If you suck at something, please continue to do so?

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So, Seth Godin is a smart guy and he says smart stuff about marketing really often.

But then he says stuff like this, it makes me want to find a desk to bang my fist on (my head is hurting now, so I've stopped banging that.:))

"If you have an organization that is slow and deliberative, don't enter a market that rewards the fleet of foot.
If you have colleagues that love to discuss everything out loud, don't choose a campaign that will fail if the market senses internal discussion and disagreement..."

In other words, "if you kinda suck at something, don't try to fix it. Just smile, accept it and keep doing what you were planning to."

Argh!

The last time, I remember reading something by him and having such a strong reaction was this gem: Bobcasting. Stuff like this is exactly the kind of stuff, that though its not a terrible idea (not a new, or even well-defined idea either), that makes engineers make fun of marketers

Comments

Seth Godin said…
I'm not sure I was being as clear as I could be. My point wasn't that slow organizations should stay slow. It was that the way to fix your problem ISN'T to enter a market and then yell at your co-workers that you're failing because the organization didn't change.

The world is a competitive place. If others are better at a tactic than you, the market doesn't wait for you to get your act together. Improve first, market second.
5:20 AM
Andrew said…
I think seth's comment could be considered a case of a (generalized) "blue ocean strategy" - don't compete in a frothy bloody ocean where you can't... look for the new area.

Which I agree with :-)
1:28 PM
salgar said…
Well, I do agree with the both the comments above.

I guess my faux frustration comes from seeing companies/people use an aversion to change, concepts like "core compentence", and catchphrases like

- "but this is not what we do"
- "this is not our way"

as excuses to make bad business decisions.

Seth, Thanks for responding to the post.
Andrew, stop wasting time on my blog and get to work. :)
Really like the way Linkspank is shaping up btw!
2:02 PM
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