid disruption, start with these three steps:

• Define a set of core ideals and purpose for your company to serve as your north star
• Practice integrated leadership, serving as a resource for your teams to help them align their activities to your vision, even as roles and business models adapt
• Align company incentives and objectives to your vision and purpose, and track and share successes

3. Engagement

A.I. will reduce the amount of time teams spend on manual or rote tasks, freeing them up for strategic and creative thinking and making it easier and more efficient to bring their ideas to life. Empowering team members and giving them the freedom to creatively problem solve will help them deliver the most value.

Jason Smikle, founder of fNograph, shared that using A.I. has helped his team reduce the amount of time they spend on tedious, rote tasks and focus more of their attention on strategic and creative thinking. Again, Zappos serves as a great example of employee engagement. Its call center leadership abolished scripts a year ago, giving customer service staff the freedom to decide the best way to resolve customer complaints. The result? Zappos is now beating most of the competition on customer satisfaction ratings.

Sometimes, engaging and empowering employees will require a significant shift to your operating model. While hierarchical ladder structures were a good fit for industrial age corporations that gained a competitive edge through economies of scale and standardization, success in the digital age requires collaboration, flexibility, and agility. A study by the Future Laboratory found that collaborative environments were a necessity for companies that want to attract and retain high-performing employees.

A few immediate strategies you can implement for engaging your workforce:

• Reduce bureaucracy and hierarchical structures, instead engaging in collective decision-making and ownership
• Explore approaches such as brainstorming workshops, pilot innovation groups, team rotations, and virtual feedback platforms
• Balance operational independence with clear goals -- set clear objectives for your teams and give them the freedom to meet and exceed them

There's no doubt that artificial intelligence is already causing a major disruption to the competitive landscape. But it's also providing leaders with the tools to obtain a competitive advantage. With a clear vision, the flexibility to adapt to a changing environment, and an engaged team, leaders can capture the promise of A.I. while avoiding the pitfalls.

Does Artificial Intelligence Scare You? It Should--But Not for the Reason You Might Think

Where would your business be today if you went paperless 10 years ago? What would've happened if you invested in social media marketing at the dawning of the Facebook era? Chances are, your business would be far ahead of the curve right now.Hindsight, of course, is 20/20. And it's difficult to predict which tech trend will take off and which will become just another passing fad. But when it comes to artificial intelligence (AI), you don't need a crystal ball to see that it will revolutionize the business world. Because AI isn't some far-off projection, it's already here--and you can start using it to transform your business today.

Fearing the future.

It should come as no surprise that there's a lot of fear surrounding AI. We've all seen the parables about robot wars, the rise of the machines, and nefarious sentient computers. But catastrophic sci-fi predictions aside, there's a more practical, business-world concern when it comes to AI.According to a Pew Research study, more than 70 percent of the U.S. admitted to fearing that robots and automation will take over their jobs. This fear is likely fueled by the admissions of many leaders in tech who are supporting the idea that universal basic income could be a solution to future unemployment caused by AI.But rather than fearing AI, we should fear falling behind the AI trend--and allowing our businesses to stagnate as a result.As it turns out, we're currently encountering an AI skills deficit. According to an Ernst & Young poll, 56 percent of senior AI professionals argued the lack of talent and qualified workers is the greatest barrier when it comes to leveraging this technology for business use. We're a long ways off from what we've seen in the sci-fi movies, but the technology is here and it can be used to help your business. Early adoption may be essential.If you're not sure where to begin investing in the AI movement, here are a few areas to consider:

Chatbots and virtual assistants.

Bank of America has seen great success with their new chatbot Erica. From helping users deposit checks to sending money to their friends, this chatbot fields user questions and can walk them through common banking transactions.Three months after launching, Erica gained over 1 million users. With numbers that good, it seems as if Bank of America's customer base was waiting for this type of technology to finally arrive. Erica is making their lives easier by not having to pick up the phone, wait on hold, and talk to a service rep--of course, the adoption numbers have been astronomical.And while this is an example of what a major corporation is doing with chatbots--and doing well--even small-business owners and soloprenuers can leverage AI chatbots to streamline business. There are several chatbot companies out there that cater to small businesses--request a demo and see which company might best suit your business needs.

Customer relationship management (CRM) systems.

Salesforce introduced their AI tool, Einstein, back in 2016. The company also partnered with IBM's Watson to integrate its tools and data into their system. Other popular CRM companies like Oracle, Adobe, and SAP have also been leveraging AI capabilities.AI in CRM can be used to help companies manage customer data in real time. When fielding customer calls, AI can be used to gather all of a customer's information in the blink of an eye and have it ready for the service representative before they start the call. The end result is a customer who feels as if the company--no matter how big they may be--really knows them and values the relationship.

Connected systems.

Partnering AI with the internet of things (IoT) and connected devices has been a winning formula for many companies. General Electric, for example, uses it's Predix operating system to collect and analyze data from industrial machines and even predict possible machine failures.On a smaller scale, AI can be used to regulate office temperatures (to increase cost-efficiency) and warehouse stock. It can also be used to resolve employee tech problems or gauge internal compliance. The possibilities for improving and streamlining operations with AI are only continuing to evolve every day.

Final word.

It's time to dispel the fears around AI and start leveraging this technology to streamline business operations and surprise and delight our customers. The only thing we should fear about AI is not jumping on the trend now. It's the early adopters who will be miles ahead of their competition as this sophisticated technology continues to go mainstream.

How Amazon, Netflix, and Facebook Avoided Falling Into the Trend Trap

Imagine a world where Amazon is now a subsidiary owned by Barnes & Noble. Where there's still a Blockbuster in every town because Netflix fizzled out. Or where MySpace simplified their interface and took Facebook down before it took off.

At one point in time, all of these scenarios were a possibility. These three disruptive companies could have easily become just another flash in the pan on their way to the top. But Amazon, Netflix, and Facebook managed to avoid the trend trap and stay relevant in a rapidly changing world.

The trend trap

A promising new product or company can easily become last week's old news. This is especially the case with startups as they try to sprint and disrupt their way to unicorn status. Over time, the premise of the business gets tired, the market floods with copycats, and the startup starts to lose its customer base and revenue. I recently wrote about a few companies that are currently falling into the trend trap, but what about the ones that avoided it entirely? There's a lot we can learn from these companies--so let's take a look at what went right.

Amazon extends far beyond the books

Jeff Bezos may have started out selling books, but he always knew he wanted Amazon to become the "sell everything store." It was this crystal clear vision that prevented him from ever getting complacent. From trying (and failing) to compete with eBay, to creating the Kindle, to taking on the medical industry, Amazon and stagnation don't mix.

And it's because of the company's willingness to take risks and test out new offerings that Amazon will never be considered a fad.

Netflix says goodbye to Qwikster​

Everything changed when Netflix disrupted the movie rental industry by offering DVD mail rentals. They took the hassle out of having to physically venture out to rent a movie by bringing the DVDs straight to your door.

But as the Digital Age advanced, Netflix was savvy enough to see the writing on the wall. This company knew the time had come to invest in digital streaming. But what would that look like for their business? Initially, it started out as a botched attempt to split up the company, which resulted in a lot of backlash from customers. Netflix course corrected and instead invested heavily in its online streaming options over time.

This investment was a slow burn and one that paid off. Today, Netflix is its own production company, airing several original and critically acclaimed series. Plus, they still offer DVD mail rentals (seriously, check it out).

Facebook changes things up and invests in key companies

If there's one thing Facebook does well, it's finding new ways to keep users engaged. The platform was originally only available to college students, but Zuckerberg made the smart decision to open the platform up to everyone. Then, Facebook rolled out Timeline, changed the newsfeed algorithm, started selling ads, adopted live video streaming, and bought both Whatsapp and Instagram.

If Facebook remained a college-only platform with a wall similar to MySpace, they would have faded away years ago. But they kept switching things up, tested new things out, and continued to diversify their offerings. That's not to say they aren't facing challenges today, but it's clear this company is more than a passing trend.

What went right

There are two main takeaways we can learn from the companies above:

1. They took well-calculated risks

No one can sum this up better than Jeff Bezos himself when he said, "Companies that don't continue to experiment, companies that don't embrace failure, they eventually get in a desperate position where the only thing they can do is a Hail Mary bet at the end of their corporate existence. Whereas companies that are making bets all along, even big bets, but not bet-the-company bets, prevail."

It's important to keep innovating, to take risks, to try new ways to surprise and delight your customers. This is how you go from being just another trendy bookseller to the sell-everything store.

2. They pivoted when necessary

When things didn't work out as planned, these companies knew how and when to shift away from what wasn't working. Agility cannot be underestimated. As the pace of business continues to accelerate in our Digital Age, being able to adapt to the ever-changing needs of your customers to crucial.

Final word

In the business world, it takes a lot of energy to move a startup from big bang to a steadily burning power source. But with an approach that focuses on innovation and agility, you can ensure your business stays around for the long haul. It's this approach that helped Amazon, Netflix, and Facebook avoid falling into the trend trap. Today, these businesses have the type of endurance and hold in the market that startup founders hope to one day possess.