Business

How Adaptability and Open Mindedness Lead to Success

Published

5 years ago

August 27, 2020

By Aaron Vick

Aaron Vick is acting CEO for Cicayda due to the long time CEO’s activation by the ARMY Reserves to serve on the COVID-19 National Response Team. Prior to 2020, Aaron was Chief Strategy Officer for Cicayda providing tailored solutions and support within the realm of litigation eDiscovery. He routinely speaks and teaches on discovery best practices and trends as well as meets with international groups to discuss evolving discovery practice rules around the globe.

If you’re just starting out in your own business as an entrepreneur, or if you’re a hiring manager of C-suite personnel, you’ve probably found yourself putting on different hats—jumping into roles that could or should be filled by other employees. And as a leader, you and your company need to be adaptable.

Understanding every aspect of your business is a strength that will give you better insight into how to run your company, how employees behave, where you might be able to streamline production, and where you might need improvements.

This can be considered both a hard skill where you learn how to do specific jobs that are required for the business to function, and a soft skill where you’ll learn more about communication, teamwork, and how to deal with interpersonal relations (people skills).

But understanding every job from the mailroom to the boardroom is not the only area where adaptability will serve you.

When it comes to getting out a product or service, adaptability to the market, its ups and down, and its demands are the focal points for staying on top of your game. You’ll need to be open-minded and resilient. In other words, you need to make the best of things, regardless of how they have turned.

That doesn’t mean you should just “go with the flow”.

It means you need to be resourceful. Change what you can and adapt to the things you can’t. There’s no time like the present for assessing, reassessing, and growing a skillset. This should always be at the forefront of your mind.

You need to trust your own judgement. If you started with a solid plan and something didn’t work, be patient and tolerant until you and your team find a solution. When things go wrong, don’t lay blame.

Yes, someone may have overtly dropped the ball, but always try to put yourself in their shoes and show respect for the shortcomings of others. Get to the root of why this happened, then be positive in your outlook for finding a solution.

Strive to be able to bend without breaking. In other words, don’t compromise the values and vision of the company, just work toward a solution that will bring the same big picture outcome by a different path.

Being highly adaptable means being:

Tolerant
Confident
Empathetic
Positive
Respectful
Versatile
Flexible

Being open-minded means:

Being flexible
Looking for solutions instead of laying blame
Listening to the opinions and creative ideas of your team
Looking at things through someone else’s eyes

What’s most important here is to focus on the big picture outcome and apply maniacal flexibility and creativity in the execution path.

Can you be too open-minded? Probably not.

Being open-minded to changes or the ideas of others does not mean you must implement every idea that comes along. But it will go a long way to being able to find solutions that will improve your chances of success.

Be honest about where ideas can add value, and have a conversation about why one idea may be implemented over another.
Explore what might be uncomfortable and unconventional even if you don’t pursue it.
Force yourself to have two perspectives.
Implement active listening and dig into details.

If you find yourself being rigid, discontented, unwilling to change your attitude or how you do things, or being competitive even among your lower ranking employees, you’re not adapting, and this can cause the breakdown of trust and respect, which in turn leads to lower productivity and creativity among the ranks.

Can you be too adaptable? Yes.

Adapting to changes in the market, for example, means you’ve discovered how to keep your business running and turning a profit when consumer demands change—how people shop, how they spend, and why they buy. When the price of raw materials increases, for example, you’ll need to find a way to adjust your budget and your output to maintain your current status. If you’re not making as much profit as last month, that does not signal failure, it simply means you’ve got to get on top of the game and adapt.

Focus on solving hard problems by unlocking many smaller problems and solving them first.
Prepare a list of questions that challenge how your company operates in the marketplace, then answer those questions with viable alternatives that will allow you to adapt.
Utilize your team to hone in on key pieces that might be missing and that might work to give you more leverage in a changing market.
Reduce choices to two options.

So in being adaptable, what’s the difference between being versatile and being flexible?

When you’re flexible, you’re able to make changes without compromising too much—you (your company) can bend, but you won’t break. You’re ready to boost your awareness and willingness to make necessary changes.

Being versatile means you (your company) can cover many areas successfully and competently. You can move in a different direction if the need arises.

When America joined World War II in 1941, factories—automobile factories in particular—rapidly converted to the production of military tanks, rifles, ammunition, and airplanes. They served a greater purpose and were able to adapt to the needs of the country.

You will likely not have to make this kind of swift and drastic conversion, but knowing what your company is and is not capable of will guide you along the path to success and keep you there.

The paper and packaging industry is a great example of how the structure of an industry might need to change based on new technology. The need for graphic paper (newsprint and coated papers such as those used in photography) has been replaced by digitization, people don’t write letters and send them through the mail, and even copier paper is less in demand due to the proliferation of emails.

So how is this industry adapting? They’re focusing on other areas where paper is now in greater demand—packaging in both the consumer and industrial markets, and tissue products.

Can you find a way to consolidate production or focus on a specific area of your industry?
Are there lines that cannot be crossed?

Being adaptable and open-minded shouldn’t start when a crisis arises. Know your options—what your company is capable of–ahead of time by planning options for change or at least keeping change in the back of your mind.

Being adaptable, flexible, versatile, and open-minded about options will keep you and your company prospering. It will allow you to revitalize and renew, and it might incite new ideas that can bring growth even when you’re not pressed to adapt.

Business

Ethical Affiliate marketing : Defining the Conflict

Published

2 days ago

December 1, 2025

Matthew Wiles

Affiliate marketing in the online casino industry walks a fine line between commercial interest and editorial integrity. Affiliates earn commissions when players register or deposit through affiliate links, yet these same affiliates often publish reviews claiming to guide users toward the best and safest operators. This dual role creates a potential conflict of interest: can a reviewer remain truly objective while being financially rewarded for player conversions?

This ethical tension is not hypothetical, it defines the entire casino review system. Readers expect independent recommendations, while advertisers aim for visibility and sign-ups. The challenge, therefore, lies in ensuring that commercial necessity never compromises editorial honesty. Without clear ethical structures, the trust between affiliate and reader quickly collapses, breaking the foundation of any long-lasting brand in the iGaming space.

The Ethical Solution: Editorial Firewalls

Responsible affiliates have developed a structural response to this dilemma known as the “editorial firewall.” This principle strictly separates commercial operations (such as partner negotiations and commission management) from editorial teams responsible for content, ratings, and recommendations. By preventing advertisers or commercial staff from influencing content, affiliates safeguard the objectivity of their reviews.

Antti Virtanen, Editor in Chief of Kasinohai, explains this responsibility clearly:
“My primary responsibility is to maintain the editorial firewall. If an advertiser’s payment can influence a casino’s star rating, we have failed our readers, and that short-term gain will instantly destroy the decade of trust we have built.”

The editorial firewall functions much like journalistic separation between newsroom and advertising department. Editors work with established criteria: licensing, game variety, payment methods, and player protection measures. Without any interference from commercial targets. When this discipline is followed, affiliates can confidently assure readers that ratings reflect evidence-based quality, not marketing budgets.

Maintaining such independence often comes with short-term sacrifices: rejecting lucrative offers from less trustworthy operators or declining to modify reviews to appease advertisers. Yet, for ethical affiliates, these sacrifices strengthen the brand’s reputation and guarantee the long-term viability of their business model.

Prioritizing Safety and Trust

True ethical affiliation starts with a single non-negotiable principle: only promote casinos that are safe, licensed, and compliant with responsible gambling regulations. Trust begins at selection. Every casino under review should pass a rigorous safety audit, covering valid gaming licenses, secure payment processing, transparent bonus terms, and the presence of responsible gambling tools such as deposit limits and self-exclusion options.

Antti Virtanen underlines this commitment:
“The ethical commitment begins at the gate: our first and most important filter is licensing and player safety. Any operator that fails our rigorous background checks on responsible gaming tools, fair terms, or payment security will never be promoted, regardless of their commercial offering.”

By excluding unsafe or unlicensed platforms, affiliates act as front-line gatekeepers, shielding players from potential fraud or exploitative practices. Ethical affiliates must also stay proactive, regularly updating their databases and removing any operators that lose licenses, alter fair terms, or develop unresolved consumer complaints. This proactive maintenance shows readers that the site’s focus is not only on visibility but on genuine player well-being.

Ethics in affiliate marketing also extend to how bonuses and offers are presented. Affiliates must reject misleading promotions that hide behind fine print or impose unrealistic wagering requirements. Fair representation of bonus terms not only protects players but also differentiates responsible affiliates from competitors who prioritize click volume over credibility.

Transparent Disclosure

Transparency is a cornerstone of ethical affiliate marketing. Readers deserve to understand how affiliate links work and how they affect the content they see. A clear, accessible disclosure explains that the affiliate may receive compensation when users register or deposit through referral links. However, this relationship should never impact the user’s cost, terms, or overall experience on the casino site.

The purpose of transparency is twofold: it builds trust with readers and aligns with regulatory expectations for advertising disclosures. A good disclosure statement is not hidden in small print; it’s presented as part of the site’s editorial ethic. It assures visitors that commercial partnerships never influence ratings, reviews, or recommendations.

In practice, this can appear as a brief statement at the start or end of a review, linking to a detailed explanation of the site’s business model. Clear communication empowers readers to make informed decisions and it alleviates the underlying skepticism that often surrounds online casino reviews.

Transparency also extends to responsible gambling communication. Affiliates should remind readers that gambling involves risk and provide visible links to national helplines, self-exclusion tools, and player protection resources. When ethical values are embedded not only in compliance checklists but also in editorial tone, the brand earns genuine user respect.

Long-Term Value

The ultimate goal of ethical affiliate marketing is sustainability building a relationship of long-term trust that outlasts the allure of short-term profits. A single misleading recommendation might boost conversions temporarily, but the resulting loss of credibility can permanently damage a brand.

Antti Virtanen captures this philosophy:
“In the end, ethical affiliate marketing is not a high-volume business; it’s a high-trust business. Our long-term success isn’t measured by the conversion rate of a click, but by the number of players who return to us because we saved them from a poor or unsafe experience.”

This perspective reframes success away from mere performance metrics toward qualitative measures: user satisfaction, returning readership, and brand reliability. Ethical affiliates understand that authority and trust cannot be purchased—they are earned through consistent transparency, careful editorial standards, and user-focused decision-making.

Long-term value also aligns with broader industry goals of promoting responsible gambling and sustainable player engagement. Affiliates that champion these principles contribute positively to the reputation of the iGaming industry as a whole.

Ethical affiliate marketing is not a static policy it is an ongoing commitment to transparency, responsibility, and respect for the audience’s trust. Establishing strict editorial firewalls, prioritizing player safety, and maintaining open disclosure practices form the blueprint for sustainable success. In an environment driven by competition and revenue potential, ethics are not a hindrance but the very strategy that distinguishes credible affiliates from the rest.