The world is changing fast… so fast that saying those words simply doesn’t do justice to the rapid-fire speed of transformation.  New technologies, terminologies and strategies emerge practically daily.  The Blockchain.  Artificial Intelligence.  3D printers.  Biohybrid Robots.   Underwater drones.  Quantum computers.  Virtual Reality.  Augmented Reality.  Fusion Energy.  Gene Editing.  The list goes on and on.  There isn’t an industry or field in which advances are not happening at a dizzying pace.  And thus businesses are having to evolve at a faster pace.  Business leaders are having to parse through mountains of information to determine what matters and what doesn’t, and then how to act on it.  More than ever, there is a need to quickly separate the wheat from the proverbial chaff to identify quality information and apply it wisely.  But how do we know what sources are offering advice that is solid, reliable and worthy?

It used to be that certain publications, books, news channels, universities and organizations were considered the gold standard for business advice.  But as media has struggled to keep up with the digital age, sources that were once considered unimpeachable have begun to allow chaff in with the wheat.  Universities have begun to conduct studies on behalf of big business to skew information in one direction or another.  No longer can an organization or publication be accepted at face value as completely unbiased and reliable.   Thanks to self-publishing and print-on-demand, having a book in print does not necessarily make an “author” of a business book an “authority” on business.  Leaders and managers must be much more discerning of what information is consumed, trusted and implemented.  So how do you sort out the nonsense and fluff from solidly researched and validated information?

1. Business Advice from Commercial Publications & Programs

There is certainly no shortage of daily, weekly and monthly publications and TV and online programs that put out scads of commentary, analysis, synthesis and evaluation for the world of business on practices and strategies.  While many publications are highly biased and unreliable, there are a plethora that rise above to be considered “reputable sources” of business advice in the U.S.  Some to consider include:

• Wall Street Journal
• New York Times
• Forbes
• BusinessWeek
• The Economist
• Fortune
• Inc
• Fast Company
• Ad Week
• Accounting Today
• Crains
• Entrepreneur
• Kiplingers
• Money
• Robb Report
• Success
• Worth

But, can these sources be completely trusted to produce nothing but pure quality information?  The simple but unfortunate answer is no.  A cursory review can easily produce articles that argue in favor of and against any strategy, without supporting data for either.  Bias and ulterior motives infiltrate.  It’s harder and harder to distinguish a scholarly article from marketing hype anymore.

Case in point.  Inc. magazine recently published an article titled “Don’t Risk an Outdated Marketing Strategy – Make This 1 Type of Content Your Top Priority in 2018”.[1] The author, Amy Balliett, CEO and Owner of Killer Infographics, advised that “Visual Content Marketing is The New Content Marketing.”  She went on to recommend that companies should “plan to produce eBooks, animated video, interactive content, memes, gifs, and infographics at regular intervals.”  She cautioned, however, to “remember that 94% of first impressions are based entirely on the design of the visual content you deliver, according to a multi-university study by Northumbria and Sheffield University. Let your content display a commitment to quality and authority versus a commitment to fast and cheap.”

Of course, creating quality visual content is what Ms. Balliett does for a living so it is hard to know if her article was valid or nothing more than sales disguised as business advice.  Also, the research she mentions is vague.  And her advice is particularly questionable in light of conflicting information.  An article published in Entrepreneur Magazine a month later cited the top “18 Marketing Trends to Watch in 2018.”[2] In that article, Deep Patel, an Entrepreneur Magazine Contributor, recommends a host of marketing strategies that will dominate in 2018 but Visual Content Marketing was not mentioned as a top trend.  The strategies he recommended included:  artificial intelligence in email, quantitative marketing, personalization, augmented reality, auto ads, voice-optimized content, privacy protection, more Instagram, live events, more LinkedIn, predictive lead scoring, machine learning, and influencer marketing.  Video or visual content marketing did not even get mentioned, which makes Balliett’s advice to make visual content the “#1 priority” seem even more biased.

When a so-called reputable publication says one thing, and another reputable publication says something completely different, what is a business leader to do?  Which advice should be followed?  This is where business leaders need to consider the source.  Assessment of the advice and business discernment is required.  This holds true for published content as well as for online and television business programs.  It’s important to ask questions such as:

• Who is this “expert” and how is he/she qualified to give this type of advice?
• Does this “expert” have a vested interest in or benefit from promoting a particular angle or message?
• Is the “expert” a regular contributor or guest contributor a/k/a freelance writer or marketer?
• Did the “expert” fully cite any reputable studies to support the advice?
• Do other sources also reinforce the same advice?

2. Business Advice from Academic Institutions & Journals

Rather than be guided by questionable sources, business leaders might do better to take their advice from scholarly sources.  At an even higher level of reputation and reliability is the research and development in business being conducted by leading universities in the U.S.  Leading graduate programs for Business Administration[3] include:  Harvard University;  Wharton;  Northwestern (Kellogg);  Dartmouth;  MIT (Sloan);   UC Berkeley;  Cornell (Johnson);   Dartmouth (Tuck);   Columbia;  University of Chicago (Booth);   Yale;  and Duke (Fuqua).  That’s just a tip of the iceberg.  The list of top business grad schools goes on and on.  These institutions not only conduct research, but also offer continuing education seminars, online learning and summer intensive courses for business leaders that want to refresh or augment their skills.

These universities regularly publish scholarly articles in top academic journals.  Such journals for business include[4]:

• Harvard Business Review
• Journal of Internet Banking and Commerce
• International Journal of Economics & Management Sciences
• Business and Economic Journal
• Journal of Business & Financial Affairs
• Journal of Hotel & Business Management
• International Journal of Accounting Research
• Journal of Entrepreneurship & Organizational Management
• Industrial Engineering & Management
• Journal of Tourism & Hospitality
• Journal of Global Economics
• Journal of Accounting & Marketing