035: Knowing begins with agreement
[After - Session 11] Efficacy is a result of relationship
In the past few days I’ve been noticing a challenge particular to humans more than usual.
Are we on the same page?
This could mean the definition of “clean your room” (if you have teenagers, like I do). Or broadly, “what is marketing?” And specifically: “How do we agree we know marketing is—or isn’t—working?”
This week’s course theme: Creativity, Efficacy and Results, is fundamentally rooted in these challenge of definitions and consensus. Measurement is everywhere, technique and ability to assess are widely available; but agreement often seems elusive.
🙂 “Here are 18 highly qualified leads.”
🫤 “Those are not leads.”
😮 “Also, not what we define as ‘qualified.’”
Rinse, repeat.
I suspect the solution starts way back at the beginning, when and where we’re first agreeing this is a problem marketing can and should solve. Godin refers to the effort as thrashing early.
Are we on the same page?
How do we know we are, and that we’re aligned?
Probably a good idea to write that down and refer to it often.
Ooh, shiny new thing
This newsletter is published on Substack, which just released a new feature called Notes that is absolutely not an attempt to replace Twitter. 🙄
I used to be a heavy Twitter user. The app once told me my engagement was “in the top 10%.” By that standard, I barely open Twitter now. But maybe I’ll open Notes and use it a lot?
That will depend entirely on people like you. Notes only makes sense if enough people engage, and a network gets built.
If that intrigues you…
And here’s how to join Notes
Head to substack.com/notes or find the “Notes” tab in the Substack app. If you are a subscriber to Curiosity+Courage, you’ll automatically see my notes. Feel free to like, reply, or share them around!
Next week marks our first big assignment. I’m writing the brief now for a service that is “entirely new.” The students will pair into teams and have a week to organize, refine and present their ideas. I’ll see you on Sunday with the “Before” post.