Fail Fast

"Vincent Ludwig: Drebin! Jane: Frank! Frank: You're both right."

The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad

What do you do when you have a direction that's crystal clear to you, and your teammate or manager is thinking the exact opposite - or just has another way of getting to the same goal?

Could it be that you're both right?

Yes, it could be - it happens.

We run so many different activities and campaigns that it makes complete sense you came up with a creative direction, solution, or idea that's more than just a keeper. But as always, there's another viable option that makes just as much sense as yours.

So go ahead and run it. Fail if you must. Just fail fast.

This is just like those marketing headaches that can actually be a lot of fun - since you don't know what will hit, and you're not sure whose idea is right, go ahead and run one (or possibly both)...quickly...so you get the answer you're looking for: does it work, or is it a dud?

If it works, great - grow it, expand it, adapt it to make a bigger impact. If it failed, you got your answer quickly and can move on to your teammate's idea...run it, assess results.

Rinse and repeat.

In other words, you can plan all you want, but planning alone doesn't give you answers - only assumptions. And assumptions don't amount to great leads, engagement, interest, or feedback.

Still hesitant? Both ideas sound good? That's fine. It's natural. You just need to get started and get better. You may make a mistake running something that flops - but perfection will cripple your progress. So just run it.

Fail fast, gather yourself, and run the next idea.