Strategy, Strategery, and Management By Hair on Fire
In my 25-plus years in the world of work, I like to think I’ve seen just about every permutation of communications/message management. I’ve worked for companies or organizations that set up intricate, focus group-driven strategies, and never budged a millimeter from those plans.
Conversely, I’ve worked at places that had ‘strategery’: they thought they had a strategy–perhaps even had one on paper, but in real life, it was really pretty seat-of the pants stuff. It was all do/say what works well at the moment, worry about future implications later.
The third type of communications management I’ve experienced is by far the worst: hair on fire. The hair on fire plan involves one faction of the organization demanding a coherent strategy, another part bucking that strategy; and a third, ultimately dominating faction who believe in a nihilistic, “damn the torpedoes” flurry of activity–running around with their hair (figuratively) on fire. Every day is a new day. “The strategic plan’s a great idea but it doesn’t apply today” or “we have a strategy?” and activity (however fruitless or pointless) equals performance.
All three of these communications/messaging management areas have their problems–even the competent, stick-to-it strategy (there needs to be some “wiggle room” even in the best strategy).
