It’s not often I’m at a loss for words, but I have been struggling for a better way to convey something I think & use to guide me every day. If you’re going to be something, be it. If you’re going to do something, do it. Not very profound; I know this. I feel like it belongs up there with, “We know the knowns, but we don’t know the unknowns.” Someone actually said that in a meeting a couple years ago (I’ve definitely heard it many times from others since) & I think I almost flew out of my chair.
Seth Godin’s post Avoiding the Passion Pop Gulf could not have illustrated my thoughts any better. All too often, I see businesses getting stuck in the middle. They seem paralyzed by indecision, as if all available options are the best. Without capable decision makers providing clear direction you end up settling. By chance, you may end up achieving a modicum of success, but you will just be another consideration among a plethora of options.
When you compromise your goals, you end up with an incoherent plan & many confused people executing it. There is no strategy or your strategy is not sound; that is no way to compete. Don’t make me quote Sun Tzu again!
If you want to be all things to all people, you run the risk of being nothing to no one.
Sometimes it really is the simple quotes that make the most sense. Case in point: “With great power comes great responsibility,” from that great philosopher Auntie May (I saw Ironman tonight, and it came to mind).
Although these thoughts and quotes are simple, Brian, the concepts behind them and the actions they suggest look scary to lots of people. I struggle all the time with clients who are so afraid of pigeon holing themselves that they will not commit to targeting a specific audience. Consequently, their marketing becomes diluted and weak. Frustrating!