Wikipedia
We’re a culture that likes to take pills. Not necessarily as some form of recreation but as a fix for what ails us. I dont know what your experience has been with healthcare but most of the doctors I’ve had over the years tend to want to prescribe you a drug rather than dig down into the causes of something and discuss nutrition and lifestyle changes as a fix. That way takes time. Pills don’t. Do you think business is any different?
When many folks (particularly those one job function removed from it) hear about the next new thing in marketing or media, they want the business to take that pill as fast as they can find a glass of water to help wash it down. They assume, for example, that a web site’s lousy position in search results can be fixed by swallowing the pill of good SEO and changing some tags. Often the reality is that their content is lousy, the site isn’t focused, and they need to make drastic changes – a lifestyle change if you will. Those things take time while they want a quick cure – a pill.
Or take social media. Another pill to swallow – put up a Facebook page or start sending out a daily tweet. The higher-ups don’t want to hear that social is a completely different form of media in that it requires constant supervision and engagement. It’s not set it and forget it no matter what some of the guys (the social media doctors?) selling you tools tell you. There are no pills.
I can go on about media such as SEM and business chalenges such as hiring and developing people but you get the point. Good consultants aren’t really doctors and I certainly don’t sell notions and pills (or quick cures or set-and-forget tools). I’m more of a nutritionist – I test, I look at what nutrients are lacking, and I work with you on a long-term plan.
Does that make sense?
Consult Keith 