Yesterday, I had the honor of giving the University of Colorado's School of Journalism and Mass Communications Commencement Speech. Some folks have asked about it so, I thought I'd share it with you here.
Dean Voakes, the University of Colorado School of Journalism
and Mass Communication faculty, proud parents and, most of all, graduates. Thank
you. It is a privilege to be here today with you, on this important day.
When Amber Klein first asked me to be here today, I was
incredibly humbled. While I have a chance to speak regularly, today’s commencement
address comes with a great responsibility. As I wrote this address, I was quite
nervous while I tried to craft something profound enough to be inspirational
and useful as you embark on your life’s journey. That was until I realized that not only could I not remember any
of the details of the commencement speech at my graduation but, embarrassingly,
I couldn’t even remember who spoke. That seemed to take a bit of the pressure
off and make the task feel a bit more human.
At best, I’d like to share with you some of the things I’ve
learned and offer some perspective as a fellow traveler on a journey through
life. First, I must tell you that I’m jealous. You are graduating in such
interesting times, times that are full of disruption and uncertainty. You are
blessed.
I feel lucky, as well. I’ve had the opportunity in my career
to benefit from several disruptions. First, the rise of desktop publishing
allowed me to start a small publishing company. Without the revolution that
Apple started with the Macintosh, along with Quark and Adobe’s help, I would
have never been able to afford to go into the magazine publishing business.
Likewise, the rise of other digital technologies allowed me to build Radar
Communications, by combining the worlds of anthropology and journalism to
provide a new way to do brand strategy and market research. And now my latest
venture, Victors & Spoils, wouldn’t even be possible without the
communities of talented people that are aggregating online.
Let’s look back. Not long ago, the journalism, media and
advertising industries were the places to be. Graduates would move to New York
to start on the long, hard journey of finding a place in these glorious
industries. Rising to the top once meant acquiring more prestige, money and
power than almost any other industry could afford. While these industries now
survive on the fumes of their once glorious past as they are affected by the
democratization of the Internet with its deflationary pressures and the
economic realities of the recent financial crisis. These once gilded industries
are being attacked not only by the usual competitors but also, more unexpectedly,
by their customers. Blogs and Social Media, including Facebook and Twitter,
have exerted even more pressure on the media and advertising industries. Now,
everyone has the ability to compete with the media, publishing their own news,
serving their own audiences and creating their own advertising.
While this digital disruption might seem like a new and
frightening trend, I always draw comfort from history. During the Renaissance,
in the middle of the 15th century, there was a similar disruption happening
that was shaking the pillars of the then current media world. The methodology
of using movable type on a printing press, developed by Johannes Guttenberg,
was spreading like wildfire, making books more accessible throughout Europe,
allowing a whole new generation to have the tools that only a few held. At the
time, books were produced by an elite group of monks in a few monasteries.
These scribes were the media elite of their day. As it became more obvious that
the new disruptive technological changes produced by the printing press some
felt the need to turn the page back. In 1492, Johannes Trithemius, the Abbot of
Sponheim, a well-known monastery, wrote, In
Praise of Scribes. In it he wrote, “We must preserve the old order at any
cost.” Yet, he had a problem. If he used scribes to produce the book it might
take too long to stop the tide of the disruption caused by the printing press.
Instead, he used a Guttenberg press to print In Praise of Scribes, only accelerating the change.
So, here we are in the winter of 2009. While many people
have been calling our age the Great Recession, I agree more with Thomas Friedman,
who has begun calling this time the Great Inflection. It is a time of
unprecedented change, innovation and opportunity. You in this room have the
opportunity to redefine journalism and mass communications on your own terms,
once again revolutionizing the industry.
So, where do you start? As you walk out the door today I
have only one piece of advice. Dare to fail. Seems odd, doesn’t it? Almost
scary. Nobody really wants to fail. We’re here to celebrate success today.
I must admit, that I’ve been afraid to fail for much of my
career. I’ve gotten stuck trying too hard to succeed. Instead, I now focus on
failing. My main inspiration for this change of attitude comes from two sports
I love, climbing and surfing. In both, success is often elusive. When trying to
surf a new break or climb a new line, failure is a given. You’re ability to
succeed is built upon how well you fail. Do you make original mistakes? Do you
fail giving everything to the task at hand? Do you shake off the failure to
jump back up and immediately try again? Does failure make you try even harder? Does
failure teach you something new? I’ve learned that how you react to failure
defines who you are.
The same goes in business. Today, what defines the most
innovative, and the most successful, people is their willingness to fail. And,
that’s especially true in journalism, media and advertising. They’re the ones
that build iPhone apps over a weekend, when they’ve never written code before.
Or, passionately challenge the media powers that be on their blogs. They become
their own media channels on Twitter with thousands of followers. Or, become the
mayor of a half dozen spots on Four Square. They can have a conversation with
their friends while at the same time, developing new business strategies that
the rest of us will follow.
In the Great Inflection, so much is new. New ways to work.
New ways to communicate. It is scary and full of failure. Yet, it’s full of
opportunity, as well. Recently, I was speaking at a marketing class here at CU.
One of your fellow students, Kevin Dolan, introduced himself after the class.
Kevin talked about the advertising industry with amazing depth and acuity,
understanding not only the recent changes that have occurred but also what the
future might hold. I was impressed. Yet, I was even more impressed a couple of weeks
later when he sent me some photos of a pair of skis that were produced by a
company that he had started. He mentioned that while the company had failed, he
had learned a great deal. He was excited.
This is the key to the future for all of us. It’s not how we
deal with success but how we embrace and learn from failure that will define
all of us during the Great Inflection.
Today, as you start your journey I know that many of you
have the burden of high expectations on your shoulders. Let go of them.
Instead, dare to fail. Fail fast. Learn from failure. Build
on failure. Share failure. Understand failure.
Most of all, enjoy failure. Life is so short. Hold nothing
back.
Good luck.
Thank you.
