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Companies are losing control.

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What happens on Wall Street

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no longer stays on Wall Street.

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What happens in Vegas ends up on YouTube. (Laughter)

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Reputations are volatile. Loyalties are fickle.

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Management teams seem increasingly

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disconnected from their staff. (Laughter)

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A recent survey said that 27 percent of bosses believe

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their employees are inspired by their firm.

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However, in the same survey, only four percent

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of employees agreed.

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Companies are losing control

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of their customers and their employees.

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But are they really?

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I'm a marketer, and as a marketer, I know

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that I've never really been in control.

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Your brand is what other people say about you

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when you're not in the room, the saying goes.

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Hyperconnectivity and transparency allow companies

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to be in that room now, 24/7.

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They can listen and join the conversation.

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In fact, they have more control over the loss of control

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than ever before.

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They can design for it. But how?

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First of all, they can give employees and customers more control.

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They can collaborate with them on the creation of ideas,

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knowledge, content, designs and product.

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They can give them more control over pricing,

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which is what the band Radiohead did

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with its pay-as-you-like online release of its album

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"In Rainbows." Buyers could determine the price,

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but the offer was exclusive, and only stood for a limited period of time.

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The album sold more copies than previous releases of the band.

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The Danish chocolate company Anthon Berg

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opened a so-called "generous store" in Copenhagen.

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It asked customers to purchase chocolate

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with the promise of good deeds towards loved ones.

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It turned transactions into interactions,

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and generosity into a currency.

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Companies can even give control to hackers.

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When Microsoft Kinect came out,

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the motion-controlled add-on to its Xbox gaming console,

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it immediately drew the attention of hackers.

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Microsoft first fought off the hacks, but then shifted course

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when it realized that actively supporting the community

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came with benefits.

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The sense of co-ownership, the free publicity,

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the added value, all helped drive sales.

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The ultimate empowerment of customers

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is to ask them not to buy.

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Outdoor clothier Patagonia encouraged prospective buyers

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to check out eBay for its used products

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and to resole their shoes before purchasing new ones.

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In an even more radical stance against consumerism,

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the company placed a "Don't Buy This Jacket"

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advertisement during the peak of shopping season.

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It may have jeopardized short-term sales,

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but it builds lasting, long-term loyalty

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based on shared values.

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Research has shown that giving employees more control

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over their work makes them happier and more productive.

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The Brazilian company Semco Group famously

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lets employees set their own work schedules

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and even their salaries.

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Hulu and Netflix, among other companies,

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have open vacation policies.

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Companies can give people more control,

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but they can also give them less control.

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Traditional business wisdom holds that trust

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is earned by predictable behavior,

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but when everything is consistent and standardized,

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how do you create meaningful experiences?

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Giving people less control might be a wonderful way

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to counter the abundance of choice

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and make them happier.

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Take the travel service Nextpedition.

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Nextpedition turns the trip into a game,

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with surprising twists and turns along the way.

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It does not tell the traveler where she's going

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until the very last minute, and information is provided

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just in time. Similarly, Dutch airline KLM

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launched a surprise campaign, seemingly randomly

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handing out small gifts to travelers

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en route to their destination.

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U.K.-based Interflora monitored Twitter

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for users who were having a bad day,

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and then sent them a free bouquet of flowers.

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Is there anything companies can do to make

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their employees feel less pressed for time? Yes.

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Force them to help others.

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A recent study suggests that having employees complete

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occasional altruistic tasks throughout the day

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increases their sense of overall productivity.

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At Frog, the company I work for, we hold internal

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speed meet sessions that connect old and new employees,

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helping them get to know each other fast.

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By applying a strict process, we give them less control,

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less choice, but we enable more and richer social interactions.

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Companies are the makers of their fortunes,

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and like all of us, they are utterly exposed to serendipity.

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That should make them more humble, more vulnerable

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and more human.

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At the end of the day, as hyperconnectivity

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and transparency expose companies' behavior

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in broad daylight, staying true to their true selves

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is the only sustainable value proposition.

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Or as the ballet dancer Alonzo King said,

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"What's interesting about you is you."

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For the true selves of companies to come through,

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openness is paramount,

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but radical openness is not a solution,

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because when everything is open, nothing is open.

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"A smile is a door that is half open and half closed,"

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the author Jennifer Egan wrote.

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Companies can give their employees and customers

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more control or less. They can worry about how much

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openness is good for them, and what needs to stay closed.

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Or they can simply smile, and remain open

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to all possibilities.

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Thank you. (Applause)

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(Applause)