Here’s a question to reflect on – what did you do on Friday to act on the ideas you heard at our industry’s first Effectiveness Expo?

There were two thoughts that really grabbed my attention from MFA EX. The first was from the incredibly impressive Dr. Jordan Nguyen, who told us that his greatest lesson from his career in innovation is that after having the big idea, the most important step is to “just start doing something”.

The second, from Google’s Elias Lattouf, was that even the smallest automations will end up saving you time. That is to say, a small step in the right direction is still a step in the right direction.

Combined, these two ideas got me thinking – maybe we’re putting too much emphasis on the agency of five years down the track, and not enough on the agency of tomorrow. Tomorrow as in the day that follows today, rather than some general concept of the future.

It’s fantastic that we have leaders and talent with such bold visions about what we need to fix and where we need to go. I’m sure I’m not alone in coming away from MFA EX feeling inspired and energised about the potential of our Australian industry to deliver at a truly world-class level in the years to come. But the million-dollar question is, what does step one of that journey look like? What are each of you (looking at the leaders who reportedly over index against reading Mi3) going to do tomorrow and the next day and next week, to show us that you’re serious and committed to the pursuit of effectiveness?

Once again, we can turn to Dr. Nguyen’s expertise to help find answers to this question:

• There are myriad opportunities for new technology to add value to our work lives, provided we identify the right questions to ask and approach it with a lens of real, human-centric design. We need to forgo the pursuit of what’s new for the sake of new, in favour of deeper consideration for how technology will actually impact our experience.
• Through machine learning we can make exponential leaps in what is possible, and if the necessary data or measurement doesn’t exist yet, that just tells us what we need to build next. If an algorithm can allow someone to control a wheelchair using only their brain waves, think of the possibilities for us in the world of communications.
• We need to look outside our own bubbles for new ideas and inspiration. Some of the answers to our persistent challenges might already exist outside of the media echo chamber. The world is bigger and infinitely more complex than TARPs, spots and dots.
• Change is inevitable (particularly in an industry like ours), so embracing change rather than trying to fight it will free up invaluable resources to focus on the areas where we actually have our hands on the wheel.

MFA EX was a great day, full of great ideas, but it can’t just be about one day. Now is the time for us to use the energy and connections it generated to start rolling the snowball.

Elevating the way our product is valued and reframing the agency model from service to true partnership? Great. Let’s book in some meetings to have those conversations.

Using automation and smart tech applications to “Marie Kondo” our businesses and unlock more time for deep work? Count me in. Let’s contract some engineers and allocate staff hours to work on automation projects.

Developing new measurement tools to improve the long-term health, productivity and sustainability of our talent? Fantastic. Let’s explore industry wide partnerships with research-based organisations like the Black Dog Institute and EnergX (surely mental health is an area where we can loosen our focus on competitive advantage).

We’ve had the fantastic opportunity to come together as a collective and have some genuinely important conversations, but the part that really excites me is what happens next.