Play it Safe
September 7th, 2006
I just don’t understand how SVPs of marketing departments can afford to play it safe. Playing it safe means trying to please all the people all of the time. Playing it safe is the bedfellow of “that’s the way we’ve always done it.” Playing it safe is what’s happened to Ford, Intel and Radio Shack. It’s the antagonist of courage…and of change. It’s paying attention to office politics. It’s the tradition in traditional advertising. It’s complacent. It’s the same spread in the same pub for the fourth month in a row. Playing it safe has never, ever merited good results. Playing it safe always gets found out. Exposed.
Playing it safe puts your job in danger. You were not hired to play it safe, were you? I’m not saying that you have to be a loose cannon – but come on. DO something. Will your resume say, “Played it safe at company X for 5 years,” or “Moved the needle. Changed the culture. Pushed the boundaries. Shrunk comfort zones. Made a difference.”
Is the choice really that tough?
Marketing can be meaningful. But you have to make it that way.
Other posts by Spike.
David says:
Interesting perspective in light of the fact that one of Intel’s core values is risk taking. Seems like it is time for another round of back to basics courses at my former employer…
September 7th, 2006 at 8:17 amJason says:
Nicely said, Spike.
I’ve been thinking about this exact point for a while as well. In my experience, it seems that most people are driven more by the desire to avoid failure, and more specifically to avoid blame for failure, rather than a desire to acheive success. Most people would rather have safe 1% growth on their brands than aim for 50% or 100% growth and changing the category, because that entails risk of failure (if it was guaranteed, everyone would have done it already). This is partly driven by the inherently conservative nature of people - people who have kids and mortgages and so on - to not want to put their neck on the line. It’s partly driven by a cultural belief that failure is bad and demeaning, rather than an opportunity to learn and grow. It’s also partly institutional culture and economics - most companies compensate people based on short-term growth, rather than long-term vision, and stigmatize failure. Nobody wants to be the person who lost a chunk of shareholder money. Really, how many organizations actively encourage risk-taking and challenging convention? Not a lot.
This is why so many decisions are not made by individual judgement, but by committee, or by research. These are structures that mitigate individual responsibility for a decision. I’ve seen people approve something which no one really believes will work because “the research said people liked it” - even if everyone kind of knows the research was flawed. But they approve nonetheless, because if it fails, they’re blameless: “the consumers told us to do it.”
It takes a brave individual to base a decision on their own judgement, especially in defiance of conventional wisdom or company politics or research. That makes it a rare individual. But these are usually the people who change the world.
Sorry, that turned into a bit of a rant. I think you’ve inspired a blog posting for me to go write.
September 7th, 2006 at 10:49 amSpike says:
David - Intel could’ve fooled me.
Jason - you had me at “This is why so many decisions are not made by individual judgement, but by committee, or by research.” That almost made me cry. Well said.
September 7th, 2006 at 10:54 ampatmcgraw says:
Aren’t you overestimating the power/authority of most SVPs/CMOs? Jason’s comment about decisions not being made by individuals, but by committee is dead on. Change means work and too many CEOs aren’t into that because it cuts into their golf and requires money that is better used to pay the CEOs bonus.
September 7th, 2006 at 11:02 amSpike says:
I think we underestimate their power, Pat. All it takes is one courageous person with vision.
September 7th, 2006 at 11:05 amthe fruits of imagination says:
Failure…
A good post on Brains on Fire today about playing it safe made me think about something I’ve been struggling with for a while. I posted a comment there, but it made me want to write something here as well.In my experience in this industry, it seems th…
September 7th, 2006 at 11:47 amolivier blanchard says:
Wow. I’ve worked for the company that Jason just described.
Great post, Spike.
September 7th, 2006 at 11:49 amDavid says:
Spike,
I know what you mean, but follow this link to the Intel website:
http://www.intel.com/jobs/workplace/values.htm
September 7th, 2006 at 1:42 pmSpike says:
I’m feeling ya, David. Maybe I spoke out of turn about Intel. And maybe they have some pretty words on a pretty webpage.
September 7th, 2006 at 2:02 pmolivier blanchard says:
Not that pretty on either count.
“We’re constantly striving to incorporate our value of Risk Taking by reducing the cost of our products while continuously improving performance. A team at Intel recently incorporated this value in developing a back-end cost-management process, and it paid off in a big way. The group drove a holistic and proactive process in developing a system that saved Intel more than $700 million. This cross-functional team implemented a process to identify and drive cost-reduction activities a year ahead of product launch, before product design and technology directions were decided. By creating the new process, the majority of the cost issues were addressed up-front, proactively saving millions of dollars.”
Huh?!
September 7th, 2006 at 6:06 pmThere is No Comfort, Only Opportunity. « GiddleBits says:
[...] One thing I had been wanting to write about is the idea of risk taking in the business world. Brains on Fire had two great posts on it recently, namely this one and this one. Honestly, I couldn’t agree more. Business isn’t about being comfortable in your decision, it’s about being a risk taker. It’s about breaking new ground. Likewise it’s not about being all things to all people. It’s about addressing the specific community that hasn’t been tailored to. When I’m actively in my profession and doing marketing, I would rather go to bed concerned but excited about the potential success of our latest risk than go to bed comfortably, knowing I don’t need to worry about anything because I didn’t bother risking anything. [...]
September 9th, 2006 at 2:06 pmNathan says:
I whole heartedly agree.
Even if a company would rather be comfortable with 1% growth as opposed to taking a risk for 25 or 50% growth, is there really any garuntee that they’ll get that 1%? Who’s to say a competitor who is daring, innovative, and a risk taker doesn’t take their market share? There is no certainty in being comfortable, and even less in risk taking. However, given those circumstances, why not take the chance of opportunity?
September 9th, 2006 at 2:09 pm