Right is not a good way to describe your work and the work of your team.
Innovative, passionate, committed, engaged, consistent, challenging, concerted, exciting, inspiring, intentional, purposeful, additive, reinvigorating, ameliorating, thoughtful, driven. These are all better words to use when you talk about what you and your team are trying to achieve.
Do not settle for right, it is quite a capricious term.
Most of the decisions we take are evaluated based on their outcomes. And so we find ourselves telling a story around how we chose that option over the other one because of that last minute information we got, or because of the underlying trend we picked up, or because of that opportunity that suddenly presented itself.
Of course, that is only a story. It’s called rationalization. The truth is, there is very little of rational in what we decide to do at any given time. Even in complex decision-making processes (B2B purchasing, for example), what eventually moves the needle is often an emotion, an opinion, a story better told, the friction between two parties.
How to keep the decision-making process in check is a better problem to address (vs how we can replicate good decisions/avoid bad ones). And understanding how people make decisions (all people) is essential to the career of each marketer.
There’s what you do. And there’s the effect of that on the people helping you get there, the community you live in, the environment surrounding you.
The two things are deeply connected and should not be considered apart.
There are very few cases in which a prompt response is required.
The more infuriating, unnerving, frustrating of messages demand that you take a step back. Clear your mind, go for a walk, take a full night of sleep, pause for a few days if necessary. Process what is going on within you, try to not second guess the sender, talk about it with someone you trust. Honestly evaluate if an answer is really needed. And if it is, when the time comes, craft it as if the person you most love and respect would be the recipient.
The damages made by prompt responses are immense. What is written or said once can never be taken back.
Urgent usually comes from one person. It is a way to counter a fear, a discomfort, a stressor. It spreads very fast, it gets things done, and it kills motivation.
Change on the other hand is usually a collective action. It is pursued in reaction to a habit, a behaviour, an action, a system. It takes time, it has a non-linear progress, and it gives purpose.
What are you working on these days?
You've got this 