Fast becoming more annoying than tax season or budget season is the ever-popular, clearly link-baiting time of year marked with blogs filled with predictions for the new year:
- “10 predictions on social media in 2010.”
- “7 things that will happen on Facebook in 2010.”
- “47 ways advertising will die in 2010.”
It’s all baloney (yes, I know it’s spelled “bologna,” but I don’t want to chance you pronouncing it in your mind as bah-low-NUH), and it’s an utter waste of time.
“But shouldn’t one prepare for what’s ahead,” you ask. “Is it not a sign of knowing your industry?”
It’s definitely cool when someone knows an industry or trend so well that they repetitively prophesy and, poof, it happens.
Those people are rare. My guess is you’re not one of them.
Playing a Numbers Game
The problem with banking on predictions is that you are putting way too much stock in what has yet to happen.
Let’s say you make 10 predictions in your industry or for your company for 2010, and you put in place plans to address all ten. Now, fast-forward to 2011 and look back. Assume two of the 10 predictions came true. Granted, you are really ahead of the pack in those two areas, and it’s probably paid off to a certain degree.
But you wasted 80% of your planning process and strategic abilities on something that can’t even be used, because your assumptions never became reality.
Let’s face it: there are too many levers moving too quickly in the world today to know everything that’s coming. In fact, the sooner you realize there’s something always around the corner that you’re not prepared for, the better off you’re going to be.
Instead of waxing poetic on a year-end guessing game just so you get the thrill of proclaiming “I told you so!” at the end of next year, why not try building a different list.
How about figuring 10 things you can do now so you can easily react to what 2010 brings?
The all-stars of business today, especially small business, are those people who can react the fastest. Opportunity is always knocking, but it’s opting more and more for a speed-dating approach. If you don’t answer right away, it has no problem hopping to the next doorstep.
What processes can you put in place to get yourself and your team better prepared when the big 2010 moment hits? What processes can you eliminate? What do you need to learn? Who do you need to get to know? Who do you need to rally?
Two years ago I picked the Rams to win the Super Bowl. I think they won a total of three games that year.
Predictions mean nothing. Reactions and responses mean everything. Stop predicting and start preparing for the unpredictable.
————–
Subscribe now to MarketingInProgress.com by email or RSS feed.
You’ll automatically be notified whenever something new is posted.
———-
This article was originally posted at http://www.marketinginprogress.com.
Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.
[...] go astray.” In other words, we naturally suck at planning. We aren’t made to think too much into the future. This is why all hell breaks loose once a project nears its launch date. We humans simply [...]
I couldn’t agree more. These days, the person or company who can purchase a domain name, post some keyword loaded content, and get it all online the fastest will usually get the most traffic to an affiliate product launch. The hard part to overcome is that many times the insiders are already on this before the average person even hears about it.
To Your Success,
Karl
Good point on the insiders having the big edge. While there’s a lot of good stuff going on these days with online programs, it also seems like there’s an inner circle who essentially just keep promoting each other and their products. It’s smart, but it can also be deceiving. It’s not always necessarily the best stuff; it’s just the most talked about stuff.
bd