Ok, I’ve been blogging for nearly five years now… and as the proud holder of an MBA this is the first 4×4 matrix I think I’ve posted, so I hope you’ll let me off! Drawing grids is a key strategic skill, don’t you know 😉
Anyway, this is by far my favourite 4×4 grid. It’s a Johari window and it maps out your knowledge, against the knowledge available, on a given subject. It’s a tad scary. Because not knowing something always puts you at a disadvantage.
Not knowing that you don’t know puts bells on it.
What I’ve come to realise over the past few years particularly, and especially in small businesses, is that it is often what the MD doesn’t know she doesn’t know about marketing that can be the difference between stepping things up, or constantly running to keep up. It can be a heart-wrenching moment when as that MD, you clock that it’s your knowledge that’s holding your business back.
But, it’s much worse to keep on going, blind to the missed opportunities and wasted effort this is causing.
Do you know enough not to get ripped off?
On the marketing front. I’d say that an MD needs to know enough to make decent decisions. You need to know what’s a good investment, and what’s a waste of time. Then there’s cutting through the hype and fads to know what’s worth your hard-earned cash, and what will simply run it down the drain.
Tactic Burn: the tell-tale sign of a marketing blind spot
The tell-tale sign, for me, is evidence of Tactic Burn: that is, jumping from one ‘essential’ sales and marketing activity to another, never getting the consistent results that the business so badly. And, it’s no surprise that perfectly reasonable, intelligent, people find themselves doing this. There’s such a flood of marketing advice on offer. Without a decent grasp of the marketing fundamentals, many businesses find themselves stuck on the yo-yo diet of the marketing world, pursued in the hope that one day they will uncover that magic silver bullet. Knowledge is the best magic wand I’ve found.
© Bryony Thomas | The Watertight Marketer.
Bryony Thomas
Author & Founder, Watertight Marketing
Bryony Thomas is the creator of the multi-award winning Watertight Marketing methodology, captured in her best-selling book of the same name. She is one of the UK's foremost marketing thinkers, featured by the likes of Forbes, The Guardian, Business Insider and many more, and in-demand speaker for business conferences, in-house sales days and high-level Board strategy days.
I never thought about it this way, that the constant moving from one marketing tactic to another in search of the silver bullet is an indication of a lack of knowledge. But you are right on the money. Those in the know will select the right tactic or tactics and then keep going in the sure knowledge that what they are doing is the right thing. Thanks for that deep insight Bryony.
Thanks Rob. Delighted to have brought about an a-ha moment… it’s one of things I most love doing 🙂
There are 7 more signs that I’m going to go through in the webinar. Don’t doubt you will have seen them all in your travels.