By: Joseph Jaffe

“It’s not important to be the best accountant but it is important to hire the best accountant.”

Those are the words of wisdom from my first boss and mentor some 15 years ago in South Africa.

I’ve always felt that this advice was consistent with the notion of surrounding oneself with the best and brightest people you can find.

So imagine my disappointment at having to rethink this statement in recent times to be at best only partially accurate. In today’s marketplace, it’s not good enough to entrust others with innovation, change or the future.

Indeed, there is a dearth of talent and visible thought leadership. The leadership void is growing. Meanwhile, change and evolution seem to be gaining momentum and velocity.

On some levels, what we are experiencing in marketing is an extension of Moore’s Law. According to Moore’s Law, the number of transistors that can be inexpensively placed on an integrated circuit is increasing exponentially, doubling approximately every two years. And if a doubling of speed every two years isn’t challenging enough, the cost associated is essentially halving. “Better, cheaper, faster” some traditional indicators of progress have never felt so unsettling.

In marketing, it would seem that every two years we experience almost a doubling of new opportunities, technologies, touchpoints or distractions. While many approaches are not very expensive at all (think: blogging), the opportunity cost of doing nothing is skyrocketing.

So what to do about it? One short answer: Experience it for yourselves. I can’t tell you how many times I stand up in front of businesspeople and ask the same questions: How many of you subscribe to at least one podcast? How many have spent more than four hours in a virtual world? How many have ever commented on a blog? Usually, I can count the number of people on two hands or less.

Again, not good enough.

To understand your consumers, walk in their proverbial moccasins (or, these days, perhaps I should say mules). To do this, you need to frolic amidst the 70 million blogs and gauge firsthand the power of citizen journalism or consumer generated content. Want to court influencers? Stop blasting them with form e-mails and start a meaningful conversation.

The path to the future begins with a simple and single action. And it’s yours to take if you’re up for the challenge. Find out what’s real by carving out a few minutes daily to connect with change. You’ll find myriad methods for capitalizing on these trends in surprising ways that will benefit your brand, business and bottom line.

And that’s something worth taking back to the accountant.

Joseph Jaffe is president and chief interruptor of crayon, an advisory group.