With an average CMO tenure of 23.5 months and shrinking, it's no wonder that people are becoming more risk-averse. It may be possible to beat the average tenure by simply doing nothing. After all, inertia and the status quo have proven to be a fairly safe bet in corporate America, right?

Wrong.

Sitting back and doing nothing won't cut it anymore. First, you can't hide from the sales and profit results staring you in the face quarterly. Second, you can't hide from the consumer's true feelings. The web has changed this. The consumer's voice is louder than ever before. Gone is the marketer's ability to mask the truth with focus groups and surveys.