Strategy consultants and agencies often get a bad rap.
Sometimes they deserve it. But sometimes they donât.
The clichĂ© (and some stereotypes exist for a reason) is that consultants and agencies recommend strategies the business canât implement. The proposed changes might be too complex, disruptive, expensive, or lengthy, making them impractical.
Sure, consultants often suggest a phased or a âcrawl, walk, runâ approach. Even then, management may not be fully on board, the team may not be excited about it, or it all seems so different that doubt about the strategyâs value creeps in.
You may have heard jokes based on this experience. One says marketing strategies are measured by the weight of the report (a variation says by how loud of a thump they make on a desk when dropped from a certain height). Another is that marketing leaders in companies have bookshelves lined with strategies that never got implemented.
Why does this happen? Marketing teams often complain that the consultant didnât understand the realities of their situation (or even the assignment). Consultants and agencies claim the client âdoesnât get itâ or âwasnât ready for an optimal strategy.â
And thereâs the word: optimal.
You see, in these situations, both sides are correct, and both are wrong.
The author of this optimal strategy probably didnât understand the realities of the marketing teamâs situation or history. And the marketing team probably wasnât ready or able to execute the optimal strategy as constructed.
Hereâs the thing: No strategy consultant or agency would develop a suboptimal strategy to account for the clientâs current capabilities. After all, no client has ever gone to a consultant or agency and said, âForget optimal. Weâre not that talented. We need the just-good-enough plan.âÂ
The mistake is in assuming that the optimal strategy is always better than âgood enough.â
Sometimes itâs not.
I worked with a marketing team of 30 people at a technology company not long ago. Most team members have been at the company for years and have developed a specific way of working together.
Two marketing leaders left recently, and two new leaders came in.Â
The new leaders wanted new processes, workflows, and measurement approaches to manage all the moving parts of their digital marketing. And they took a top-down approach to implement these changes.
Narrator: âIt didnât turn out well.â
When I reviewed their plan, I found it beautifully designed. It was right. The strategy was sound. It was optimal.
But the team couldnât seem to execute on it.
Why? Well, it was so much change and such a different way of working that it simply overwhelmed the team.Â
Some people didnât buy into the plan. Some bought in but didnât feel empowered to make some of the required decisions. And some were so busy keeping things going that they couldnât see themselves devoting time to learning an entirely new way of working.
It was a perfect example of the famous quote attributed to business guru Peter Drucker: âCulture eats strategy for breakfast.âÂ
Drucker didnât say those exact words (though he said something relatively close). Regardless, that saying is often misconstrued to paint culture as an impediment to optimal strategy.
Drucker actually wrote (in a 1991 Wall Street Journal column called Donât Change Corporate Culture â Use It!) that âculture â no matter how defined â is singularly persistent.â So, if you need to change something, âdonât change culture. Change habits.â
He believed that implementing strategy depended on making sure that the people involved would change their habits to accommodate it. And, as he wrote, âChanging behavior works only if it can be based on the existing âculture.ââ
Developing the optimal strategic plan is important. Different people will have ideas about what âoptimalâ looks like. But shooting for the right plan â independent of limitations, current capabilities, or culture â is the best place to start.
But what comes next is the most important.
When you review the plan, map out what would work best. You might need to take it more slowly or remove elements to make it achievable.Â
You have to take the time and effort to understand how to improve the âoptimalâ plan by scaling it back, changing it, or molding it to your current situation.
In my book Content Marketing Strategy, I explain the story-mapping approach Iâve used to do this with my clients for years. It involves reviewing any optimal strategy and then working to find out what makes it realistic â and ultimately better â by reducing its optimization.
Hereâs how it works, in a nutshell.
Now that youâve defined priorities (and not priorities), you can use them to make the plan more realistic, achievable, or believable for the teams affected.
When I ran this process for my technology company client, they compromised on some top-down new processes. Was it necessary to have a new fixed process for this thing that wasnât really broken? It seemed optimal on paper, but the disruption might outweigh the benefit.
In de-optimizing the strategy, the team made it better. And it works well today.
Thinking of business as a machine that needs to be tuned is a metaphorical trap. Organizations are collections of people who perform best when nurtured.Â
Todayâs marketing teams donât thrive because theyâve been optimized with mechanical adjustments. They thrive when their success is cultivated through relationships and shared purpose.
Sometimes, you can (and should) opt out of optimization.
Itâs your story. Tell it well
Looking to grow your online presence, attract more customers, and boost your sales? Our comprehensive Digital Marketing Services are tailored to help you achieve your goals. From SEO, Social Media Marketing, Email Marketing, PPC Advertising, to Content Marketing â weâve got you covered!
đč Customized Strategies: We create personalized marketing plans that align with your business objectives.
đč Proven Results: Watch your traffic, engagement, and conversions soar with our data-driven approach.
đč End-to-End Solutions: From planning to execution, we handle everything, so you can focus on what you do best.
Ready to take your business to the next level? Click the image above and letâs make it happen!
Looking for inspiration? Explore these captivating examples of branded content that effectively engage audiences and…
OpenAI's latest AI model, o1, is a significant advancement in AI technology. Equipped with self-fact-checking…
AI chatbots have revolutionized communication and customer service. This comprehensive guide explores the technology behind…
Google's dominance in the search engine market has raised antitrust concerns. This article explores the…
Discover Shopsense AI, a platform that allows music fans to find and purchase fashion dupes…
Explore the potential of publishing content beyond your website to reach a wider audience and…