The great words of our society have been destroyed by the power of connotation over denotation. The speed of this demise has accelerated with the advent of mass media. Hence, great spiritual words and great social words have been irreparably marred.
“Marketing” is such a word.
Its very mention connotes trickery, subterfuge, propaganda and ultimately deception. Worse, it is considered the cunning accomplice of another blighted (often for good reason) term: sales.
Can the word “marketing” be redeemed (another damaged term)? Should one just start with a new word?
While at the universal level it can be difficult to “purify” the word, at the personal level this task is relatively simple.
But what does it matter? Why should you care? Redeemed or not, the whole concept seems boring …
“Seems” is a dangerous word. Be careful. Be very careful. Consider three challenging, if not outrageous, statements:
In my field, we often speak of “data-driven decisions.” But for the leader, sometimes the most important data is derived from a source that evades our metrics platforms. Indeed, such data can only be gleaned through brutal self-confrontation.
Confessions
The philosopher Kierkegaard reflected that “… the artist goes forward by going backward.” It is a paradoxical concept and yet an apt observation.
If the leader wants a different outcome than the one he is currently achieving, he may do better to look backward rather than forward.
For me, this means doing the hard work of reflecting on my most significant failures, and in particular, the root causes of these failures. This is especially painful because the “root cause” of the “root causes” of my organization’s failures lies within ME.
Looking back over 30+ years of (my) leadership data, I can see patterns … negative patterns. This observation leads to an inevitable question: What can I do to prevent their recurrence?
There is a complex answer; there is a concise answer. Here is the latter.
Infographic: How to Create a Model of Your Customer’s Mind
You need a repeatable methodology focused on building your organization’s customer wisdom throughout your campaigns and websites. This infographic can get you started.
