Tech moves industries into powerful think-tank environments

Sometimes we look at what’s going on in politics or wall street to see where the world of business is going. While an X and Y axis might seem logical, times are influenced by new and unusual markers — now there’s the new Z axis and all of its issues to deal with. Welcome to today!

I am not so very old, but even in my time I have seen cycles develop and follow a pattern. So, since I have a bunch of friends in the movie effects industry, let’s use those companies as examples.

So, in the beginning it was pretty much Ray Harryhousen, or the like. In the 70’s George Lucas and his buddies realized film making needed a little extra wiz-bang and created ILM, which was birthed around the Star Wars franchise. After this point, tech jumps were triggered every time a new studio launched. After George Lucas, in the 80’s a guy named James Cameron with buddies Stan Winston and Scott Ross introduced Digital Domain, birthed right out of the ashes from the Terminator franchise. Another “tech renaissance” in the 2000’s emerged via Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings and WETA. Just to keep it honest, all three major digital effect studios have Oscar’s to prove their stamp in film making history. As for these studios built from passion, it has always been about pushing the perimeters, not names like today.

But we ask about today — what and how have things changed? The greatest change from Ray to WETA is technology. Tech, while making amazing things possible, also lets us hang onto ideals that don’t necessarily match skills. Truth is, we are all good at something, just not the same things.

The digital world has now become fused with our physical world to the point of no return. Tech will replace jobs; best to be on the end where you are in-charge of the tech. Want a job in this cerebral-digital world? Then you’d better learn how to play the creative game of applying your skills to this ever-changing world. This should not be a fear but rather a reality and acceptance. It’s time to regroup.

I feel that in the new tech world, the power is in the reimagining of how business runs. In the beginning it was just basic competition, say Hewlett Packard and IBM for instance. Now, when you think of tech companies you might say Amazon, who pretty much sells just about anything; Movies, Books, Food. This is a new phenomenon. Tech consuming the old Norman Rockwell of American local grocery stores. If you are old enough to remember Sears as a catalog store, then in theory, Amazon is doing what happened in the 1900’s. Time to get with modern tech and change the way you think.

Change is inevitable but it is more important at changes like this to have an honest perspective. There are going to be some growing pains; Time Warner had one with the AOL merger; Rupert Murdock’s (News Corp) with My Space. Funny thing is, people need to learn and respect how important those folks that came before are and learn from their lessons. Ego in the business world can get you only so far; true success is about understanding who you are and why you are in this businesses, day in and day out.

We are also in a generational shake-up which is intensified by technology. Here is the rub I have with the generational tech battle. I would think that the younger generations would have greater respect for those who have made the true journey from the beginning. I remember in the old days of animation, when Ray Harryhousen came to visit the studio of the California Raisins (Will Vinton Studios), everyone on the studio floor was in awe of what this man stood for. Today, tech gens seem to only look forward. The true step to success is with clear vision, and respect for the journeys that tech has made to get to TODAY.

The new world of business as I see it is more of a connected fabric of specialists. I think the next big tech development is not going to come from a huge monster company but rather small, self-sustaining think-tanks. This will be an agile environment with specialists brought together to create another ILM or WETA within a single project. The idea of creating a powerful wonder team, taking full advantage of current tech weaved together through a fabric of generations will be our new round of innovation. So when you ask where is business headed, I am quite excited at how we might all become more connected.

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