Let there be light

Last Friday, iPerceptions held its first Advisory Council meeting in Montreal with our management team, and newly formed advisory council comprised of such notables as Avinash Kaushik, Bryan Eisenberg, Mitch Joel, Alex Lowy, Nick Coutts and Dr. Antonio Ciampi. Aside from some very poignant discussions around our strategic direction, and the web analytics market in general, we discussed everything from social media to convergence to corporate responsibility to building value based brands, and everything in between. It was a truly enlightening day.

It’s no accident that we brought these great minds together. In forming our Advisory Council, we looked for true thought leaders in their respective fields whose individual experiences would add value and insight. Each contributed to the discussion by adding their personal and professional perspective on the medium, the market and the role that iPerceptions plays in democratizing the voice of the online customer.

It made me think of an article I read by Jack Welsh in The Wall Street Journal just prior to the election in 2004.

Jack Welsh said: “Every time we had a crisis at GE, I would quickly assemble a group of the smartest, gutsiest people I could find at any level from within the company and sometimes without, and lean on them heavily for their knowledge and advice. I would make sure everyone in the room came at the problem from a different angle, and then I would have us all wallow in the information as we worked to solve the crisis. These sessions were almost always contentious, and the opinions that came at me strong and varied. And yet, my best decisions arose from what I learned in these debates. Disagreement surfaced meaningful questions and forced us to challenge assumptions. Everyone came out of the experience more informed and better prepared to take on the next crisis.”

Business is great. Successful companies are the engine of a healthy society and nothing short of the foundation of a free and democratic world. The minds that we surround ourselves with in business is a key element of success. Based on the brain power present at our Advisory Council meeting, I would say success is ours to lose.
After all…we are in the business of listening. Aren’t we all? Shouldn’t we all be?

…Ad speaking of listening…be sure to check out Episode #71 of Six Pixels of Separation - The Twist Image Podcast where Mitch Joel speaks with Bryan Eisenberg and Avinash Kaushik.

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