Beginners,Mind,Marketers,UNSOL marketing Beginners Mind, Marketers Mind
Automation technologies represent a fundamental aspect of any modern industry. The major types of industrial automation solutions, such as DCS, PLC, SCADA, and MES, are used on a large-scale in process and discrete industries.DCS technologie Awhile ago, I got an email from one of the "gurus" I follow and it shocked me. The gist of it was this person wanted to trade services for a household item.To say it floored me would be an understatement.What was worse was a few days later t
UNSOLICITED ADVICE AND A HOT IRONI recently returned from a vacation. I was fortunate enough toleave the heat and humidity of Memphis and go back to my homestate of Colorado and spend time with my extended family. WhileI was in the laundry room ironing a shirt, my Mom walked throughand said "are you going to iron that shirt backwards?"Of course, I immediately thought "what is this, I have to getironing advice from my Mom? I'm a grown man, I think I canhandle something as simple as pressing wrinkles out of a shirt.I have, after all, ironed a few shirts since I left home forcollege nearly 20 years ago!"I started getting irritated and grumbling to myself that thereis no such thing as ironing backwards. "Hot iron, ironingboard, wrinkled shirt, what difference does it make from whichdirection you approach this simple job?"And then I paused, and realized, my Mom has been ironingshirts her whole life. In fact, she was a home economicsteacher. She *taught* people how to iron for a good portion ofher teaching career. This is a woman who knows how to iron.Who am I to argue with an expert?So I promptly stopped and realized that if I turned the shirtaround and got on the other side of the ironing board, I couldmuch more easily complete the job because the cord would not beconstantly getting in my way. All was well in the laundry roomas I was reminded, once again, that it pays to be open to newinformation.This experience helps to illustrate a key concept that has a lotof value for marketers.Always send your shirts out for cleaning. It's worth a coupleof bucks not to have to stand in front of an ironing board. ;-)Nah, just kidding. True as that my be, I actually do have arelevant concept to discuss with you.FIRST AN EXPERT...ZEN A BEGINNERZen Buddhism is credited with bringing us a concept called"beginners mind." Zen masters refer to beginners mind as amental state or a way of approaching the world around you thatallows you operate in an open, learning mode all the time justlike you are when you first start a new endeavor as a rankbeginner.Part of the reason that it works is that a beginner knowsnothing and they *know* they know nothing. So they do notapproach a subject with a predefined set of biases. Everythinga beginner learns is knowledge that adds to their knowledgebase.As you become more of an expert, you filter the input based onyour own personal knowledge. This is natural and helpful. Ifwe didn't filter some input based on our existing knowledge, wewould constantly be overwhelmed with data. The problem is, ifyou take it too far, and become so much of an expert that newknowledge cannot reach your consciousness, then you cease tolearn.You have absolutely flattened the learning curve, or maybe evenstarted to see it decline because your mind is so full of factsand knowledge that there is no room for anything else.Alright, so what does all this have to do with marketing? Thebest way to approach marketing is to stay open to new conceptsand new ways of doing things.-> EXPERT MIND, STAGNANT MINDI firmly believe that lack of a beginners mind attitude is whatcauses leading companies (small and large) to lose theirmarketing edge. From a standpoint of beginners mind, the worstpossible place to be is #1 in your market. If you are in thisposition, you have to fight hard to maintain your edge and keepthe rest of the pack at bay.Take a step back and think about ways to put your existingbiases and knowledge aside and find ways to approach a subjectas a beginner would.If you are a market leader, look for ways to cultivate a non-expert attitude within your marketing team. If you are low onthe market totem pole, look for ways to capitalize on the factthat the market leaders are likely to be the last to see newsolutions to old problems, you have the advantage of beginnersmind.Good luck in cultivating beginners mind, and until next time...happy marketing. Article Tags: Beginners Mind
Beginners,Mind,Marketers,UNSOL