I can’t remember being this excited about the near future in quite a while. Double dip recession? Sorry, I just can’t get bogged down in that self-defeating, preemptive depression. I’ve been in and out of the job market for well over a year now, and I see fantastic opportunities everywhere! Mobile, social, video, interactive, any number of combinations of these things, for both consumers and enterprises. And the changing dynamics of the workforce, workplace and how products get built…  you’d have to be dead not to be excited!

One example: I recently completed — or at least put on hiatus — a seven month consulting gig helping lead the transformation of a young startup with a dead-end business model to an entirely different business, with a new market, new product and service offering, and new business model. Very fun, exciting, high stakes stuff, albeit on a small scale. The new business was to be a variation of the 15-year old “digital out-of-home-media” business that has shown much promise in several industries, but which has struggled amidst changing expectations, under-served constituents (viewers, venues and those footing the bill, often advertisers) and a weak economy. This was to be different, though, in that while broadcast media was at the core, that was really the hook to drive engaged viewers into other, integrated services like shopping, gaming, social networking and other interactive commerce, all the while serving up a highly desirable and easily targetable audience to marketers and advertisers. Very exciting stuff… but it remains difficult to align funding, investment, sales, and expectations of a return for those putting up the money. Thus, the hiatus.

Despite having invested several years in the digital media/away-from-home TV business, years filled with very challenging and rewarding work alongside fantastically bright and creative people of all stripes, building something new and with great promise, the continuing malaise in that particular industry today has been enough to keep me from jumping back in full time. Rather, I’ve consulted to stay engaged and productive while beginning to explore other, new frontiers.

Those particular frontiers — Web 2.0, social networking, interactive media, SaaS, cloud computing, and the like — aren’t exactly new. I mean, they’ve been around for a few years now, right? But the pace at which they are evolving, and creating NEW, and redefining the way people interact personally, socially, professionally, and commercially, is so fast it feels new every day. Heck, there is something new every day, and something both new and important seemingly every week!

So, what’s the upshot of all this rumination?

I don’t know yet exactly what my next full time employment is going to be, but I do know this: the accelerating pace of innovation and transformation in technology and business/commerce requires more than ever smart, creative and highly adaptive leaders who thrive on change, can coax/guide highly productive collaboration from increasingly diverse teams of people, and still have the discipline to deliver what those paying the bills need. And it’s going to take hard work and commitment for the long haul to create something with truly lasting value.

I also know that I’m pretty fired up about getting back in when I find it… that next gig is going to rock!