Not Always Knowing Where You are Going is Okay…
When I’m involved in something new, I can typically see where it is headed. I can see the ultimate end goal and know how to get there. In fact, sometimes I can predict when that goal will be reached in terms of timeframe.
I will admit recently I was in uncharted water. During the first quarter we had been discussing doing a blog, and frankly I didn’t know what that meant. Not only did I not know what that meant, but I truly hadn’t spent any time on any blogs.
As I got more information (translation: Randy, Joan and Frank—our internal team—were pushing me to start a blog), I started to check blogs out and began to get more comfortable with the whole idea. I was unsure, but I trusted the team and their advice, so we started to discuss it in greater detail. My questions were obvious:
- Would I be able to think of any topics to write about?
- Would anyone want to read what I write?
- Would anyone comment?
I am excited to tell you that the blog was started over two months ago and the site has over 2,500 hits, 143 comments and we just had our 32nd posting this morning. The blog has really built up steam and has clearly exceeded my expectations. It has opened my eyes to a whole new world. Over the past few months the blog has been a springboard for speaking at conferences, meeting new contacts and as a bonus, I have learned a great deal!
Sometimes it’s okay to not know exactly where you’re headed. My experience here at M/A/R/C has reinforced some prior learning, and I think this is true for all management. As companies desire to move forward and develop additional strategies, they will venture into new and uncharted territory. And if upper management is comfortable with those chosen to be at the helm, trust and teamwork will uncover opportunities and deliver unexpected achievements.
I want to thank everyone who reads the blog, posts comments, sends emails with topics and forwards the link to industry contacts who might be interested in certain topics.
Congratulations, and thank you to Randy, Joan and Frank. You were right!
Thanks for pushing me!
I look forward to hearing other thoughts and comments from readers.
October 19th, 2006 at 9:15 am
I stumbled on this blog a couple of weeks ago. Just want to say I enjoy reading the posts. Thanks to your internal team for pushing you in this directions.
And to you for taking the time to develop the posts.
October 19th, 2006 at 10:50 am
Just to build on your point, one of the most telling factors in a company’s ability to move forward and grow is its ability to know its strengths. Not in terms of products, positionings or specific techniques, but at a more basic level of knowing what we can do well, what talents we have and what we are passionate about. From there it’s easier to evaluate opportunities and figure out how to support them.
So when Joan and I were at the AMA conference earlier this year and listened to Toby Bloomberg’s session on blogs, we came away with the same idea. When we saw each other after the session we both said “Hey! Merrill would be a great blogger.” (She beat me to the “Jinx”, however, and I had to buy her a soda.) “Why?” you might ask.
What we took away from the session was that a good blog/blogger had a point of view on a subject(s) and was passionate and sincere about talking, listening and generally interacting with people.
The questions you had were interesting because none of the rest of us had those.
Hey….have you ever thought about a podcast???
October 19th, 2006 at 9:34 pm
Randy - thanks for the shout out. Helping M/A/R/C launch its first blog (I see more in your future!) and watching as Merrill develops his unique ‘blog voice’ has been a joy.
Merrill, congrats! on the success of the Merrill Dubrow Blog. Randy, Joan and Frank thank you all for your vison and for encouraging Merrill to blog. Merrill you so “get it” and I’m looking forward to reading more great posts.
November 3rd, 2006 at 2:05 pm
The blog is a great idea and source of information for me. A classmate of mine, Sergio, had introduced me to this blog a few weeks back .It has been extremely interesting to me and I am trying to catch up with all the old postings. Thanks a lot for this blog and hope this evolves into several specialized blogs of M/A/R/C.
November 3rd, 2006 at 7:43 pm
Thanks Ajit for introduce me to the audience of this great forum of the marketing research industry. I am just catching up in my many activities, completing this semester and in my job hunt but I am planning to add some of my humble opinions.
I think that this forum is an opportunity for all members of this small community to interact and speed up the diffusion of ideas. Each one learn from being exposed to different point of views. This blog can play that role in that and being a sounding board