Who are the stumbling blocks to progress in your organization? I bet you could name a few who sit at your meeting and who have that glazed look when something risky/new/untested is suggested.

At a conference in the U.K. last week called Verge, Ogilvy Interactive has been discussing just this. More specifically how “luddites, conservatives, late adopters, naysayers, people with legal degrees and others in the organization” stand in the way of digital progress.

They were looking at how brands need to “listen, engage, experiment” to stay relevant in today’s networked economy. One post had this on marketing: “avoid fishing in a shrinking and over fished pool.” To which I feel like adding “avoid using the same bait when your move to a different pool.”

Not sure what the “people with legal degrees” was supposed to mean, but I often hear people complain that legal department often puts the damper on a campaigns. Shel Holtz and Neville Hobson for instance talk of  how it’s now in vogue for HR and Legal to ban Facebook, on the grounds of being concerned about employees spending too much time there, having no clue about the productivity gains being made because of these informal networks.