Stirring bulletin #7

WHAT
Replacing a process mentality with a method one will serve marketers well.


WHY
There's ample evidence that advertising agencies and brand partners are re-focusing to meet the new demands of web 2.0 era. Marketers need for change goes beyond mere market place and brand re-oriention, they need to re-engineer critical work practices if they are to survive and thrive.


HOW

Middle Ages thinking

Corporations strictly institutionalized a process approach throughout their organization: highly controllable it helped management ensure business success was consistently repeated. In execution, a process mentality tends to be rigid, often linear and imposes limits on innovative and creative thinking - critical success factors in today's climate.



Renaissance thinking

A method approach recognizes the need for focus and flexibility in working practices. Focused on establishing key areas of inquiry - pursued with intellectual rigor - it allows the freedom to engage them in a way that best suits the character of the problem. It also enables the company to better adapt to changes happening more quickly in the marketplace and consumer culture.



It has implications for human resource strategy, requiring the deliberate hiring of people with the skills to be capable leaders in this new age of flexible, fast-moving operations.