Big Hairy Audacious Goals Versus The Devils You Know

Bill Taylor’s HBR Blog post today -- “Don’t Let What You Know Limit What You Imagine” -- strikes at the heart of a strategic planning challenge for professional service organizations in today’s marketplace.  Begin with bright business minds, add expertise and deep experience, blend with volatility, unpredictability and a touch of fear, and you have a recipe that can result in the devils we know defining the way we think, act and communicate.

You know the saying -- Be careful...the devil you know may end up being better than the one you don’t know.

When much is at stake -- not to mention those moments when crisis looms -- the desire to study history, examine the past, and leverage experience is understandable.  The great challenge -- in fact, one of the things that differentiates those who actually inspire, innovate and change the future from would-be leaders -- is balanced perspective.

Case in point — as the father of a soon to be 20-year old daughter, it’s difficult for me not to speak completely out of personal experience when I offer advice on dating.  ”I know exactly how immature boys your age are because I was one!”  Few would dispute that my perspective is rooted in fact.  But the problem (apart from the fact that my target audience has limited interest in this message) is that this one-dimensional perspective does little to facilitate progress.

What does this have to do with organizational thinking, planning and communication?  Simply this: without exception, when couched and “toned” only by data points of the past, an organization’s mindset, planning and message will lack dimension, limit vision, and seed faulty action.

Absent a perspective that allows for (and prompts) vision, communication is either a recitation of history or an account of current conditions. If that data is less than stellar the chances are great that the devils we know have far too much influence.

Consider this: had the framework for Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address or poetic Second Inaugural been couched in the reality of recent history, or even the moment, his speeches would simply have decried the nation’s condition, and mourned those yet to die. Instead, Lincoln used the past to give birth to a new vision.

Had Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. addressed the throng gathered on the Mall in Washington, D.C. speaking only out of experience, the “I have a dream” refrain would never have passed his lips.

And in the wake of the USSR having won the race to orbit the earth, President Kennedy dared to stir the US with an unthinkable vision — to put a man on the moon.

Take a look at what these examples have in common.

• They do not gloss over or ignore the realities of the past;
• They broaden perspective;
• They speak of possibilities for the future;
• They call for participation.

Put another way — what Lincoln, King and Kennedy did was transcend data, and seed a vision. Some might suggest that known data points and vision represent opposite perspectives — that the former is grounded in fact and the later is right-side-of-the-brain creativity at its best . . . spin at worst. Yet, pivotal moments are often marked by the communication of a leader who, unprepared for the past to define the future, is able to articulate a new view of the horizon.

Pivotal moments — whether in commerce, social enterprise, political endeavors and even personal adventure – come when decision makers understand that most of us are anxious to be done with the devils we have known.  We simply need someone to help us with the vision of what might be.

Most of us are still stirred by a dream -- by the challenge inherent in what Jim Collins called Big Hairy Audacious Goals.

Open Letter To Law Firm Marketers

Several weeks ago I was part of a discussion on marketing in the legal industry. In the course of the conversation a successful, respected law firm leader looked around the room and announced, “I just don’t get this whole CMO thing.”

His pronouncement wasn’t argumentative or confrontational. He wasn’t lobbying against marketers. He was giving voice to what scores of law firm leaders wrestle with -- the questions of whether the marketing function (whatever it is labeled) in the legal space, is strategic at any level, and where it belongs in the hierarchy of a firm?

To be pointed -- does marketing belong in the so-called C-Suite in law firms, participating in baseline discussions of direction, profitability and growth? Or is the industry served best by top-flight marketing communication teams, able to respond, react, deliver and facilitate communication, media relations, events and the like?

And while it may be pronounced to an uncomfortable degree for marketing professionals in law firms, the underlying issue is not unique to the legal industry.  The fact that in many industries the ultimate office in the Suite -- that of the CEO -- is rarely occupied by one having come through the marketing ranks, is an oft explored issue by senior marketers.  And (editorial comment here) far too frequently our response as marketers is defensive...if not indignant.

There are scores of possible causes for this. The creative, polished and often “event-driven” side of marketing -- from high-end production, to the concept of “spin,” to the degree to which “optics” seem to determine so much -- may give rise to the question, How can one engaged in so much “theater” bring appropriate gravity and perspective to an executive’s role?

Whatever the reason, for all marketers aspiring to leadership, here are three ideas that will change the discussions in your organization.

• First, learn and use the language of those with whom you wish to connect / relate.  Marketing-speak and Financial-speak are (most often) worlds apart.  The verbal shorthand, metaphors, and acronyms of one rarely connect with the other.  Want to lead strategic discussions?  Speak a language that will connect with and be understood by leadership, whatever their respective discipline.
• Remember the organization’s reason for being.  Unless you market an agency or creative shop, it is probably not to win awards for advertising or gain acclaim for design and creative excellence.  Focus efforts on initiatives that directly connect to the mission, and watch the nature of your discussions change.
• Synthesize.  See the big picture.  Avoid (indeed, fight against) the silos that evolve in every organization.  The leaders in technology, finance, and human resources are allies and partners of the successful marketing organization.  And any perspective on strategy is incomplete if it is not a synthesis of every discipline in the organization.

One reason more marketers don’t have a “seat at the table” just might be that we haven’t found the way to connect with our colleagues in Finance, Technology, HR, Professional Development and Strategic Growth -- or whatever the departments in your organization might be.

A bit ironic that the group charged with connecting with the marketplace outside the organization has such difficulty connecting inside, don't you think?  And if we are unable to connect with our colleagues, have we earned the right to an office in the C-Suite?  Should we be shocked or dismayed when leaders "don't get the CMO thing?"