Catchy title, right? Not without a reason though. And I can’t even claim I invented it … a whole while back, in highschool (yep, that was in the time animals could still speak -LoL), I had a language teacher that kept on repeating how important it was to “kill your babies”. We had to write lots and lots of text for debates, for conversations, for essays and what not, and then STRIKE OUT HALF, at least.
At the time I didn’t really get it, but now, years and years later, I “see” what he meant. I see a lot of people (whether in our own company, or in the agencies we work with) getting really “attached” to the BABIES they create. And we do create a lot of those babies all day long as marketers: ideas, products, business cases, communication plans, etc etc etc. And there’s a reason why we do what we do, with the right intent no doubt. But boy, does it look stupid when you keep fighting for a half-dead baby (excuse me for the visual drama of this notion), and especially when you’re the ONLY ONE fighting.
So I guess, that it is worthwhile stepping back from time to time, look at all that you’re spending time on, and question motives for why you are so eminent in fighting for your “babies” ; and then, when needed, KILL THOSE BABIES!
A colleague came into my office one day, and asked me a very very important and relevant question: “Can you still look at the world, at consumer data, with A FRESH EYE?”. Daring.
But WHAT A G-R-E-A-T QUESTION! The honest answer to that, when you have many years of experience, is: it is very difficult. But I want to question myself on that. And I want to kill my babies (i.e. any preconceived ideas I might have), at least by L I S T E N I N G to others around me – other colleagues can tell me better than I can where my thinking might go wrong.
Net, stop from time to time. Don’t fight for your babies to unreasonable extend. Kill those babies. Strike out half !!
And… ask for help. Someone else can confront you with the flaws in your story, your proposition, your presentation, your insights in 5 minutes whereas you might be looking for it for hours.
Writing a presentation is a craft, and the process is similar to writing a book. Check out another one of my blog posts on that!
Comments?
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Nice one – works fine . Almost on the line of Unlearning ( Learn & Unlearn process)
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