It can’t be done. We don’t work that way. It’s a great idea, but its just not possible. There is no way we could get that past management. We don’t have the budget. We are just not organised that way. There is no time.
These are all objections I hear from clients concerning various aspects of their digital strategy. Its understandable that they feel this way, but their presumptions are often false.
I have worked in many organisations over the years and often achieved things that are supposedly impossible. This is not due to any special powers on my part (other than my stunning good looks and charm). Instead it comes down to positivity and shooting high.
Do I always achieve what I set out to do? Absolutely not. But, I do consistently achieve more than others expect, because I believed more could be done and strived to achieve it.
The negativity I see in many organisations is not just limited to my client work. I also see it in the responses to what I write and speak about.
Take for example the recent piece I wrote for econsultancy on the need to hire a site champion / editor-in-chief. Although there was a general acceptance that having such a position would be beneficial, most commenters focused on the problems with the idea. They couldn’t see beyond these challenges.
Let go of perfect
I am not naive. I know that hiring a person to fulfil this kind of role is hard. However, that doesn’t mean you should give up. Instead, you need to work within the constraints that exist.
Recruiting an editor-in-chief is a great example. In a perfect world you would be able to hire a full time employee to a senior position with expertise in content strategy, SEO and social media. However, finding and paying for somebody like that is going to be nearly impossible.
In a followup post to the original article about hiring an editor, I look at the logistics of actually achieving this. I explain how with some compromise and lateral thinking it is perfectly feasible to get somebody to fulfil this position. It just takes some determination and creative thinking.
I know what it is like working within a large organisation. I know it can grind you down until everything feels like an uphill struggle. However, most organisations are not setup to effectively manage websites, so if you ever want to implement a successful web strategy you are going to have to fight some tough battles.
I want to encourage you not to give up, but to keep fighting for change. As Winston Churchill said:
Success is going from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.
I know sometimes it is tough, but its worth persevering and remember, if you ever get stuck you know where to find us.
Read my post on recruiting an editor in chief
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