by SEBASTIAN CUERVO for 42 Slash
Marketers love solving problems. If you spend more than 20 mins on LinkedIn or Twitter on any given day, you will notice a couple of clear story patterns that go something like this:
- I had a problem with this marketing process.
- I used this formula I developed or copied from top influencers to solve it.
- I found success.
- You can do it too. If you want to learn more, leave a comment (and chances are it becomes an endless spam sequence in your inbox).
Or alternatively, you may also find the vulnerability pattern:
- I thought I knew this, but I was secretly suffering from carrying the heavy weight of this problem.
- I decided to stop pretending I was okay and publicly embrace my vulnerability and fear.
- I found success by being open about it and asking for help (sometimes it goes personal and vocal about valuing spending more time with the family or exercising, among many other things).
- You can do it also; it’s okay not to be okay.
The issue with constantly “Problem Solving” is that it skews our perception. If all we see and consume on social media validates the idea that continually solving problems is essential, by default, we will follow this behavioral model also.
But that’s not the only way to succeed in your marketing efforts. In fact, there might be better ways to do it.
Being Practical and Thinking in Systems.
Don’t take us wrong. We love problems and solve problems every day. But, instead of focusing on what might go wrong or is going wrong, focusing on the practical and real domino effects of your actions serves the marketing team better.
We can summon problems out of thin air if we are constantly looking for problems. If, on the other hand, we are paying attention to how our actions affect the system, we can both solve problems and remove the need to find them in the first place.
It seems counterintuitive, but many issues solve or simplify themselves without having to do anything at all. And even if they don’t, a mindset of process-driven actions beats problem-solving scenarios because:
- It removes the anxiety of having to solve the problem but instead builds a system to improve your chances of winning.
- It forces you to think beyond causality (action-effect, problem-result) and instead think systemically (nodes and their effects in accomplishing something).
- It removes the pressure of constantly innovating or embracing the next big trend and leads you to improve your systems.
- It removes the need to constantly have to debate if this course of action is better than this other one (different ways to solve the same problem).
- It pushes you to act in connection to a purpose and a system built around that purpose, not in a reactive problem-solution framework.
Problems are great because they are at the core of our storytelling-wired brain. When it comes to marketing, though, thinking in systems and making the right bets beats stories any day.
