The Freelance Rules #13 - Don't get discouraged

Friday was terrible: five interviews lined up for a magazine that's already running late. Of those five, I landed just one. One guy was on holiday - I interrupted his boarding at Stansted Airport - one bumped me for a more important meeting and two just weren't on the end of the phone when they said they would be. I also spent far too much of the day (indeed of the week) chasing payments for work completed last November while also dealing with lost emails and a conference clash.

It was a horrible day summing up all it can be when you're a microbusiness on the margins of importance to those I was trying to connect with. But sometimes that's just the nature of the beast when you're freelancing.

In this case, my client hasn't prioritised the project I'm working on, and getting support from within his business has been painful. It's not his fault: the project's a new area for him and he's being asked to do more with less as the downturn continues to bite. I'm just glad the magazine is still running. In terms of the interviewees, an almost cold call from an organisation they know for something other than as a commentator on business issues is never going to outrank their day to day tasks.

Yes - interviews could have been set up earlier; we could have had a stronger brief on client requirements and and there could just have been more client oomph behind the project. But, we are where we are and the task of the freelancer is to make the best of it. Come the end of last Friday I just had to park what occurred during the day and prepare for a better Monday.

Today didn't start brilliantly to be honest - but not for immediate work reasons. I've been bumped off a flight in the US in April which rather mucks up some well-crafted travel plans, and then I found out I'd missed out on the ballot for England v South Africa tickets this summer. So, not the nicest first two emails to greet me.

But, since then, things have looked up. One client has paid me; I've conducted three useful interviews for the magazine and have another one lined up this afternoon. The magazine isn't quite where I'd want it to be, but thanks to the persistence of my co-freelancer and myself, and some energy from the client, it's getting there.

As microbusinesses we tend to work in a little bubble and it's too easy to let high dudgeon rise when our best-laid plans are derailed further up the supply chain. But if you want to keep pulling in the jobs, there's no point acting like a prima donna. Sometimes the only way to operate is just to plough on: to take in a huge breath, count to ten and focus on what you can do - not on the aspects of the project outside your control.

Expending all your energy on issues where you have little or no influence will lead only to further discouragement.  That way madness lies!

End of Year report

I'm supposed to be doing some report writing today, so picking up the blog after a few months of inactivity probably isn't a bad way to get back into the swing after a few days' break. I realise I haven't written anything on here since September - not through lack of interest, but through having been too busy both on the comms side and on the academic side to have the time to put the thought into making any sense on here. Now though, we're just a few days from the end of 2011 and it's not a bad time to reflect on a curious year.

Business-wise, I'm finishing the year strongly. Unilever has been a fantastic new client this year, the Adecco Group has kept me busy across several of their brands and agencies such as ArtHaus and Gatehouse have both put interesting work my way. I've picked the odd one-off piece up too - with a small piece for World Vision sticking in the mind. On the flipside, Diageo has been very quiet and some of my regulars from the past few years either are no longer in existence or have reduced their comms work significantly. While there are some signs of growth and recovery in some industries, it's patchy and inconsistent.

My year has definitely been one of two halves. The first was pretty poor, with a lot of scratching around for new work and a rather linear flow to what I was involved in. The second half has been much stronger with a mix of facilitation, training delivery, writing and editing for a range of electronic media and even a few smallish pieces of consultancy work. For the first time in about two years I even had to turn some work down as I didn't have the capacity to deliver it. That's always bittersweet, but at least this time I was able to pass it on to a connection.

I have been courted for a number of interim projects and came close mid-year to taking on a year's contract that looked as though it would have a foot both in comms and in academia. However, the actuality didn't really live up to the billing and the prospect of working with the most unctuous person I've yet to come across in the industry convinced me to stay clear.

I've built on my teaching at Brunel University and am convening a module on US History this academic year. This is tremendously rewarding (other than financially!) but probably has held back my PhD work as I strive to keep at least a week ahead of the students. That said, I've just had my first full academic paper published, and the reaction so far though minimal, is positive.

Looking ahead to 2012, I have one retained, client which is always good, though we're still negotiating what that retainer should be! There's the prospect of both a White Paper and a corporate magazine to keep me busy through January and February, but after that, who knows?

I feel that business-wise I'm in a slightly better position than a year ago, but still feel a month or two behind where I should be to feel comfortable. It has been a tough 12 months with the prospect of another toughie to come. But, in March, I'll celebrate a dozen years outside corporate life - and I'm not about to give up yet!

The Freelance Rules #12 - Be of strong constitution

You'll get plenty of knock-backs as a freelancer and to make a real go of it, it helps to have the constitution of an ox.

I've been at my desk since about 7.30am today. My elder daughter, off school with an Autumn bug, has kept me company for some of the time, though she has headed back to bed now. To be honest, I'm not feeling great at the moment - the kids go back to school each Autumn and bring home every virus and infection going. And they're very 'sharing', my kids. For the last couple of days I've had a dull headache and have a lovely scratchy throat to accompany it. But as a freelancer, you simply have to rise above such man flu.

Back in the day when I was a magazine journalist, I thought nothing of missing the odd mid-week day after a big night out. When I moved over to corporate life, my work ethic improved, but if I didn't feel 100%, I would call in sick knowing full well that I'd still get paid. Once, when I picked up horrendous food poisoning in Paris and was off for a fortnight (and lost a stone and a half in the process), I was particularly glad for that payment security blanket. Though, as the symptoms recurred over the next year while I struggled to finally get the bug our of my system, my boss was less impressed by the additional half dozen days I racked up in sick leave.

When I started working for myself, everything changed. I have insurance that covers me if I can't work, but it's very restrictive and kicks in only after six weeks. So, the equation for me is simple. If I don't work, I don't get paid. It's amazing the change that understanding prompts. In 11 years, I've only had to cancel work appointments twice. I've never been ill for more than a couple of days (and try and save those for weekends) and regularly work through the minor illnesses that would have sent me in search of my duvet in 'employed' days. Okay, I have coughed and spluttered through a few meetings; attended one where I couldn't sit down having been bitten on the backside by a big bug who didn't wipe his feet; and pitched for a new account in a mis-matched suit jacket and trousers put on in a migraine haze. But the upshot is, the fear of not earning is a fantastic medicine.

There's nothing unusual in my situation - just about every freelance I know operates in the same way. We all know that if we're not around to take on the work, someone else will.

So, if you're thinking about taking the freelance plunge, think about your health and your ability to work through the sniffles. If you're a bit of a fragile flower, you probably won't last long working for yourself.  

The Freelance Rules #11 - Trust your gut

I'm in the very nice position at the moment of having a number of projects to juggle - that's great after a tough couple of years but throws up its own challenges of prioritising, keeping clients happy and generally having enough hours in the day to take part in the meetings and deliver the work.

I recently had the chance to cut the stress by focusing on one project for one client for a year. Okay, the pay wasn't going to be fantastic, but the project sounded great. The spec was to support the internal and external comms needs of a new CEO in an industry I enjoy for one of its biggest organisations - and one that was both new to me and would be a very good name to have on the CV. Stakeholders would be in the UK and International and would cut across the private and public sectors and include considerable government liaison. The call was to create a new strategy and then be a key player in implementing it.

There was a pretty time-consuming procurement process - which saw me spend the day I went on holiday writing a speech among other activities - but it looked like a project worth getting on board.

At the first selection meeting, I didn't meet the guy I'd be supporting. That rang an alarm bell, Instead, I was asked to do some more pre-work (which was never mentioned again!) and then grilled by a panel of four. One actually said nothing; two I took to, but the other managed to come across in turn as unctuous, officious, pompous and overly alpha-maleish. My answers didn't seem to be ringing his bells, and I left the room really not expecting to be asked back to sell-in my services - and not sure I wanted to return anyway.

Within 24 hours, as other client worked buzzed about me, I was asked back - and they wanted to see me pretty much immediately. My gut said let it go - but their obvious (though slightly surprising)interest in me probably flattered my ego a little too much. The lack of chemistry in the first meeting; their forensic interest in what seemed to me not so important issues; and a certain friction when I outlined my preferred way of working should have alerted me that this was not going to end happily. But, it's nice to be flattered and I shifted a couple of appointments and headed for this potential new client.

Again, I didn't get to see the person I'd actually be working for and was faced instead with the gang of four. They drilled into my preference for effective over efficient communication (they seemed to want things the other way round) and pointed to their CEO as being the 'expert' whom I should take my cue from without challenge.

At that point, I was seriously thinking: 'why have a dog and bark yourself?' My gut was telling me to get out of there - but that's not what we do in pitch meetings. Too often we sit there giving the answers we think the other side wants rather than what we actually believe to be true.

By now, Mr. Unctuous had turned particularly pompous. He was virtually going line by line through some other client work I'd been asked to provide to demonstrate the breadth of my work. I didn't take to his school master tones and finally woke up to what my gut was telling me.

These people didn't want a creative, challenging communication partner - they simply wanted a speechwriting powerpoint jockey who wouldn't rock the boat. The package they were selling bore little resemblance to the pretty picture on the box.

Politely but firmly I piped up: "You know what, I don't think I want to take this any further. I obviously don't fit what you're looking for and don't think I need to take up any more of your time."

It would be an understatement to say they were shocked. I think I shocked myself. But I honestly could not see any point in going through the polite rituals for another hour when I knew that there really was no meeting of minds. A few coughs, splutters and uncomfortable minutes later I was walking back to the car.

I should never have gone to the second meeting. It merely confirmed my concerns and wasted the time of five people - and I never did get to see the head honcho......probably a sign in itself.

I feel I dodged a bullet. Myself and Mr. Unctuous would never have got on. But I also feel that potential clients should be more honest in their project specs. If you advertise for a creative challenger and set a process that plays to those strengths, that's what you'll get. If you really want a skilled packager, make that clear on your tender.

Anyway, my gut has stopped rumbling. Since that slightly painful hour in the Midlands, two clients have come by with new work and the pipeline's looking particularly perky.

I'm very far from perfect, but on this occasion I felt vindicated in walking away from a poor, over-engineered process. Chemistry matters, honesty matters and respect matters in project negotiations. When any of those factors is out of kilter, it can leave a particularly painful - and long-term - gut ache.

Be a partner, not a packager: know when it's right to say 'no'

My working world has been organisational communication for more than 20 years now. Throughout that time, IC professionals in particular have been fighting to establish their role: first in delivering comms, then in gaining employee buy-in and communicating through change and most recently, establishing the position of IC in engagement. The constant has been that IC has never been confident in its role  - and the upshot is that communicators and the rest of the business see the IC role as two different things.

Wherever I go, I tend to find well-qualified, talented and ambitious IC people working as packagers: responding to the needs of the business by picking up decisions made elsewhere and processing them for publication - be that on a portal, through a tweet, in a team meeting or even in a glossy magazine. Most are doing a great job, but I'd question whether they're doing the right job in building a culture that will truly drive their organisation forward.

Far less frequently, I find IC people in on the decision making process before the key business decisions are finalised. This is where IC should be and should earn its spurs.

With the democratisation of communication, through the near-ubiquitous SharePoint world of team sites, yammer and the rest, overlaid with the bloom of external social media, comms pros can no longer sit their with a finger in the dyke expecting to control the media flow throughout their organisations. Give people the tools to get on with communication, but then get out of the way. The real value that IC can bring is in expert advice - not in trying to craft every message and manage every mechanism.

If IC wants to be taken seriously, it should be looking at the models being set in other functions - Finance, HR and IT for instance.  More and more, those other functions are outsourcing and automating transactional business. Of course, in the last few years, much of this has been driven by the economic climate. Teams have got smaller and in order to make their workload manageable, it has been essential to find new ways of doing the time-consuming but less high-value areas of the job. What has emerged in these functions are a two-speed operation: a few people still looking after the bread and butter process work, but more senior, more able or just more business-focused team members taking on a business partner/expert adviser role further up the business chain. Where such advice works best is before decisions are made. It's a model IC should be fighting for.

I'm ambivalent to the term 'business partner': when a service department is helping a business unit director, it's no more a partnership than when I'm supplying my expertise to an internal client. We'll meet at a point of mutual interest, but I'll always know who's boss. I prefer the concept of expert adviser - and that expertise will become valued and trusted the first time you say 'no' to something.....and are proved right.

We've all had the situation when the CEO or someone equally influential comes along and says: "I need to get this message out now." Sometimes it's a no-brainer: it has to go and everything else gets shoved to the side to make it happen. But on other occasions, your expertise tells you it's the wrong thing to do. Is the message that important? Is the timing right? How does it fit in the context of other communication happening at the same time? What will be the reaction of the organisation? If you have a good case for saying no - and have the evidence to back that case, you prove your worth by challenging the authority figure. But how often does IC do that in reality? How much more likely is it that we stop being an expert and revert to the comfort zone of packaging again?

If IC wants to finally nail a valued role in the organisation, it has to stop being the packager, get into the decision making loop and be far more prepared to challenge far more often.

Are we getting hung up in the Emperor's new clothes?

The wealth of words spilt in pursuit of organisational engagement is staggering. From ning groups of thousands to a plethora of LinkedIn communities, engagement is the buzz of the decade that's supposed to be delivering organisational success.

But what is it? Can we ascribe measurable benefits to it and can we turn those metrics into something that conclusively delivers results?

Working for a couple of large corporates this year, together with my involvement in Adecco's fascinating research project: Unlocking Britain's Potential and even my own research on organisational communicators' role within engagement, what strikes me is that what's being talked about now isn't a million miles away from the emotional intelligence of a decade and more ago or even the corporate dialogues I was involved while working at Nationwide Building Society 20 years ago.

Back then, before the Internet; when communication was face to face and backed by print, we were taking faltering steps from top-down communication into a world where employees were 'empowered'; they had a voice in decision making and all our focus was on breaking down silos and getting cross-functional teams to collaborate within a culture of success to deliver on a range of defined and beneficial corporate goals. We worked with the eager young tyros who wanted to rule the world by e-mail, and with their elders brought up on paper-based systems to find common ground and a way forward that made the most of their blended skills.

It felt good but didn't seem particularly revolutionary then. Now it seems to be happening all over again - this time with social media advancing the collaboration quicker than email and the first clunky iterations of Lotus Notes ever could.

20 years ago, I learned two allied lessons that seem to have been lost, forgotten and rediscovered. First, no organisation was ever going to prosper without great leadership; and second, business organisations are not democracies.

And that's where the Emperor's New Clothes come in. In the consultancy world, there are any number of people out there telling me that social media is engineering a revolution in engagement, bring people together as never before to create cultures that will reshape business as we know it. They've been telling me this for the last three or four years. Yet the reality is, aside from one or two organisations where the leadership already comes from Gen Y and the structures have been built from the ground up, most organisations are operating as they have since the 80s (in some cases, the 1880s).

The pyramid hasn't been inverted and even those organisations exploring the benefits of of wider, more social engagement are doing so through traditional HR/Marketing/Comms structures. The vision of a joined-up organisation with organic engagement remains largely a vision while good businesses built on meritocracy bolt on teams and departments tasked with delivering an engaged organisation. Somehow engagement becomes a process and the essence of it is lost.

Indeed, other than changing the toolkit, is what our engagement experts are doing actually any different from my days at Nationwide in the early 90s?

While organisations are undoubtedly leaner; have flatter structures and are slightly less driven by command and control, the nature of capitalist practice means that the need to drive the bottom line remains the default setting in the Board Room. Some are seeing that this demands a culture very different from traditional business - look at google for instance. But most aren't. And until a very different generation of leaders break into that Board Room, engagement will remain elusive in meaning, benefit and measurement - and those of us pursuing it from a number of different business avenues may well simply be evolving business practice further, as generations have done before us, under another fancy name.

I'm genuinely interested in what's really different this time round?

The Freelance Rules #10 - Manage Expectations

Every client assumes you are sitting at your PC (or Mac!) poised, just waiting for their job to come along. They assume you can do it in half the time quoted, and miraculously, it will be completed at a fraction of the cost you originally agreed. Every client knows they're far more important than every other, and every client is convinced you want nothing more than to dump what you're currently doing to meet their needs.

They are, of course, all completely.....right.

One of the first things you'll find out running a microbusiness is that work never arrives to fit in with your circumstances. When you need a new project, no-one will have anything for you. When you're full to the gunnels with projects, another will come along....and then another.....and then, probably, another.

There's no science to managing the workload (as the great Senator John Glenn, he of the Mercury 7 and the Space Shuttle once told me: "just pray for 48 hour days and 10 day weeks" (how's that for a name-drop)), but there is an art. It's all about managing expectations to ensure all your clients are aware of the art of the possible. To repeat an earlier tip: never over-promise. Let your clients know when you're busy but never put them off. Find out what their real priorities are - it'll enable you to prioritise your workload. And don't be afraid to push back on unreasonable deadlines or pressures to do more for less.

Think about what would happen internally: would a manager going to an internal contact expect an immediate response? Probably not. So why should they expect the world to be different dealing with an external supplier? Let them know what you can do - and then do it better than they could have expected. Then get on with juggling heaven and earth.

   

The Freelance Rules #9 - Find your niche

When I first started freelancing in the early '90s, my specialism was death. Well, I say death, I mean dead people. And when I say dead people, I mean their money. I'd worked, briefly, as a Probate Commissioner in the '80s and had built on the experience while at Which? Magazine, co-authoring a wills and probate kit and writing both reports and book chapters on how to deal with someone's estate.

So, when I was setting out for the first time as as an independent, I had a niche: a specialism where I really was an authority on my subject. It got me more work on titles for accountants, for the Government and even a couple of BBC radio appearances. That niche led me to new building new relationships with editors and commissioners who used me not just to write about wills and estates, but other aspects of legal issues and, making a sideways leap, investments for the elderly. It all helped me get up and running and gave me a regular income stream in those three years of running my own show.

I've long-since left those initial specialisms behind as organisational communication has filled my plate over the last decade and a half, but have never been afraid to use specific experiences: companies and industries worked for, and areas within those organisations, as my entry card when looking for work.

As a microbusiness, the worst thing you can possibly be is the 'jack of all trades and master of none'. If that's the case, you're always going to be competing for work with others who are just a little bit more specialist in the area where you're trying to pick up work. That will make your business development harder- and you'll have to compromise on other factors (price!) to improve your chance of landing the work.

I pick up a lot of work for finance teams, IT and facilities management - I'd love to get some of the sexy marketing stuff, but have built my best relationships around the back office. It goes back to the days when I was running comms for Barclays' Group Planning, Operations and Technology. It may not be the sexiest of areas - but I've found a good niche where I can operate effectively.

The Freelance Rules #8 - keep on top of your business

It's important to start out as you mean to go on in your microbusiness life. If you're just passing through, on the look-out for another in-house role, there's probably little point in operating as anything other than a sole trader. It's the simplest way to administer your business - but still needs the discipline to keep control over your financial affairs and to set up the necessary insurances and protections to ensure you're covered for the work you - and should anything go wrong.

If you're set up to remain a microbusiness, it's worth considering whether you need to establish limited company status or, if you're working with someone else, a partnership agreement. It's essential to have a formal arrangement if you're more than one person - you may think your working relationship with your partner(s) will always be terrific. But what if it's not? What if something goes wrong or things turn sour? What if another person in the business wants to move on? You need to know your legal standing and have a plan in place if you suddenly have a stack of projects to deliver, but no-one else to make it happen.

Of course, many businesses start from one or two people and suddenly have three, then four, then eight then 10.....and in the last few years may have been trimmed back to a few or a couple. Clearly if you intend to grow the business, set it on a proper legal footing as early as possible. Being a limited company can be a hassle in terms of keeping accounts - you need a properly qualified/registered accountant to audit the business each year (even if you're turning over tuppence), but it gives more options for growth - and also still seems to hold sway both with banks, if you're looking for finance, and with clients. With most services procured through purchasing teams these days, it's actually much easier to pick up business if you are a legally registered entity. If you're just Jessica Bloggs sole-trading, you may well find it far harder to get on a preferred supplier list, no matter how excellent the service you provide.

Equally, if your clients are big and expect to pay VAT on invoices, it's probably worth registering - even if you fall short of the threshold where you have to. If you're an anomaly in a purchasing process, things are far more likely to go wrong. VAT is more bureaucracy - but it's worth being registered if it helps you get paid the right amount when you expect it.

Most microbusinesses hate business administration - we'd rather be out there doing the work. But it's vital to keep on top of your financial affairs. If you miss that VAT deadline; don't pay HMRC or slip beyond the overdraft (even though it may not be your fault and down to the vagaries of cashflow), your credit rating will soon start slipping and black marks will start appearing on your credit rating. Business health is something procurement teams love to check - so when pitching for that project you'd love to do, the last thing you want to explain is why your business might be flashing up amber or red on a procurement health check.

Don't make false economies: in my case, I pay the rather excellent Amazon Office Management to keep my books on the straight and narrow. Equally, Leapfrog is insured to the hilt in case something happens to me or Jac or if there are any problems with our work (no problems on either count in 11 years). We've never had to claim on any of the insurances, but at least can go to work unworried that the business is at risk.

Cashflow, especially in the past few years, is never too far from the forefront of any microbusiness' mind. But my advice is to get to know not just your clients, but also the people who physically are responsible for paying the bills. We all rail against bureaucracy and a culture that aims to keep money in the biggest organisations for as long as possible, but I tend to find that the individuals actually working in the accounts payable teams are a pretty good bunch. The worst possible thing to do is to blame the inconsistencies of a payment system on the person at the other end of the phone. Much better to find a way to work things out.

It's harder to establish a working relationship with your bank or the taxman - these days they tend to be faceless machines and loyalty appears to count for little. The best bet is to set achievable parameters for paying tax or repaying any borrowings and move heaven and earth to work within them. And, if things go wrong, get on the phone fast. You may not get a lot of sympathy, but you'll generally get a way to move forward.

Running a business is about doping significantly more than the service you're paid for. It's rarely sexy, but it's essential to get the basics nailed as early as possible in your business life.

The Freelance Rules #7 - Keep Developing

While out and about last week I ran into a guy who used to freelance regularly for me back in my Barclays days. 'What are you up to now?' I asked. 'I'm pretty much out of the comms game now,' he responded. 'I do a bit of book keeping for my son, and have a sideline in importing specialist wines, but the comms work dried up a few years back - I think the market just moved away.'

It was a bit of a shock to hear this, as the guy had been one of the best independents I'd used - and is only about 10 years older than me. He was a magazine specialist, with a long background in printed magazine journalism. His problem, it seems, is that's what he did. As comms moved ever more electronic and then social; and as the skills of an organisational communicator moved from packaging information to facilitation/corporate conscience/leadership coach and all the other areas that have built on the basics of an ability to tell a story, he was rather left behind. 

When you're out of the corporate world, it's very easy to get left out in the cold when it comes to training and development. But our world moves pretty quickly now, so it's incumbent on any freelancer hoping to keep up with the game to stay on top of the trends and keep finding new ways to apply our skills.

Straight-forward commercial training courses from the likes of Melcrum and similar outfits in the market are a non-starter for most microbusinesses. They're aimed at corporates and thus are premium-priced. Given that independents pay twice for any training opportunities (cost of attending and opportunity cost of a lost day's work), I've always reckoned the best way to take part in such a course is to present it! If you have a skill that's in demand in the market, train people on it. You'll probably gain as much as you impart - and if my experience is anything to go by, you can generally barter a couple of days delivery for places on other courses.

Make the most of associations too. I've been to a number of IoIC conferences and IABC events down the years without ever paying full price - instead, I've given something in kind to hear the latest industry presentations. In the days when the IoIC was CiB and even BACB, I've presented sessions; covered the conference as a news event and even driven exhibition kit up and down from Newcastle for a conference place. I've gone on waiting lists for standby tickets to events and have even stepped in when clients have had to give up a paid-for ticket.

Never forget that associations deliver training too. It may not be as flash as a Ragan or a Melcrum, but IABC or IoIC training days are likely to be a fraction of the cost - and often with the same calibre of expertise.

These days, LinkedIn groups are a great informal developmental source. People throw out questions and the collective brain power of the group quite often gets involved in an electronic brain dump - often there's great insight to be had: free of charge.

Just because you work for your own business, don't neglect on the job training either. So often we work as part of a major change project or large corporate initiative where our clients grow and develop through the experience. Why shouldn't we do that too?  Wherever I can on a big project (and the comms team is a great place to be) I've looked to suck the brains of leaders and experts dry. I suspect every new thing I learn now will be applied on future work further down the line.

Finally, I've found another route to keep developing. I went back to university in 2007, first gaining my MA, and now working towards a PhD. The research has little directly to do with my current job, but often opens up new avenues of thought to me. Sometimes just sitting with fellow students talking about each other's work can set me off thinking about a project I have in my work-life. And it's weird how people expert in Hungarian economics, Arctic politics or sovereignty among Native American nations can spark off a great idea for a thorny comms problem. Perhaps it's just being among people devoted to learning, but it;s given my own development a new lease of life - and may even open new areas of opportunity to me in the future.

The bottom line is that however good you are at what you do, the business world will keep evolving. If you don't, the only way to go is the way of the dinosaur.