Timo Hannay has shared his personal perspective on the business of publishing now over at his Nature web publishing blog, Nascent – link
It’s almost as hard for a publisher to become a technology company as it is for me to become Japanese. But if we’re in the business of information – and we are – then mastering information technology isn’t an optional extra, it’s central to our future. In taking on this challenge, I think we would do well to apply the mindset that has served successful real-world immigrants so well:
- Learn the language(s)
- Respect new cultural norms (where possible, don’t sue your customers)
- Suppress any sense of entitlement (onus is on us, “Only the paranoid survive” – Andy Grove)
- Work hard
- Listen, learn, adapt
This may sound like a humble posture, and in some ways it is. But as for real-world migrants this humility will be our strength.
