Wisdom and words — Kelford Labs Daily

“In any game that is at all complex, a game plan or strategy is vital for effective play. Roughly, a strategy is a prescription that tells us what to do as the game unfolds; it specifies a sequence of decisions.”

— John H. Holland, Emergence

I haven’t talked about “strategy” as a distinct thing all that much lately. I’ve focused a lot more on positioning and focus, on changing your marketing, on custom-making your messages.

But I really enjoyed how Holland talks about strategy in his book about emergent phenomena in complex systems.

Strategy prescribes a sequence of decisions, not a set of actions.

Or, as I like to say, it’s the structure to work efficiently to get what you want.

I spend a lot of time looking at how entrepreneurs buy and sell messaging services and I think strategy, in that sense, often gets missed by both parties.

The buyer can think that all they need is a set of messages, a sequence of words arranged in a pleasing and sensible order.

And the seller can think that all they need to do is supply those words and they’ll attract and retain clients.

But I think there’s a lot more to it than that.

A messaging “strategy” can’t just be a set of messages. It’s got to be a way of deciding what message to deploy, when, where, and to whom.

For example, how often do you encounter a business where the only way to engage with them or learn more is to book a call?

It ignores the distance between the business and the customer. It deprives them of a “middle step” where they can get comfortable enough to buy.

At the end of the day, I think it’s incumbent on marketers to sell more than messages, but also the wisdom to know when, where, and how to deploy them.

So if your marketing needs better messages, don’t just buy (or use AI to generate) the words.

Make sure you’re seeking out and acquiring the wisdom to use them well.

Reply to this email to tell me what you think, or ask any questions!

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