I was chatting with a long-time friend - one of those few knowledgeable pros who give me hope when I start losing perspective - about the state of the industry. I’m still working on the second part of the “How Cinemas May Be Reconfigured by COVID” series, which started over a month ago, and I was looking for some details.
And the word “intention” came into the conversation.
That word is kinda everything.
Intention.
Not just good or bad intentions. Those are another judgment.
But what does each of us want?
I have always believed that it is not my role, in life or professionally, to judge what others want. People, aside from causing direct harm to others, have a right to their desires. For me, the conversation starts with an honest assessment of what it is that one wants.
In this industry, there are a lot of people riding the (often gold-plated) bus, just watching the world go by, comfortable with the route set by others.
There are others who are deeply committed to defining the route… some with the intention of building a better, more complex industry that is both financially successful and enriches the societies of the world, while others intent is based on short-term thinking and goals that are self-serving without much if any consideration of what they will leave in their wake.
Many are content to let those with intent do what they will, sure that nothing can ever change by intent, and that the industry is just a big ocean of circumstance that is beyond being worthy of even the time to seriously consider anything other than what is placed in front of them.
And there are those who desire, deeply, to state and work towards their intentions, even without the power to make real change. They believe in the aspirations that make the heart and mind soar. Sometimes, their intentions are unrealistic, steeped in the fantasy of what is within the realm of the possible, but highly unlikely.
I think that the mess of this moment in time, for all the good reasons why things are a mess in this industry right now, is really about intentions. There is no agreement on intentions, except that everyone wants to win. Many are abandoning what has worked for what they hope might work. But each power center has a different idea of what might work. The PH balance in the ecosystem is off the charts.
Markets don’t settle (or determine the future) when intentions are not, at least generally, agreed upon.
So we live in an industry driven by the unintended consequences of choices made random by the lack of consensus.
Will there be a wake-up call? Or will we all sleepwalk into a buzz saw?
The thing is, there are so many smart and talented people and so much money involved that wherever the die is cast, adjustments will be made and the industry will survive better than we expect.
But the die needs to be cast. And leadership needs to all be around that craps table, watching, if not always participating.
Showing intention.
Until tomorrow…
THB #49: Intention.