Roger Hitchcock's Blog
Thinking (and writing) and doing…Marketing Minute 3:The Powerful Non-Decision
Strategic Decision Making
Instilling some Marketing Discipline!!
Once the issue of Marketing and Sales Planning has been addressed (see previous issue) our success in Marketing depends on how well we turn this into action. Nothing that has been planned will happen all by itself – we have to follow through on planning with action.
How many times have we (I certainly have) spent much time effort and energy in planning activities that fall completely flat because we/I did not follow through. The ugly and unpopular word “discipline” is the first one that springs to mind. How do we enforce discipline in our Marketing and Sales activities.
2 key things unlock our potential:
- Advance Decision Making
- Focus
The following, with particular reference to Decision Making, was a wake-up call to me:
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The Powerful Non-decision
The decisions we do not make are decisions by default. They are often more decisive than the decisions we do make.
Decisions we do not make
Have you noticed how the decisions we do NOT make often affect us a lot more than the ones we actually make?
Perhaps we need to stop once a month and actively search for our non-decisions and re-state them as active decisions, just to see if they bug us.
They bug me. A lot. Because if I change “I haven’t had time to start writing on that book I decided to write a year ago” to, “I have decided not to start writing on that book I decided to write”; or “there simply doesn’t seem to be enough time to exercise” to, “I have decided that I will no longer exercise” – then you have to ask yourself the painful question about which decision you stand behind.
The impact of non-decisions
Some non-decisions we make at work have enormous implications. These should make us all think; “I decide not to phone any of the prospective clients I have written to”; “I will not follow-up on the clients request for more information”, or “I won’t bother to plan adequately for the appointment I have set up for two days time.”
Some non-decisions seem a result of Information Overload and a factor of the technology we use. Rephrasing the consequences as decisions we may have taken “that it should be possible to reach me 24 hrs a day”, or “to read more information than I need, and often the same information twice”.
Taking action
The sentences often sound ridiculous. But the point is, if something sounds really silly, it tends to highlight areas where we can take decisive action. Taking this action can change what we are doing – let’s do it.
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Why focus?
For the same reason that the specialist cricketer, be they, a bowler or batsman will always outperform the All-rounder. Just compare the lifetime performances of the likes of Kepler Wessels (batting) and Alan Donald (bowling) to those of Shaun Pollock (batting and bowling). Think of other examples from the sport you love to follow…
Focus is the task of identifying what you do best and spending time, attention and energy to leverage this ability. It is not ignoring the rest but acknowledging where your strengths lie and where necessary (and if at all possible) aiming to hand the other tasks over to people, teams or technology that do it better.
Conclusion: Convert planning to action. Do what you do best. “outsource” the rest.
The Leaders Call 1: Setting the Agenda
There is a significant difference between people who lead and leaders. There is an even more profound difference between people who are appointed to manage others and those that are called to lead. The Leaders Edge seeks to speak to the leader in every one of us, wanting to encourage and challenge, inspire and confront.
“To realise the call to leadership, we must heed the call to legend.” The thing that is missing from leadership in the early 21st Century is legend. The action and meaning of this word are unknown and unexplored. How is legend different from “good” management, from well accepted management theories – the difference is called g-u-t-s. Not only the ability but also the willingness (even this is not strong enough), the drive to risk, to step out of the bounds of conformity and really make a difference. This is what legend means. Legends are people who act so daringly that they become bigger than life. Why is this a good thing for leaders. Because leaders, true leaders continually stretch the meaning of the concept of the leader. They live beyond the “container” commonly referred to as leadership. In this form of leadership there is an element, a large portion, of the irrational, the exuberant, the inspirational and the inexplicable. Leaders who practice this form of leadership, “legendship”, who do the unusual and the unexpected, give themselves a wider platform on which to operate. Those they lead expect them to be comfortable with risk. This type of leader is trusted with risk – yes trusted with risk. Ask any person what they want from leaders, they want to be led by people they can trust. Leaders practicing “legendship” are not only trusted with the ordinary, the common practices of management – they are trusted with the very element that sets their leadership apart from the rest – g-u-t-s, risk, courage. Because of this level of trust those being led are given permission to think outside of the box, beyond the 9 dots, and they too elevate themselves to a new level of personal leadership. “Legendship” is, in this way, empowering.
Answering the call: Some first steps legend-leaders are willing to take, they:
- Are unafraid to risk reputation
- Stop worrying about criticism
- Begin to do things (anything) that fit into no known category
- Give themselves latitude – don’t box themselves in
- Start to play on a bigger playing field
- Begin to think they can (and will) triumph
- Experience a kind of leadership that turns people at the top into heroes!
Heroes challenge the rational. Legends reach into the realm of the heroic. Heroes;
- Test themselves continuously
- Dare to look ridiculous
- Put themselves into unfamiliar territory
The Leaders Call - which way will you choose??
- Risk their identity
- Come back from an ordeal or failure with another lesson learnt
- Go on a personal journey that makes them more whole What then must we do?
In leadership today we must realise that having a personal skill or ability is simply not enough. It is not enough to sit back and wait for the “appointment to leadership”. Someone once challenged me when I was in a position to take over leadership from them – they said simply, “act like a leader and you will soon be recognised as one”. This challenge did not mean that I undermined their leadership, it gave me permission, it expressed trust in my ability and cemented my trust in their ability to lead. And what is leadership if there is no-one to lead, leadership depends on others willingness to be led – this trust is the basis for leadership.
It is, in the face of a challenge, the leaders willingness, supported by the trust of “their people” to take the risk that separates a legend-leader from the pack. In today’s business climate littered with obstacles and challenges something BIG is called for, something irrational, something extraordinary – who will answer the call to legend-leadership (it is in all of us) and move ahead, showing the way forward.
Leaders are practical – they do stuff. I try to do this stuff through my company Corporate Intiaitives Inc. You can contact me on roger@hitchcock.com.
Thoughts (and questions) about Questions (and answers)
When we are answering a question, do we stop at the first answer we get/find/discover?
What if a better answer lies in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th… 100th answer that is out there?
How hard do we WORK at discovery?
How much/deep are we willing to DIG (mentally, emotionally, intellectually etc) to get a better answer/solution?
Are we willing to give ourselves time to explore “new ground” (academically, intellectually, socially, environmentally, innovatively, emotionally, psychologically etc) in the pursuit of better answers?
How easy is it for us to “unseat” the established answers we cling to in the pursuit of a better (the best) answer?
Once we have found an answer do we treasure it, explore it, expand it, allow it to grow – and most importantly share it and allow it to shape our lives and actions?
Do we build onto the answers we find, by (finding/formulating and) asking more questions?
… In your thinking about thinking, ask more questions about your questions, as well as questions about your answers, individually and in a group.
I would love to explore more questions together with you – I do my own exploring, formulating and (hopefully) answering of questions in the work that I do at Corporate Initiatives Inc
Published from my Iphone.
Marketing Minute 2: Looking for the right eskimo…selling him the right refrigerator!!
Planning your Marketing and Sales Effort.
You sit with an abundance of products and services to sell – you even have a number of prospects lined up. Your client base is waiting to be effectively mined. It looks like success just waiting to happen.
But, something is holding you back… with all these opportunities waiting for you to seize a little question keeps bothering you… where do I begin? This is the question I hope to address in this Marketing Minute.
The common cliche (and song) gives us the most obvious answer, “start at the very beginning, it’s a very god place to start”. Unfortunately it is wrong! Effective Marketing starts somewhere completely different… it starts at the very end. Every effective strategic planning process starts at the end and works backwards to meet you where you are. And what is Marketing and Sales Planning if it is not an immensely strategic process – without it there is no long term direction, no sustainable momentum and ultimately no success!
See Starting backwards – posted on 04 September 2009…
In my mind the following lays out some of the key questions that must be addressed during any Marketing and Sales Planning exercise. Selling anything is simply the process of pulling together a defined set of needs and the most appropriate solution. Needs must be clearly identified and defined, this necessitates a clear understanding of the client and their particular set of needs.
It is much like trying to scale the face of a cliff – Key Questions to answer:
- Who am I speaking to? – understanding the lay of the land
- What reaction do I want them to have? – defining the end goal
- What context do they operate in? – looking for the right foothold
- What solutions do I have at my disposal? – examining my gear
- Where do I begin? – making the first move
The linked (Marketing and Sales Planning Template) expands on these questions to help you more effectively Market and Sell the products and Services at your disposal by creating a Marketing and Sales Map. Should there be a demand I am more than willing to run Workshops on Marketing and Sales Planning.
I hope these ideas help – please feel free to leave your comments.
Go to www.corporateinitiatives.co.za – where this is practically applied through what I do every day… contact me on roger@corporateinitiatives.co.za
Thoughts about Questions
If we get better answers by asking better questions, surely it is better to spend time, energy and attention working on better questions than simply looking for answers.
I would love some comments. Please feel free to contact me on roger@hitchcock.com, visit my site on Corporate Initiatives Inc
Formulated and published from my Iphone.
Marketing Minute 1: The Butterfly Effect
The Butterfly Effect
Something New:
We sell. We market. People buy from us. This is our business. How often have you battled to get yourself and your clients interested in what you do and the solutions that you offer? You call someone new and you hear it in their voice, “not another one…!”
Marketing Minute is a NEW forum for NEW ideas (as well as some old ones) it is designed to provoke thought and action. It is an outlet for ideas and inspiration.
One thing I have come to realise more and more is that so often we back ourselves into a corner when it comes to creatively expressing what we do and the things that we offer. We experience less and less of those flashes of inspiration and creativity and when we do we are loath to act on them!
In this part of my blog I will address some of these issues through regular issues of Marketing Minute. Some ideas and examples will relate to this industry, some will not. Some questions posed will be answered, other will not. The idea is to present a continuous flow of thoughts and ideas – my challenge to you is, try everything once, some things may work for you, some may not, if you don’t try you will never know!
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The Butterfly Effect:
In Sales and Marketing it is not always (and often very seldom is) the big, expensive things that make the biggest mark on the bottom line. It is often the small, seemingly irrelevant things that can most effect our clients perception of us.
In 1963 Meteorologist Edward Lorenz announced a stunning conclusion. For decades people had viewed the universe as a huge machine in which causes matched effects. People presumed that big causes had big effects, and little causes produced little effects. Lorenz doubted this.
The question posed to Lorenz sounded strange but simple: Could the flap of a butterfly’s wings in Singapore affect a hurricane in North Carolina?
After considerable study, Lorenz answered yes.
Lorenz’s postulation of what is now called the Butterfly Effect was one of several findings in the last 20 years that reflect the unpredictability of everything: weather , the likely outcome of direct marketing programmes, and the distant but often enormous effects of tiny causes.
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Key Questions:
- What “tiny things” can you do now in your marketing and sales effort that will produce an enormous effect?
- What can you/should you do that you are not doing now that will make a difference to the way your clients perceive you and the service you offer?
An Idea (something tiny that could have big payoffs): The Weekend Drive: Go the distance with your prospecting by taking an hour each weekend to drive around at least one office park in your local area. Note the names of businesses and their contact details. There are probably many that are not in your prospecting database.
These ideas are “practically” worked out in the work I do through www.corporateinitiatives.co.za – where we look at STRATEGY, COMPLIANCE and KNOWLEDGE…
Wheels within wheels: Why What and How
Wheels within Wheels
Designing a Business (or Life) that works!
Every business works according to it’s own unique set of cycles. Like a well designed and efficient machine with numerous cogs, chains and wheels that twist and turn at their own rates, so a business has cycles that turn on a daily, weekly, monthly and annual basis.
Every design has a purpose, a why that drives the design process. The first question for a designer to answer is “Why do I need to do what I want to do?” Purpose drives everything else. A significant reason must be found. A significant reason is one that can mobilise the energy, focus and motivation necessary to complete the task.
- Secondly, any machine is designed around a given or set outcome that needs to be achieved. “What do I want my machine to do to accomplish the purpose identified above?” The designer sets out with this outcome in mind. No-one, in their right mind, simply goes about putting together various bits of machinery in the hope that whatever is created will do whatever it is hoped it will do. The outcome determines the design process.
- The technical specifications of the machine are identified by answering the question, “How will I do this?” This narrows down the number of necessary pieces of machinery, the cogs, chains and wheels that are put in place.
In the same way the place to start when designing a business is with a significant purpose or reason. Significant in it’s ability to unlock the energy, focus and motivation necessary to drive the design and ongoing running of the business. Every business must have a “WHY” to drive the WHAT and the HOW.
- The identifying of a reason will relate to some “ultimate things”. These cut to the core of our being – values, attitudes and beliefs. As has been said, “no-one, on their death bed, wishes they had spent more time at work!”
- These ultimate things will drive the outcome that a business must achieve. It is back from this outcome that we need to work in designing the business cycles of our business.
- The daily, weekly, monthly and annual business cycles, the responsibilities of ourselves and our support team and the sustainability of our business will be built around and towards this outcome.
Start to think about these 3 things:
- Purpose (why you are doing what you are doing – ultimate things)
- Outcomes (what you want to achieve through what you are doing)
- Cycles (how you accomplish these things on a daily, weekly, monthly and annual basis)
Keep these things in the back of your mind. Write down any insights as they come to you. Begin to review these on a regular basis.
Strategy is key to everything we do – we caannot look at the NOW without also dreaming abourt the NOT YET… we DO STRATEGY at www.corporateinitiatives.co.za
Starting backwards…sdrawkcab gnitratS
Where are you going??
Designing a Business (or Life) that WORKS!
All of us have drawn maps at one time or another. Most of us have also run out of space when doing this. We start from where we are draw in a few of the closer streets with the appropriate arrows and directions – gradually we work ourselves into a corner and end up completing the last 75% of the map on 10% of the paper available.
What is the problem?
We are starting from where we are not from where we want to be.
Next time try drawing a map backwards – start where you want to end up and work your way to where you are.
Let’s look at life. How tragic to work our way through life and find ourselves “running out of available paper”! We could end up trying to live 75% of what we want to achieve in the last 10% of our lives!
What is the answer?
Start backwards!
A cartographer (map-maker) uses a number of different instruments to observe the area to be mapped, measure it accurately and ensure that the final representation is true. Much time, effort, energy, blood, sweat and tears are spent during this process. Imagine the dedication of the early cartographers, hacking their way through uncharted territory, recording everything and finally producing a map – that others have faithfully used to follow.
Even today when we travel on well signposted roads we take along a map or we use a GPS. This map or GPS is our security – we continually check our progress according to it. It makes us feel safe. We are much more willing to explore new places and see the sights along the way if we have a map, something to go back to, to see where we’ve got to and to get back on track. A map liberates us to enjoy our travels because we do not have to continually worry about where we are.
What about your life? Do you have a map? Are you starting from where you are and running the risk of “running out of paper”? Do you continually worry about how far you’ve got? Do you have something to measure yourself against? Have you started your map backwards – from where you want to ultimately be?
Think about these things:
- Destination (where do you want to be)
- Journey (what milestones do you need to see to assess your progress)
- Exploration (what new things do you want to experience en-route)
Part of what I do is STRATEGIC PLANNING (Personal and Corporate) – take a look at www.corporateinitiatives.co.za for more information on the interventions we can offer Groups of Decsion Makers and Strategic Planners…
Hello world!
Welcome and thank yopu for visiting (I am humbled).
Eventually, I got to doing this blog thing…
Its new to me – I think I can figure out my way around… to use it effectively and express myself as fully as possible – that is my aim and objective…
I have put a fair amount “of myself” into the “What am I on about…” section… I aim to unpack some of these principles more practically as I blog…
Please comment and suggest…
