The Burning Platform, the Boiled Frog and the Rusting Platform

(Sorry about the cryptic title, but it seemed worth it.)

The ‘burning platform’ idea hit the news in February 2011 when a memo written by the Nokia CEO Stephen Elop used the metaphor as an ‘inspiration’ to his staff to be decisive about necessary changes. He wrote about a man standing on a burning oil rig who was faced with choosing between a fiery death and a jump into the freezing sea. Elop was trying to impress on his staff that people will only make a painful change when it is absolutely necessary to do so (and, perhaps, to frighten them into placidly accepting the subsequent deal he made with his former employers, Microsoft).
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ASA Conference Presentation on the Role of the Intermediary

On 22 February 2011, I spoke at the ASA Conference in London. My presentation explored the nature of the intermediaries – organisations and technologies – that are positioned between authors and readers, and the roles that these intermediaries carry out. I attempted to deconstruct these roles (like a bad magician deconstructing your pocket-watch) and drew attention to the potentially increasing or diminishing importance of each role in the supply chain (or the demand chain), with special reference to the electronic world. The presentation contained messages of both doom and hope for intermediaries, as the threats and opportunities of the impending e-only world continue to unfold themselves.

You can view a video of the presentation here:
http://blog.publishingtechnology.com/supply-chain/role-intermediary-publishing-technology-asa-conference-2011/