Cut the Bullsh*t thinking for a more effective business
3 step approach
The reality from having a small consultancy firm is that the problems we solve for our clients often have to do with poorly implemented systems, tools or processes. Companies tend to implement simple solutions but they should simplify the problems or challenges they are trying to overcome. Most solution vendors (either software, solutions or training companies) let you believe that the solution is simple. Just buy their sh*t and the sun will shine again, the world will be a better place and everybody is happy.
The brutal truth: it is a big fat lie.
If you want to create a new dish, the approach to just add ingredients in a bowl and taste it, is very ineffective. Buying a new pan or food processor also will not help. Even refurbishing the kitchen will not result in a great meal. It takes research, insight and craftsmanship.
The same goes for business.
If you want to improve your business, the latest marketing conversion machine will not help, nor will a new website, a great direct marketing approach or a CRM system. It takes research, insight and craftsmanship. And guts.
This is the essence of Cut the Bullshit thinking:
1. Know your sh*t
2. Decide on your tactics
3. Act and act fast
This line of thinking can be seen in more and more literature and I want to highlight two books that proof this point.
1. How to approach this in strategy?
The book 'Good Strategy Bad Strategy' has a great Cut the Bullsh*t approach to strategy.
- Diagnose. Do research, investigate, crunch numbers and make sure that you have all the data and insights you need to improve your business.
- Guiding policies. Create your own golden rules for success. What is, given the research, the absolute key thing to do and to hold on to.
- Coherent actions. Execute and execute well. Make sure you focus on the essential parts of your guiding policies and move towards your better world.
Understand that the devil is in the details. Confronted with your daily issues and complexity of interdependencies and uncertainty, the essence of the strategy is easily forgotten. You just want to get rid of the noise and make your world simple again. That's why the evil solution sellers are so successful. They offer a clear solution at a moment that your problems are overwhelming and complex. So stick to the plan!
2. How to approach this in marketing?
Clarify your world. In our book, Cut the Bullsh*t Marketing, we apply our way of thinking and simple proven methodologies to the world of marketing. The essence of Cut the Bullsh*t Marketing:
- Understand your customer: know his context, ambitions and desires. Know how he consumes information and makes decisions.
- Create great marketing tactics: focus everything on engagement and marketing ROI
- Go out there: Engage with your (potential) audience by combining all relevant instruments.
In order to do this, you have to become literate in visualisation and information handling to embrace those learnings in order to have them at the top of your (and your teams) mind when doing marketing.
Do you want proof?
Are you asking yourself if this will work? Several big names think it does.
"I have personally seen the strong results of this approach" — Frans van Houten, CEO Philips.
"This marketing approach helped take NXP from a top 20 player in the semiconductor industry to a top 5 player" — Rick Clemmer, President and CEO, NXP
Others (KKR, Stanford University, Sillicon Catalyst, Atmel) have similar recommendations, which in my opinion proves that we are on to something.
Want to experience this?
I want to offer you a small giveaway: for readers of the book we offer the instruments and methods also as downloadable templates.
One of the instruments helps you to create structure in the stories you want to tell. It provides a thinking approach that helps to reduce the noise and clutter and focus on the essence. So that you don't need to accept the first shiny agency to create another irrelevant marketingvideo or powerpoint, but you can pro-actively finetune your story and apply great tactics to visualise and re-use the story towards the real people you want to connect to.
So have a look at our storymap template. If you need help or have questions, feel free to comment below or drop me an e-mail.
If you embrace this kind of thinking, make sure to get a copy of our book and let us know how this helps you!
