The document summarizes key takeaways from the 2018 Innovation Mission, which involved 26 media executives visiting 12 companies over a week to learn about innovation. The top 4 takeaways were: 1) addressing human capital problems is critical to survival; 2) all processes must start with the customer; 3) failure must be an accepted part of culture; and 4) innovation requires structure. Specific challenges around workforce skills and diversity were also discussed. Opportunities for collaboration on skills assessment tools were presented.

1. Innovation Mission Top Takeaways
Presented by Nancy Lane, President, Local
Media Association, Matt Sandberg,
Director of Marketing & Innovation, Swift
Communications & Jeff Moriarty, Head of
Digital, GateHouse Media
AUGUST 23, 2018
LEAP ROUNDTABLE
VAIL, COLORADO

2. About the 2018 Innovation Mission:
26 media executives & R&D partners
participated on this year’s tour
Visits with 12 companies in NYC & Seattle:
Lenfest, Spoken Layer, Chartbeat,
Betaworks, Facebook, Instagram, NYC
Media Lab, Mercer Innovation Hub,
Amazon, Sinclair, TEGNA & The Seattle
Times.
This was the 9th week-long Innovation
Mission led by LMA. Regional Innovation
Missions were also launched in 2017 (five
have been conducted since then ).

3. 4 Top Takeaways:
• The Dirty Secret – Human
Capital Problems Are Killing Us
• We Must Start Every Process
with the Customer & Work
Backwards
• Failure Must Be Part of Our
DNA & Culture
• Innovation Requires Structure

4. The Dirty Secret: Human Capital
Problems Are Killing Us
“The dirty secret isn’t that the best people leave; it’s
that’s the wrong people stay” – Brian Baker, Partner,
U.S. Digital Workforce, Mercer

5. The Dirty Secret: Human Capital
Problems Are Killing Us
Today’s Top Leaders/CEOs Don’t Have the Skill Sets
Needed to Transform Companies & Manage the
Workforce of the Future:
• Learning orientation
• Openness to experience
• Emotional stability
• Agreeableness
• Proactivity
• Conscientiousness
• Extraversion

6. The Dirty Secret: Human Capital
Problems Are Killing Us
The Workforce of the Future:
• Built for speed (data-driven, lab mindset)
• Working with purpose (social responsibility, health and wellbeing)
• People-led, technology-enabled (integrate technology with workforce)
• Intentionally diverse (people, opinions, actions)
• Permanently agile (adaptive, fluid talent ecosystem)

7. Opportunity with Mercer Innovation
Lab
Pymetrics Matching Tool
We are working with Mercer and Pymetrics on a matching tool to use when hiring
digital sales reps. GateHouse & Graham Media Group are working with us to figure
out the details.
In a nutshell: We will test the top digital reps from 10 companies to get a profile.
Those companies will then hire using the profile as well as the “gut of the hiring
manager”; we’ll measure and see if the cloning tool works. If so, we’ll roll it out to
the industry.

8. We Must Start Every Process with the
Customer and Work Backwards
“Proper etiquette is to put the chair
in the room; they all speak with the
same voice at Amazon.” - Brad
Ward, CEO, TownNews
“I’m going to conduct a mini
strategy offsite that puts the
customer first when I get back.” –
Peter Newton, Chief Operating
Officer, GateHouse Media

9. Failure Must Be Part of Our DNA &
Culture

10. Innovation Requires Structure
“Innovation needs
to be extremely
structured; there
must be processes
in place. Design-
thinking is not a
silver bullet.” –
John Clark,
Executive Director,
PILOT/NAB
“At TEGNA, they are walking the walk,
they are innovating all over. You saw
it. You felt it. Frank Mungeam’s ‘we
start our sessions with what are we
going to stop doing’ was so refreshing
to me.” - John Conway, General
Manager, WRAL/Capital
Broadcasting.

11. THANK YOU!
Nancy Lane
nancy.lane@localmedia.org

12. Additional Insights from Matt
Sandberg on the Visit to Amazon…

13. And Jeff Moriarty from NYC Portion of
the Trip…