All in Strategy
Years ago, I was developing a website when someone I worked with asked me what I was doing about SEO. As I explained my thoughts, it became clear that he was less interested (if at all) in the fundamentals of SEO (strong content) than he was in how we could best ‘game’ the system.
I suggested that tricking the Google algorithm wouldn’t be a great strategy, and certainly not one that could be considered long-lasting.
Risk is a hard concept to really come to grips with.
I mean, we intuitively understand that everything we do comes with some measure of risk, which we accept as a normal part of everyday life. For example, crossing the street, driving a car, or getting on a flight entails risk, but we don’t generally give it too much (if any) thought.
Well, it’s the end of another year and, for many of us, it’s that time when we reflect on the year just past and, more importantly, what we’d like to achieve in the one coming up.
I’ve been doing exactly that - considering all of the different goals I’d like to achieve and assessing what it will take to achieve them. This analysis - while hopeful in its intent - also brings up the inevitable:
Jerry Seinfeld was once asked by a young comic if he had any advice to help him get better.
His answer was simple: write better jokes - and the only way to do that, was to write every day. In fact, not only should he write every day, but he should keep track of this work:
The reality of the learning process is that it’s often non-linear and, most importantly, unpredictable.
There’s a tendency to think of it (hope?) as a “paint-by-numbers” approach: follow these steps and you’ll get to your destination. And while aspects of learning are indeed structured and conventional in that sense, many others are not. That, in so many respects, is where real learning happens.
It’s generally difficult for us to hold two contrasting ideas in our heads.
We have a tendency to move towards a specific interpretation, whether it relates to events, places or people. Something is either good or bad, someone is either smart or stupid, people should or should not be trusted.
So, up until roughly 15 years ago, if you were interested in music and wanted to really enjoy the work of an artist, you had to own it. In other words, you had actually buy the single or the album. Singles came relatively cheap (99 cents), while albums cost anywhere from $6.99 and up. Either way, if you were really into music, the numbers could add up.
When we make plans for new offerings, we tend to do so assuming limited resources.
After all, very few organizations operate with limitless capital, people or other resources. So it makes sense for us to be realistic. Why waste time on planning for something that we’re simply not going to be able to execute?
Many times, we tend to think our problems emerge out of nowhere.
Suddenly, the growth stops as those sales meetings cease to convert. Or our quality issues become overwhelming as the returns pile up.
We have these conversations with kids every now and then.
When they decide they want something, they’ll determine all the different benefits of having it. Solid benefits that are passionately communicated.
But what isn’t so well reasoned out is whether they need the thing in the first place. They just know they want it because their best friend has one, or all the kids at school are talking about it.
There’s something to be said for persistence as being the single, overriding factor that leads to success.
That sounds like the right thing to say but that’s not always how we talk in practice.
We tend to think about the brilliant idea as being the most important thing, or perhaps the creation of a detailed plan of action, or (as is more usually mentioned) copious amounts of money (aka funding).
This month's podcasts deal with matters of culture.
In today's episode, I discuss the problem of apathy - that is, when apathy arises in an organization, then we're all in trouble. The only solution - for everyone - is to engage.
I have this hypothesis that we get more worried about the competition when we’re not actually focused on being something.
What I mean by that is that, when our business or product doesn’t have a defined mission or overarching goal, when we’re not focused on moving towards becoming, then we tend to become fixated on what others in our space are doing.
I think the problem begins when we subscribe solely to a specific point of view, a particular doctrine.
This is what I believe in. These are the truths about this or that and they cannot be compromised.
We’ve learnt (been taught/taught ourselves) these doctrines over the years and have chosen to accept them as the path forward - the only path forward. And, we’ve galvanized the ‘opposition’ into a defined doctrine of its own - the other, that against which we must fight, come hell or high water.
I don’t know if there’s a single maxim by which we should live our lives. Life’s too complex for that, but there’s probably a few that are useful.
I do know that, in general, any advice that encourages us to think before we make a life choice is likely to be on point. I came across one such maxim recently:
Beating the dealer. It’s the eternal quest.
How do I upset the odds? How do I move the needle to get what I want?
At its core, it’s really a desire to remain in control, to stay relevant. But it’s worth remembering what game we’re trying to play as well.
Forecasts and projections come with the territory, regardless of whether we’re speaking to business, social or political subjects. From new industries to climate change to our own companies, we’re desperate to know what the future holds.
What’s the potential? How long do we have? How serious is this?
There’s a difference between rolling the dice and taking a calculated risk. Often we tend to confuse the two.
We avoid taking specific actions in specific areas of our life because we believe “it’s a lottery”, when instead, there are parameters - fundamentals - that we can assess, evaluate, extrapolate to come to a reasonable expectation of an outcome.
When Amazon launched Prime back in 2005, Jeff Bezos’ central premise was that it should be “such a good value that you’d be irresponsible not to be a member”. This was when it offered 2 day free shipping.
Now, of course, it offers a whole lot more and there are more than 200 million Prime members today. There are two takeaways from this.
A price of innovation and growth is criticism. If you’re intent on creating change in any material form, you have to expect it.
The simple fact is that the change you’re trying to create will result in some sort of displacement, both real and perceived, and it’s likely to come from many different areas.
