Keep Up or Be Left Behind

Adapt to changing times, or get ready to explain yourself.

Roger Ailes isn’t the only one to suffer from failing to keep pace with evolving social norms.

So is North Carolina.

Less than two hours after Ailes resigned from Fox News amid a sexual-harassment scandal, the NBA yanked its All-Star Game out of Charlotte to protest a state law eliminating protections and placing restrictions on lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgender people.

Not only are daily events moving ever faster. (Newspapers rarely publish special editions emblazoned with EXTRA. But this month the Los Angeles Times did three times in only nine days to capture major late-breaking news from Dallas; Nice, France; and Turkey.)

So are shifts in society. (Efforts to achieve racial equality reach back to the beginning of the nation. Campaigns for gender equality, more than a century. But it took only decades for gay rights to move from the shadows to being widely embraced in the light of day. Transgenders made the leap seemingly overnight, thanks to Bruce “Call Me Caitlyn” Jenner.)

Uncomfortable with the new rules? Not what you grew up doing, and you turned out great? That’s fine and dandy, but it’s not the point.

This ain’t your grandpa’s world. Nor will it ever be again.

Life moves forward. Those who fall behind become marginalized, their voices increasingly shrill and distant.

Can you or your business afford to be out of step?

A major financial institution was having trouble attracting and retaining Millennials as employees. (You know the ones — 20 to 35 years old, more concerned with “life balance” than being “work-focused,” feel entitled, and want to be showered with sweet affirmations.)

So the company had an architect rip out its traditional offices to create a “modern environment” — no private offices (even for executives), lots of open space, stand-up desks for everyone, and of course a Ping-Pong table in a sprawling communal kitchen/break room.

Sound extreme? Well, it is, but it’s working.

If you refuse to adapt (or adapt too slowly), you’re setting yourself up for a hard fall that can seriously damage your career, your business, and your reputation.

For a deeper glimpse into our world, see our book on Amazon, A Lawyer’s Guide to Crisis PR: Protecting Your Clients In & From the Media.

If you don’t already subscribe, please sign up for our blog, Insights on High-Stakes PR.

You can reach Roger Gillott and Eden Gillott directly at 310-396-8696.

Gillott Communications is a Los Angeles-based public relations firm that specializes in high-stakes Crisis & Reputation Management with more than 50 years of expertise in strategic communications, corporate public relations, and working with the media.