Planning In An Agile World

I've always been a planner. At times to the point of obsession. But the older I get, the less crazy I make myself about it. I know that no matter how hard you try you cannot and will not control everything. Things will happen that no one expected.  And they often get in the way of the original blueprint. The key is to be flexible when it does and be open to the idea that the change might be even better than what you had planned for.

Don't get me wrong. If you want to create something you need to be clear on what it is and you need to figure out what it will take to manifest it. A plan must be in place whether we're talking life or business.

The really smart and the really successful know better than to hold on  too tightly to the plan as written. They reassess along the way and are flexible enough to improvise when needed, looking at the twists in the road as opportunity instead of disaster.

Take Sunday night during the Superbowl. No one planned a power outage in the Superdome that would delay play for thirty-four minutes. There was a championship to decide and commercials to air. Yes, those :30 and :60 spots reputed to be sold in the vicinity of $40 million. A huge money maker for CBS and a huge expenditure of an advertising budget for even the deepest of pockets.

Witness the smart thinking and agility of Oreo and 360i. Oreo had bought a commercial in the game that had already aired. According to Buzzfeed,  the agency and the brand had set up a "mission control" in advance,  basically meaning the agency and the decision makers for Oreo were in the same room when the lights went dim. Within minutes the team had turned around the situation, effectively "newsjacking" it. They created and tweeted this new ad, capitalizing on the moment. 

Not only did this generate an extraordinary amount of Tweets and Facebook likes, people like me are continuing to write about it, generating even more conversation about their brand than they could have planned for.

Newsjacking is a relatively new concept coined by  David Meerman Scott , what he calls "the process by which you inject your ideas or angles into breaking news, in real time, in order to generate media coverage for yourself or your business." 

There were other brands who were also acting with agility including Tide and Calvin Klein, more evidence that this is becoming the way of the world in which we live, whether we are speaking to advertising campaigns or our lives. 

Things are changing, faster than ever before. Five year plans can become five minute plans at the touch of a button. Which means we either need to respond more quickly and be more agile or we will be left in a cloud of dust...or in this case cookie crumbs.

The Real Reason It Won't Work

If you have ever tried something new and different, gone off on an unconventional path, endeavored to make a difference in something, big or small, you'll notice one recurring theme. 

Most people won't tell you why it will work. 

They'll tell you why it won't.

They'll say something like:

• It's too soon
• It's too late
• It's too big
• It's too small
• It's not sustainable 

• It will take too much time

• No one will care in a year

• It costs too much
• It doesn't cost it enough
• It's too obvious
• Someone else is already doing it and they'll do it better
• Why bother? No one will care.

They'll roll their eyes. They'll add a huff or two. They'll change the subject to something more interesting to them. Like how they've given up on ever losing those ten pounds or how much they hate their boss because really, there is just nothing they can do about it.

My very practical advice is to stay away from those people.

Especially if you want to: 

• try something new and different
• are ready to take an unconventional path
• are endeavoring to make a difference in something, big or small

You see the thing they forgot to tell you is the real reason it won't work. 

You believe them instead of you.

My 8 Rules Of Social Media Engagement

Someone asked me recently to tweet something for someone they were working with.  It was a new product, one I had no hands on knowledge of. I love helping and I love spreading good stuff. Still, I said no.

I had my reasons.

I'm careful about what I attach my name to. It's a reflection of who I am and what I think and stand for. And I know that what I put out there, stays out there. Forever and then some. No matter how much I'd like to believe that delete button really works, it doesn't when it comes to the Internet. So I'm thoughtful about what I share and suggest to my followers. I keep it to the stuff I care about and know about and have intimate knowledge of. 

For instance just the other day I shared a link encouraging people to vote for Laura Zigman in the Shorty Awards. I love her Annoying Conversation series. They are clever and well-written and they never fail to make me laugh out loud. I think she's deserving of winning.

This other request did not fall into such a category. At least not for me.

But I know everyone is not like me. Like everything else in life, many share on Facebook or Twitter or Pinterest because they think by doing so there is something in it for them. They shout outrageous things in 140 characters or less, they might not say if we were standing in front of them. They post a picture on Instagram that guarantees they might never see that promotion they had their eyes on. They have interpreted having an authentic voice to mean typing whatever comes to the top of their head with absolutely no filter, followed by quickly hitting the send button without a care as to the repercussions their words might have. Again, things they might never say at a dinner party. Or maybe they would.
(note to self: do not invite those types to any I'm hosting)

In any case it got me thinking it was time to share the rules I like to follow when engaging in Social Media. 

1. Think before you post. To Twitter or Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Google+ or whatever your social net of choice is.
2. Post with integrity. By definition integrity is the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles, moral being the difference between right and wrong.
3. Remember that what you put out there will stay there. Forever. And a day.
4. Your on-line engagement is a reflection of who you are. So think before you post, who do you want to be seen as?
5. Being authentic does not mean posting the first crazy thought that pops in your head.  At least not without taking a long, deep breath first.
6. Being creative does not mean being outlandish, cruel or thoughtless. 
7. Don't share what you have not read or viewed. Sounds so obvious but it happens. All the time.
8. Don't share what you don't believe or think has value or is worth sharing. The great thing about our new digital age is that really great ideas can spread quickly. So can bad ones. Your opinion can help to make that happen. So use it. Wisely.

25 Lessons I Learned From My Bout With The Flu

I don’t get sick very often. I eat well, lots of fruits and vegetables, make sure I do not forsake the proteins, drink alcohol moderately (most days), exercise (a lot) and consume enormous amounts of water on a regular basis.  I haven’t been to a doctor for anything but a routine checkup in over a year.  Which is all part of my rationale as to why I did not get a flu shot this year. Or any other year.

That and the fact I detest needles.

There I admit it. The mere sight of a needle can make me fall faint.  For these reasons I will never get a tattoo or will I ever shoot up any drug for sport. So unless it is deemed absolutely necessary I do not raise my hand and offer to have one jabbed into my very delicate and tender skin. That is about to change.  

You see I got hit. Hard. For the better part of the last week I was forced to remove myself from normal daily life. I am one of those who this year’s so called epidemic, has left flat out. Fever, aches, chills, headache, sore throat, intermittent upset stomach and the welcome surprise after a holiday laden with food, no appetite.

I had a lot of time to think while I lay in a fetal position in my darkened bedroom, my iPhone within easy reach, wondering where the line between clear thinking and hallucination actually was.  I learned some lessons. 25 of them. 

To continue and read that list follow this link to The Huffington Post.