This might work
by Josiah Mackenzie on June 21, 2010
14 Comments
14 Comments
After you decide to try something new, what do you hear?
- This might work, or
- This better work!
“This better work,” is the thinking of safety, of proven, of beyond blame. “This might work,” on the other hand, is the thinking of art, innovation and insight. – Seth Godin
Building a culture of innovation requires you try things that might work. If they ‘better’ work, you’re up against a wall. You’re not going to try anything new.
I talk with people at a very diverse group of hotels around the world: small and large, independent and branded, budget and luxury.
What’s interesting is that I see new media marketing success stories in each of these categories.
I just hear them saying “This might work!” a lot more often.
[Photo credit: andy_c]
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Article by Josiah Mackenzie // June 21, 2010
Josiah helps hospitality organizations use technology and the social web to provide better service and generate more profits.
+1 347 422 6784
Whenever I try out something new, all I think about is “DO IT WRONG QUICKLY” !!!
For any business, I think that is a risky yet great motto to have !
Cheers
Mihir
Yes, do it wrong quickly and cheaply. If you operate like that, you’ll find it much easier to do this type of experimentation.
The good news is that its so much easier to do quick, cheap tests using today’s technology.
You just need a resident scientist!
Having the right attitude makes such a major difference.
It is all my failures that defines my success. Many of us is familiar with Thomas Edison’s quote ‘I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work’.
You should share some of the success stories with us Josiah.
Often when you try to something new – the first element that comes in play is fear. So my focus is often is to identify my fears and what is the hurdles I need overcome to deal with my fear.
I learned both from experience and studies that the worst question that often pops up in my head is ‘What If…?’ Instead of focus on the opportunities, I start focus on the obstacles.
Adversities and obstacles are just natural elements you need to face to achieve success.
One of my hurdles I know is Hotel Marketing. So I am here to learn, but I am also prepared to make some mistakes on my way..
Think I noticed you had some pdf on that so have to check into that.
Cheers.. Are
Very, very solid advice, Are. I love the concept of first identifying *what* the fears and obstacles will be. This way, we can make level-headed decisions on how to deal with them. You can hedge against loss without being a pessimist.
And yes, I love sharing success stories…and plan to do a lot more of that in the weeks ahead. Be sure to let me know if you come across anything!
I stumbled across this post because a commenter mentioned the title of one of my books (“Do It Wrong Quickly”) and realized that you’re talking about something right up my alley. Josiah, I can tell that your experience in the industry has led you to understand exactly why experimentation is the ticket to success. Internet marketing is so new that we delude ourselves in thinking there are best practices that apply to every situation–we must experiment to find out what works with our customers. And even if there was a clever consultant that could tell you what to do, if you wait ten minutes something will change and you’d be back to testing and experimenting to see what to do now.
And I agree completely with Are that fear is a huge stumbling block. Our own fear of being wrong stops us, and when we get over that fear, we must deal with the fears of our colleagues before we can get anything new to happen in a medium-to-large business.
Right on, Mike – I think ‘best practices’ need to constantly evolve through experiments.
Thanks for stopping by!
Me, me, me ! It was me who mentioned your book Mike
I read your book thrice and the concept of “DO IT WRONG QUICKLY” has certainly influenced all my activity ever since.
It was one of the reasons why I scrapped my static HTML website and shifted all my content to my blog at http://www.mitaroygoahotel.com. The nice thing about WordPress is that you can DO THINGS WRONGLY QUICKLY and try out new things, knowing all the while that you can always go back and change it if you don’t like it.
In fact, I regularly chip and change the look of my website to see what works and what doesn’t.
Whenever I am stuck or don’t feel like doing something, I think of you and do it wrong quickly. That way I am already half way there and even if my work or my blog post is not perfect, I can always go back and change it, right ?
Thats the amazing thing about Social Media. If not for Social Media, I would never have got the change to communicate with a bestselling author directly like this.
Or the chance to tell you how grateful I am to you for completely changing the way I think.
Even though you didn’t bother to mention my name !
Cheers
Mihir
Sorry for leaving your name out of my previous comment, Mihir. Thanks so much for mentioning my book and for your enthusiastic account of how it changed the way you think. I appreciate it and hope that you’ll let me know if you ever need any help.
Thanks for your response Mike !
If you ever find yourself in Goa, I would love to have you over as my guest at my Mitaroy Goa Hotel.
Cheers
Mihir
That’s very nice of you, Mihir. I might be in Bangalore this November, but that doesn’t seem terribly close.
Bangalore ??? Are you serious ???
I LIVE IN BANGALORE !
Is this trip in November finalised ? Where will you be staying ?
Give me a buzz when you are in Bangalore and I would be happy to show you around the city where I was born
Can I assist you with any other travel plans in Bangalore ? Id be really glad to help
Cheers
Mihir
That’s funny, Mihir Contact me offline at mike AT mikemoran.com and let’s figure it out. (Don’t want to clutter up the comments with off-topic conversation, but very happy to have connected with you.)
This is great! I love when people can connect here – way to go, Mihir and Mike!
Heyy Mike, I’m sending you an email right now…
Josiah, as usual, thanks for being a facilitator of contacts…who need LinkedIn anyways
Cheers
Mihir