In my previous post, "Will Your Marcom Be Knee-High By The Fourth Of July?" I predicted that the corn that grows across the road from Indium Corporation HQ would be knee-high by June 20th. I snapped this shot yesterday - proving that the corn is above knee-high on June 18th. The tallest plants are up to my hip!
So what?
The point of my previous post was to plan ahead, and to take advantage of any vision that you may have. This is a great way to create a highly powerful B2B Marcom project. I said, "Remember, we don't get paid to be average. We've got to OUTPERFORM our competitors if we are to grow, thrive, and distinguish ourselves."
The farmers that dogmatically planted their corn on schedule this year will see their corn ready for harvest all at the same time, causing a time crunch (they need to get it all in at the same time). But those farmers that had the vision to take advantage of an early Spring spaced out their planting times - and their harvest times. They'll be able to take in their harvest more comfortably, and may be able to take a larger than average harvest, as well.
In farming, as in B2B Marcom, that isn't the end. That's just the next step in an endless race. The question then becomes what do we do with our project after we've enabled ourselves to take advantage of our vision and insight? Well, projects combine to create programs. And programs are always about what we do NEXT. Frankly, it gets really tiring hustling like mad, trying to figure out the next insightful move. That's just not productive, nor professional. To avoid this kind of fatigue and burnout, it is imperative to have a comprehensive Marcom program, complete with contingency planning.
When you encourage and inspire your team to see the big picture, to craft a big plan, you foresee MANY opportunities and challenges. When you cultivate contingencies for various possibilities, you enable confident and fast decision making and actions. Your progress, confidence, and achievements go up, and your worries and fatigue go down.
Average farmers planted, and will harvest, on the traditional schedule. Good farmers took advantage of the early Spring and staggered their planting and harvests, making their lives easier. Great farmers staggered their plantings AND made plans for what to do with their time during this summer's harvest and beyond.
Perhaps my analogy was a bit corny, but the kernel of my message should be pleasing to your ears.