We just adopted a new puppy,
Adorable, energetic,
And some less than desirable puppy habits.
The first week,
Opening her playpen,
She would bolt downstairs.
Ignoring commands
Or anyone who tried to stop her,
Laser focused on going outside.
Not surprisingly, when she got there,
She found a closed door
[Yep, all the people with thumbs, still upstairs]
There she’d sit,
Staring out the frosted glass,
Waiting for the door to open itself.
I’d wait,
Then walk downstairs,
Gently pick her up,
Back up the stairs,
And plop her back down in her playpen,
Avoiding her sullen glare,
Until the next time…
After a few days of this,
The continual plopping finally got old,
And she waits for someone to take her out.
I bring this up because we as strategists
Get caught in the same behavior.
We get a client request, proposal, idea,
Our strategy playpen swings wide.
Excitedly, we bolt down the stairs,
The same approach, the same pathway,
Without scanning our environment,
Without assessing the situation,
Without seeing if we needed someone to help us with a door.
And when we get plopped back in our playpen,
We wonder what happened.
Before you rush into a strategy,
Take a look around.
Be aware of your environment,
Of the distractions,
What opportunities and threats lie ahead,
And if you need someone to help get you a few steps further.
Without this,
It shouldn’t be surprising that the door doesn’t open,
Or that you end up right back where you started.
