Crowded Head

I hate to pull from Seth so much to get this thing started, but to practice like a Jedi, one needs to understand how to think and see the world in Yoda’s eyes. This one from Seth Godin, again helps us to see things in another light. To effectively influence change and to drive companies to be bold, daring and creative — you have to architect, as opposed to market. All the email campaigns in the world aren’t going to help you if you haven’t re-enlisted with your mission and customers.

“What does an architect do? She reinvents the very nature of what’s delivered and how it is delivered. She reimagines the inputs and outputs of the organization, as well as its story, to create an engine of revenue that grows while benefitting all sides.

The reason we hear about Google and Apple and Jetblue and Starbucks all the time is that these are poster children for re-architecting existing business models into something very different. The marketing is not slapped on. Starbucks is not Dunkin Donuts with a clever sign. If Dunkin Donuts goes out to hire a “senior marketer” and gives that person traditional senior marketer duties, not much is going to change.”

Sometimes knowledge from Seth’s Blog is just too good to expire. This post from 2006, is as true now, as it was from the original post – Jan 3, 2006. If your company is in free-fall and the process for change is stagnant, then this is for you. In addition, chipping away at things may just be what you need to force the organization to look at itself. Business as usual means making the same mistakes, because that is the way it has always been done. Wisdom quoted via the Godin blog:

“If you can’t change the little things in your methods, you’ll never change the big things. Pick something, make it better. Don’t worry if it is just a little thing. If you lather, rinse, and repeat that a few times, you will have made a big difference. BUT if you wait for everyone else to change BEFORE you will, remember that everyone else is thinking the same thing, and so nobody will change anything. Don’t wait for permission, or worry about doing something different, or invent reasons why you don’t have authority. Somebody has to make the first move. It might as well be you. Change your world, today.”

If you aren’t doing anything different, how can you expect to accomplish anything different?