I love visual thinkers, and Tom Fishburne adds a whole marketing dimension from his own experience, that is just hard to resist. This one made me immediately think about the importance of having a plan, and staying the course with some flexibility, as needed by circumstances.
Many organizations will need to out-innovate or create themselves out of a tight corner. Couponing, discounts, and holiday special sales days will need to come to an end after supplies last, unless your have a pure volume play and can sustain it over time.
Developing a context and working to achieve something that at first is aspirational is not the same as putting lipstick on a pig. Hard-won experience will teach you that when senior management sees it that way, you know your organization is in trouble. There is no plan, just a wish.
Do you have a plan, or just a wish?
Here's how you know.
(1.) You have unmanned way-points on the road to success: Make a list of all the things that need to happen if you want to get from Point A to Point B. Have each of these tasks been assigned? If not -- WISH
(2.) Nobody has put gas in your tank: Referring to this list above, are there budget line items to cover each? If not -- WISH
(3.) Is anyone buying what you're selling? Let's assume you pass the people and budget tests. Is there a sufficient marketplace to bear your aspirations? If you can't say why there is -- WISH
(4.) Team building has another meaning: Are there enough people on it that you can cover all you need to make it a success? If you had not thought of resource allocation -- WISH
(5.) Is anybody out there doing it already? Who is in my way -- and how can I cooperate with or go around them? If you have no idea -- WISH
(6.) Who are these people? Have you identified market segments and defined what their wish list is? Just hoping if you build it they will come -- WISH
(7.) Getting your message out is not an issue: How do you get people to care? How can you talk to your customers best? If respecting their time is not a consideration -- WISH
(8.) Do you have the infrastructure to support your way-point goals as you hit them? No support spells inability to deliver -- WISH
(9.) Are we there yet? What are the metrics of progress? If you have no roadmap -- WISH
And if you're a marketer with a sense of humor, you will enjoy one of the 12 signed prints Tom picked for reproduction.
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