How Many, Not How

Posted on April 22, 2013 by Keith

Mondays are no fun.  As you might know if you’ve been on the screed on a Monday, I spend most of my weekends when the ground isn’t covered with snow playing golf.

English: Golfing in Ontario golf course, Oregon.

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Mondays are the days when my obsession with the game (and my lack of golfing prowess) usually shows up here.  This Monday, it’s about a thought I had while I was playing in a tournament on Saturday.  I was playing on a team with a person who had clubs that were at least 10 years old.  Golf technology changes very rapidly, and his driver was the size of my five wood (meaning it was way smaller than any modern driver).  The shaft of the club was slightly bent down by the club head and I had no clue how he could hit the ball.

Hit the ball he did – some of our team’s best drives came off that club.  In fact, he hit some amazing shots both good and bad.  My favorite was a worm-burner that rolled and rolled and rolled maybe 150 yards until it stopped rolling 10 feet from the pin.  Which reminded me of the old golf adage “it’s not how, it’s how many” which is my business thought today as well.

It seems to me we spend a lot of time thinking about and discussing the tools we use in business just as there’s an equipment obsession in golf.  Those are really about the “how.”  No matter what tools you’re using, none of them matter if you’re not being consistent and clear about what you’re trying to do with them – the “how many.” It’s easy to get caught up processes and in so doing you miss a focus on achieving the real goal.   If you haven’t clarified the things you want to accomplish over time, there’s little chance of success.  The tool or app is less important than the way you use it.  The process isn’t the business.

We’ve all had bosses who focused on when a report was delivered and then never read it to see what was inside.  Woe be to those who missed a deadline, even if the work was crap.  That’s “how”, not “how many.”  Take an extra day and achieve perfection is my preference.  Hit one long and straight with a crooked driver.  Make a par with an awful shot that winds up next to the pin.  There are no pictures on the scorecard, folks.

You with me?

Enhanced by Zemanta

Filed under: Consulting, Thinking Aloud | Tagged: , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Four Misunderstandings About Social Media

Posted on April 15, 2013 by Keith

As you’ve probably aware if you’ve spent any time here on the screed, I take a great interest in how business folks think about social media.

Image representing Twitter as depicted in Crun...

Image via CrunchBase

I am one of those people who believe that over time the word “social” will vanish as all media becomes more social and what we classify today as “social” media becomes more mainstream (although I’m not sure how Facebook could become more mainstream when it seems damn near everyone is on it!).  How businesses can use social media is one of the areas in which I advise clients and so I took great interest in an info-graphic I came across the other day entitled “How Small Businesses Are Using Social Media (and why they may be getting it wrong).  If you click through I think you’ll find some good information on it but you’ll also find four terrible misunderstandings.

In the section labelled “Why Small Businesses Are Using Social Media” there are four points.  Each one is, I guess, something that these businesses believe to be true.  Unfortunately, they’re not.  Take point one:  it’s inexpensive.  Sure the tools are free but supporting your business on each platform is not free.  In fact, to do social well and to cover all the potential social bases (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and Google+ for starters) in an active way that will engage your customers requires planning, writing, and responding.  It all takes time, and as we all know, time is money.

Point two: it’s easy to use.  Another half truth although I’m sure businesses believe it.   The tools are not overly complicated but creating great, engaging content is hard, as you can probably tell from the attempts to do so in this space.

Point three:  their customers use social media.  Yes they do, but as the term “media” indicates  they’re in a lot of places doing so.  The aforementioned “big” guys are just the tip of the iceberg, and new players emerge and grow every day.  Reddit, Vine, and Stumble Upon are just three places where a lot of the customers are but the brands aren’t.  Add to that the fact that to gain any sort of visibility with the majority of your customers on the big guys (Facebook and Twitter in particular) requires you to be a paying customer.  So much for “free.”

Point four:  It doesn’t take a lot of time.  Totally wrong unless you add “to do it badly” to the end of that phrase.  Supporting multiple platforms with engaging content and responding to consumer interactions takes a lot of time – ask any of the brands that do social media well.

That’s my take – what’s yours?

Enhanced by Zemanta

Filed under: Consulting, digital media | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

The View From The Bench

Posted on April 9, 2013 by Keith

Great game played by Michigan and Louisville last night in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.  It was everything a championship game should be for the most part: great action, close scoring, and some interesting story lines.  I wish that two things had been different   the officiating had been better (both teams got screwed on a number of incorrect calls) and that the Wolverines had won.  However, besides an excellent evening’s entertainment, I got something else out of the game I’d like to share.

Stretching before the 2006 NCAA Men's Division...

 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Two players - Luke Hancock and Spike Albrecht – were the stories of the game in many ways.  When Michigan’s star guard got into early foul trouble, Albrecht came off the bench and scored 17 points before halftime.  For a kid who averaged under 2 points a game, that’s quite a performance.  Hancock went him one better with a performance off the bench that was so good he became the first non-starter to be named Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four.  Both players made an excellent business point which is today’s thought.

There are a dozen players on a basketball team and yet only five play at once.  Generally the rotation of players, barring foul trouble or injury, isn’t more than seven.  Still, every person on the bench needs to stay ready.  Every sport has a crew of backup players – those who, for one reason or another, don’t play as much on game day but are integral parts of the team.

It’s the same in business.  Every person on the team needs to understand the game plan and keep their skills sharp even if the plan isn’t for them to be the main players that day.  I wanted “bench” players on my business team who understood that their job went beyond the time when they were front and center.  When you’re out of a game for a spell, your job isn’t to rest.  You have a wider perspective - you can see the entire floor or field.  Help your team with your observations.  For business, this means, for example, reading drafts of presentations carefully and offering suggestions  not sitting around pouting because you’re not the one giving the show.  Who knows – like Albrecht and Hancock, you might get a chance when you least expect it.   Be ready – the chance may not come a second time.

Enhanced by Zemanta

Filed under: Helpful Hints | Tagged: , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Next Page »
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 1,816 other followers

%d bloggers like this: