Commentary

The Crisis Of Inaction (Or, How Ferris Bueller Saved My Life)

You know what bothers me?  All talk and no action.

There are many ways to operate in this world, and to be honest, you can be very successful with almost all of them.  The two most dominant paths I notice are a) the one where you patiently torture every decision and move with deep analysis and the unwavering desire to get everything right, and b) the ability to identify trends, make decisions, take action and be willing to admit when you’re incorrect and change direction.  There’s nothing wrong with either of these paths, as the difference is simply a matter of personal preference but when you put the two personalities together, things can be difficult (think Ferris and Cameron – just work with me here).

I am one of the latter. I read data, identify trends and make decisions in the hopes of seeing success, but I’m more than willing to quickly admit when I’m wrong and revise my path.  I jokingly refer to it as being “100% correct… eventually” -- and my wife will attest it can be crazy to be around me from time to time.  That being said, its worked pretty well for me over the years. However, I envy the people who are able to be patient, take their time, and wait things out until all the data has been presented before they make their decisions.  Part of my brain operates as though there may not be a tomorrow, while the rest of it is envious of those operating in such a way that recognizes tomorrow is just another step down the path.

advertisement

advertisement

What kills me, though, is the path of talking about a problem, and never making a decision.  I call this the crisis of inaction.  Some call it process paralysis.  I also call it utterly frustrating.  To me, not taking any action is physically painful.  To quote an oft-used statement from Wayne Gretzky, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” If you perceive a challenge, then it’s your responsibility to help develop a solution and test it out. To me, if you don’t take a shot to solve the problem, then you lose the ability to discuss it and have people listen. 

History is ridden with the stories of people who took a shot, missed, and learned from their mistakes, to be more successful down the road.   Nobody remembers the ones who passed the opportunity by.  Marketing is a business that requires action -- and with the tools at our disposal, we now operate in a world where decisions can be made in real time and results can be reviewed almost as quickly.   Marketers have to shift from the paradigm of slow, deliberate action into one that embraces iterative change and quicker decision-making based on the clear direction suggested by the data.  Annual planning cycles are being thrown out the window in exchange for agile methods of business.

The personalities who will succeed in the real-time marketing world are the ones unafraid to read the data, make decisions and implement action.  It doesn’t always mean you’re going to be right. You have to be able to hear a “no” or acknowledge that you were wrong and course-correct quickly.  In the end, your ego is not a KPI – the ability of your marketing to deliver real results in a timely fashion is what counts.

So am I providing negative feedback for those personalities who like to take their time and make slow, deliberate decisions based on lots of input and an analysis?  No.  I am saying the world moves fast, though.  You can refer back to this quote from one of the greatest stories ever told: “Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

Don’t let the crisis of inaction steer you toward the end of the pack.  Be willing to take a shot, even if it takes a little while to evaluate the data and determine which shot you want.

Next story loading loading..