Editor’s note: In an ongoing series, INMA is profiling our most engaged members — our super fans. At a time when we have less face-to-face time, we hope this gives members a chance to learn more about each other. Today we profile Eduardo Lindenberg de Azevedo, innovation and new business director for Rede Gazeta/A Gazeta in Vitória, Brazil.

Eduardo Lindenberg de Azevedo, innovation and new business director for Rede Gazeta/A Gazeta in Vitória, Brazil, is excited about the company-wide Innovation Program it recently launched. The mission programme features select squads focused on new digital revenues.

“We expect managed communities to help us help them, building stronger connections, having a deeper and measurable impact, and opening multiple new monetisation opportunities,” Azevedo said.

While he is working hard to create innovation, Azevedo believes it’s paramount to enjoy more of life’s journey and to take more time to exercise and be healthier. “It takes discipline, but it’s certainly a lever to productivity,” he said.

INMA recently caught up with him to learn more about him.

INMA: What big lesson have you learned over the past couple of years that helped shape your plans for 2022?

Azevedo: More important than finding a new business model for media is changing our company from within so we can learn to adapt faster, act and learn quickly and cheaply, in order to gradually evolve and sustainably grow.

INMA: What makes you excited to get out of bed in the morning?

Azevedo: I like to connect two Ayn Rand quotes that keep me really motivated, working purposefully and excited with life and humanity: “Happiness is that state of consciousness which proceeds from the achievement of one’s values,” and “Anyone who fights for the future, lives in it today.”

INMA: What is the craziest job or project you’ve ever done in media — and what did you learn from it?

Azevedo: Back in 2015, our digital development team started a series of company-wide events called “Day One,” intended to inform, inspire, and motivate our various departments with digital culture. We tried a few different approaches to engage people from the printing press staff to board directors, including starting our events with the “Harlem Shake” dance to get people out of their safe zones. It was fun, it did stir some minds, but it didn’t last long.

INMA: What success within your company are you most proud of right now?

Azevedo: It’s just the beginning, but we’re bringing down silos, promoting agile collaboration, finding more and more synergies whilst promoting deep cultural shifts which will undoubtedly allow us to tackle head-first the upcoming challenges and opportunities in our industry and region.

INMA: What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned in your career?

Azevedo: It’s humbling how much we don’t know about what we do, and especially in this fast-paced rhythm of change, the foremost priority must be to keep learning. It’s surprisingly disappointing that this rationale isn’t a larger part of our global common knowledge, given it’s been well framed for quite a while since Socrates said, “Intelligent individuals learn from everything and everyone; average people, from their experiences. The stupid already have all the answers.”

INMA: What do you do to relax?

Azevedo: Family, friends, and tennis.

INMA: What is your favourite thing to read?

Azevedo: Besides my news, every other hour at A Gazeta and many other great news outlets, I love biographies, and I have spent a lot of time trying to understand how civilisation accelerated its development in the last 200 years (in 1820, the total world population was 1 billion and 95.5% lived in extreme poverty; we’re now over 7 billion with under 10% in extreme poverty) and what to expect for the next few decades (longevity being super stretched, energy becoming completely clean and cheap, the incredible transformations made possible by super-computers, Artificial Intelligence, and connected devices).

INMA: What do you find the most challenging/interesting about the news media industry right now?

Azevedo: Race car driver Ayrton Senna once said, “You cannot overtake 15 cars in sunny weather ... but you can when it’s raining,” and that’s how I feel about the myriad current issues in our industry. At the same time we’re facing life or death challenges, there are equal opportunities for those who are skilled, are willing to take more risks, and do things differently than most.

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