We've Entered a New Era & The Old Playbook Has Officially Expired
By Jenifer DeSofi | Business & Culture Advisor | CXO | ex Disney ex Levi’s
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Duo Keyshauna Renee Lingo, aka 'Duo the Owl,' is dead. If those seven words read like a cultural epic, you likely already grasp why this storyline showcases creative genius in action—keep reading; this piece is your vibe.
If you're at a loss, don't turn back—keep reading. What follows will reveal why a mascot’s demise is a killer (pun intended) case study in the seismic shift happening in the business of business.
TL;DR—We've entered The Culture Economy, and that means it's time for a new playbook.
THE CULTURE ECONOMY: IYKYK
Business is no longer just about products and marketing. We’ve entered the Era of the Culture Economy, where cultural fluency is the biggest flex and the ultimate currency for success. In this new era, results hinge on your ability to exist within culture natively, instinctively grasp it, authentically engage with it, and—if you’re lucky—lead it.
Just look at Duolingo 's Duo the Owl's tragic demise: a masterclass in turning a brand mascot into a center-of-cultural moment with everyone from Gen Z creators to Fortune 500 brands playing along, helping to remix, amplify, and evolve the narrative in real-time.
But what separates this era from those that came before is that it is not about one-off viral moments or perfectly executed social posts. It is about developing a new organizational DNA that makes cultural relevance as natural as breathing.
This isn't a marketing strategy; it's a total business transformation. I posit that it demands a new breed of leadership and is based on a next-gen playbook that redefines the rules of business success as follows:
Creativity as Strategy: Where creativity is the driver of business.
Culture Scripting: Where we don’t just tell stories, we invite people to step inside, interact, and co-create.
Next-Gen Leadership: Where we build and lead organizations in entirely new ways.
If you follow Duolingo, you’re witnessing this playbook of the future in action. They aren’t just reacting to culture; they’re scripting it—shaping conversations, redefining business models, and designing moments that demand participation by living at the center of culture.
It works because creativity isn’t a campaign; it’s part of their organizational foundation. Cultural fluency and the confidence to be strategically ‘unhinged’ (a word they have embedded into their company handbook) fuel their entire strategy, which is backed by a fresh business model built for impact.
And the results speak for themselves!
This new playbook is the blueprint for the future of business. In The Culture Economy, you don’t compete for attention—you create something so culturally resonant that attention becomes inevitable.
WELCOME CULTURE SCRIPTING, THE HOTSHOT NEW HIRE
Success in the future demands the employment of a radical rethink: storytelling has been demoted.
That's not hyperbole. It's a fundamental shift in how culture moves. Storytelling invites people to listen, while Culture Scripting invites them to step inside, interact, and co-create. It’s not a narrative being pushed out; it’s a cultural space being opened up.
Culture Scripting’s magic lies in its multiplier effect. The original story isn't an endpoint; it's a spark that ignites a chain reaction and catalyzes new interpretations and expressions. When done right, you can't tell where the brand's influence ends and organic cultural momentum begins.
In this new era, one thing is clear: you won't win by telling better stories. You'll win by creating better spaces for culture to emerge, evolve, and expand—and by understanding The Vibe Shift so deeply that participation feels instinctive rather than orchestrated.
To quote Kendrick Lamar, "…you can't fake influence." Real cultural resonance comes from being so naturally embedded in the zeitgeist that your moves feel less like marketing and more like cultural prophecy.
And in a world where cultural prophecy is the new currency, creativity isn't just part of the strategy—it is the strategy.
CREATIVITY AS STRATEGY: NOT A VIBE CHECK; IT'S THE WHOLE VIBE SHIFT
Creativity is the most powerful force in business. Full stop.
It's not just the thing that makes your posts go viral or your campaigns hit; it's the entire engine of modern business success and competitive advantage.
The next-gen playbook flips the script on how we think about creativity. Creativity has been treated like the garnish on a business strategy plate for far too long—nice to have but not essential to the meal. That mindset is as dead as Duo (RIP, bestie). In the Culture Economy, creativity isn't just an output of your business strategy; it's the foundation on which it's built.
What may seem chaotic from the outside is actually calculated cultural intuition at work. The most impactful cultural branding efforts might appear to involve randomness; however, every seemingly random move represents creativity in action, supported by a deep understanding of the vibes.
When creativity becomes a core strategy, it transforms the entire trajectory of the business.
This shift demands that creativity be funded, prioritized, and given the infrastructure to scale. It involves reimagining everything from team structures to success metrics. When creativity is your strategy, your KPIs shift from traditional metrics to cultural impact indicators, and your org chart becomes less about hierarchy and more about enabling creative flow.
The future of business isn't just about generating new ideas—it's about building the systems where those ideas can thrive and scale. That's what separates strategic unhinged energy from just being unhinged.
NEXT-GEN BUSINESS REQUIRES A NEXT-GEN BUSINESS MODEL
The new playbook doesn't ask you to choose between structure and creativity—it demands both. Being strategically unhinged isn't about throwing spaghetti at the wall and hoping something sticks. It's about building a wall that's specifically engineered for premium spaghetti-throwing.
The Culture Economy will be powered by a completely reimagined business model. It's not just new processes layered on old foundations—it's a ground-up rebuilding of how businesses operate.
We're talking about org charts designed for creative velocity, incentive systems that reward calculated risks, and frameworks that trust creative instincts. Creativity without structure is chaos, but structure without creativity is corporate death.
This era also calls for a new kind of leadership. Where command and control once drove results through operational excellence and process optimization, success in the future calls for a different type of leader.
It demands leaders who 'get it'—systems thinkers who create environments where creativity is as natural as breathing. The most effective future leaders will not just manage people, processes, and profit but also energy, culture, and momentum. Actively setting the conditions for sustained business performance by creating an ecosystem that powers cultural relevance and removes the roadblocks that stifle creative momentum.
The new playbook doesn't just invite creativity; it builds the infrastructure to unleash it.
THE CULTURE ECONOMY MANIFESTO: STRATEGICALLY UNHINGED EDITION
The old playbook is dead, and the new one is being written in real time. It will be a perpetual WIP that rewards those who embrace being uncomfortable—and it will demand:
Culture-first thinking—embed into culture, don't just react to it
Participation over perfection—engagement beats polish every time
Entertainment as strategy—attention is earned, not bought
Creative autonomy—hire the ones who get it, then get out of their way
Strategic unpredictability—embrace chaos, but back it with intent
Momentum over messaging—create energy, don't control it
Next-gen leadership—manage energy, not just people and process
This all might feel pretty uncomfortable. After all, being strategically unhinged isn't for the faint of heart. The old ways were safe, predictable, and easy to execute. You could run them in your sleep. That's precisely why they don't work anymore.
So, take a moment to work through your business grief. (I'll wait.)
Now, step into the stage the old playbook never prepared you for: Rebirth.
Sadly, Duo is dead.
The old playbook is also dead.
But business potential has never been more alive.
Thank You, Duo Keyshauna Renee Lingo, for the laughs, endless entertainment, and inspiration.
Kudos, Zaria Parvez and the entire Duolingo team, thank you for your strategically unhinged genius and masterclass in the next-gen business playbook! Bravo!
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