We’re living in a time where everything is potentially available to everyone. With the resources at their disposal, and the inclination, more than 99.9 percent of the people on Earth can access any available item on the planet. Populations that are closed off to the world for whatever reason may face some extra challenges, but ultimately, anything for everyone is true. In addition to this, and certainly not to dismiss the problems individuals, groups and societies face, right now could be, on average, the best life for a human in known history. A greater percentage of people can exist, work, learn and strive on their own terms than ever before, supporting the position that this is a wonderful time to be living.

The marketplace has existed since ancient times, but prior to that, it is thought that people claimed what they wanted with force, guile or whatever else they had in their arsenal. Consider the all-too-common statements: “Too much to buy!” “It’s not in stock!” “It's too expensive!” “This is not fit for purpose!” This societal norm that can be a source of angst, is actually preferable to its predecessor, what a grand time to be alive! It is also safe to assume that we’ve all made or been exposed to a financial transaction in some form. From this, anyone with a rudimentary understanding of economics would be equipped to accept that this event is the most basic unit of the force that propels the whole financial system. That is, one person wanting to buy something from another.

In the present day, the competition for commercial survival has never been more intense, everyone is fighting for that same dollar. Sales, advertising, marketing and so much more exists with the sole aim of influencing where that dollar goes next. The intensity of this competition is in no small part a result of the continuing digital penetration of society. While Moore’s Law referred originally to numbers of transistors (processing and storage), this then drags most other aspects of computing into exponential growth as well. Consider the current digital universe, leap forward two years and it will be twice as complex and twice as fast. Those that evolve quickly and constantly will survive, their influence on a dollar’s trajectory will be strongest and could also grow exponentially.

Jack White of The White Stripes said it best, “I guess you have to have a problem if you want to invent a contraption.” Invention and innovation solve problems. The design and delivery are the beginning and only a small part of the journey for a long-standing product. Part of that bigger journey is refinement of the product or solution itself but also effectively equipping the decision makers to lead and push in the right directions at the right times.

The way of the world and human nature dictates that people, companies, and nations crave the competitive advantage that comes from respecting these concepts. In the last decade (and probably for many of the preceding), governments have undertaken research to uncover the reasons why innovation is failing to commercialise, more specifically, failing to commercialise locally. There is no shortage of deliverable ideas—it is the entry and contribution to national industry that is missing. An immeasurable number of causes can block the growth and success of a viable product, especially with the nature of our digital world. There is, however, a possible root cause, common to the majority that strayed from their intended path of becoming unicorns.

There is one thing that all market leaders are doing right by accident or design. Conversely, there are foundational principles, that if ignored, are a roadmap to obscurity. Thoughts of, “Wow, that went huge!” or “I wish we had held onto that,” are in the post if there is failure to accept this single concept. Are you following best practice in managing your information internally and using it to control your presence in the global digital marketplace?