11/28/2023
Five years ago (Nov. 28, 2018), Forbes published a piece by Jason Girzadas titled, “Don’t Be Paralyzed By The Speed Of Change.” At the time, Girzadas was a global managing principal of consulting at Deloitte US, and five months ago he became its CEO. Instead of sticking his head in the sand when confronted with the speed of change, he chose to adapt; and look where he is now. Publishing is beset by rapid change like every other industry. The question we face is, how adaptable are we?
Girzadas discusses three areas where change is transforming business:
- Evolution—and sometimes revolution—of tools and technologies
- Specialization and disaggregation of businesses
- Achieving customer centricity
Adaptability, of course, relates to changes across all three of these areas. Either we adapt or we become irrelevant. Book publishers historically have been slow to adapt to change but that no longer works if they want to survive. Tools and technologies are to some extent the easiest things to adapt to, because we can see them in action. We aren’t always able to see far enough into the future, though, to grasp all the implications or applications of these tools and technologies. Consequently, we must take calculated risks in what technology we buy into, literally, and how we use it. Radius Book Group leans into new technologies and tries to stay ahead of new developments. If anything, we are early adopters.
Specialization and disaggregation are a bit more challenging to adapt to. It is hard to know where to invest and grow and where to divest and shrink one’s footprint. For hybrid publishers like Radius, specialization and disaggregation represent opportunities, more than challenges. These changes open doors to new ways of relating to authors and new types of services we can offer.
At the heart of Radius Book Group’s identity is putting authors first. You are our customers and we focus on being customer-centric every single day. A requirement of being customer-centric is being agile, to respond to changes while making a dizzying array of decisions. As Girzadas recommends, to be successful in this rapidly changing environment, Radius “orchestrate[s] their ecosystem strategies around customer needs.”
If you are looking for an adaptable publishing partner, go no further than Radius Book Group.