“Sometimes there is no next time, no time-outs, no second chances; sometimes it’s now or never.”

–

Alan Bennett

===

Life is tricky.

While there often seems to be unending line of second chances standing outside your door sometimes … well … you look outside one morning and they have all gone to have a scone at starbucks.

And you are alone.

And you can’t play the ‘next time’ card or ask the next second chance to come on in. Or say … uhm … can you wait a minute? <until one of the second chances comes back from the bathroom>

Nope.

Its now or never.

And this gets even trickier.

Because while I suggested a line of second chances typically hangs out outside your door … they don’t really stand around. You just kind of envision, and hope, they are hanging around.

What that means is this is a judgment call on your part.

Now.

If it helps … the odds are with you.

Life DOES give you a shitload of second chances and timeouts and next times. Probably more than you could ever use in a lifetime as a matter of fact.

But that’s not the point.

This is about the moment when the odds say … oops … none of them available.

Now or never.

Life walks right on up to you and says … ‘what’s your call?’

And this is actually the judgment call.

Life doesn’t say (in an aside whisper) … “Hey, just so you know, this is one of those no time out, no second chance, no next time moments.”

(sorry about that)

You just gotta know.

I guess the point of this is to remind everyone that while Life is extremely generous in giving time outs and second chances … there are going to be now or never moments.

And you have to be prepared for them.

And do your best to recognize them.

And make a call.

Oh.

And, I imagine, it is also important to recognize afterwards, if you fucked up and didn’t see it, that it was a ‘now or never’ moment.

And that is important because … well … you cannot undo or go back or ask for a second chance.

Because, well, it was a now or never moment.

And you are done with it.

It is gone.

Move on.

Don’t beat yourself up (wasted energy).

Don’t try and fix it.

Live & learn.

It sucks but, trust me, more often than not … you will get another ‘now or never’ opportunity again one day <whether you want it or not>

And … at that moment … remember …  “sometimes there is no next time.”

Because it pays to recognize one of these moments when they arise.

Question of the day.

Would you want to know how long you’re likely to live <assuming you don’t get pushed off a cliff by your spouse)>?

“I don’t know why he saved my life. Maybe in those last moments he loved life more than he ever had before.

Not just his life – anybody’s life; my life.

All he’d wanted were the same answers the rest of us want.

Where did I come from? Where am I going? How long have I got?”

–

Deckard in Blade Runner

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Whew.

Knowing how long you would live.  Now there is an interesting question.  I bring it up because some scientists/doctors/smart-people-I-don’t-know-what-they-do have developed a blood test that could predict how long you will live (it’s called a “Telomere test” to all you biology freaks).

Do I truly believe the test is accurate? Nope.

Do I believe the test is infallible? Nope.

Do I believe the test can directionally tell you how long you could live? <assuming you do not get pushed off a cliff or stand in front of moving buses>

Yup.

But.

I think the real question is … do I believe people want to know?

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm …. that one is tougher.

Here is what I do know.

I would.

I would take it in a second. I would have taken it when I was 21 <so I don’t think my point of view has varied over time>.

Would most other people? <here is the answer below>

The Guardian ran a poll on their website. I believe they had several thousand respondents:

Would you take a test that tells you how long you’re likely to live?

A blood test that can show how fast you’re ageing and estimates how long you have left to live will go on sale later this year. Will you be taking it?

 

50.9%   Yes

49.1%   No

 

So.

Basically the world is split on this. 50% would and 50% wouldn’t.

Was I surprised? Gosh.  I don’t know. I didn’t know what to expect.
But suffice it to say that there are plans in Britain to offer an over-the-counter blood-test kit that would allow you to learn your biological age (and, from there, to estimate how much longer you might live).

Anyway.

This test measures the length of your telomeres, which are like caps at the end of each of your chromosomes. Every time a cell divides, its telomeres are shortened. The more dividing that’s gone on, the more your body has aged.

Therefore short telomeres suggest advanced age (that’s the everyday person’s definition of how this hifalutin test works).

The thought that this telomeres blood test might serve as a potential measure of life expectancy takes on a new perspective when the test kit moves out of a scientific lab and into your own home.

I guess the main question for anyone considering such a test has to be, of course, whether you really want to know how much time you still have left.

It is an interesting question.  And kind of a dilemma <because what do you do when you do know?>.

I scanned a bunch of articles and of course everyone started the whole domino affect discussion <who do you tell, what do you do, what about insurance companies, all that crap>.

Who cares?

Really the only question resides within you.

And me.

Me?

I would want to know.

Why?

“We all die. The goal isn’t to live forever, the goal is to create something that will.”

 

–

Chuck Palahniuk

I would then know how long I had left to create something that could last forever.

And maybe the knowledge would give me the strength to make whatever changes I would need to make to create something that may ‘live forever.’

Because it would really suck to run out of time before that happened.

Well.

When is saw this illustration I was fascinated with the different interpretations.

Is it fear of flying?

Is it fear of control?

Is it just the fear of letting go (any way you look at it)?

Is it letting go of the kite and giving that up.

Or is letting go of what is holding you to the ground.

I love this little illustration.

Life is just like that kite.

Everyone gets one (at least one) in life. You either decide to fly it, fly with it or let it go at some point.

Regardless of your personal choice my only wish is we make sure every child has a kite and learns to fly a kite.

For they need to know that it is okay to fly.

I recently had a couple of conversation where I was being asked a lot of questions about new business, positioning a company and all that sort of stuff. Of course that type of conversation wanders thru strategic strength, criteria of ‘what you want’ (call the criteria fun, fame, and fortune) and how to grow a business smartly (and a half dozen other topics).

In both cases they were pleased with the conversation and asked if I had a process they could use to help guide the people around them in this discussion.

Whew.

Bring up one of my pet soapboxes.

Well.

Having worked my way thru these issues at least a hundred times … yes … I have a process. In fact I probably have 5 or 6 effective processes. Okay. I probably have a thread of questions that probably need to be answered to effectively reach a conclusion.

Suffice it to say most situations relate to a continuum of “who am I now, where am I now, where do I want to be, how do I want to be seen in the end.” I have seen consultants and positioning experts apply a variety of words and “voodoo” process systems to attack these same questions over and over again.

To me it’s kind of silly to have one process to attack this. Especially if you believe the solution resides within the company itself (or whomever is asking the questions) rather than the answer residing within the consultant (because the answer never is there by the way).

The “process” is typically dictated by the problem that needs to be solved and the personality of who has the issue that needs to be resolved. I will be honest. I don’t really give a shit about my process. I just care about what trick (or tool that inspires the response necessary to get the conversation moving if you feel better worded that way) I have up my sleeve at the moment that will get the person who has the issue to be able to state their problem in a way that they kind of see the solution themselves. Is that process driven? Heck I don’t know. I doubt I do exactly the same every time. And I sure won’t shove “my process” down someone’s throat if it slows us down from finding a solution.

Timing? In general I think week long consulting gigs are nuts. I think if you get the right people in a room and stimulate the right conversation if a consultant can’t isolate the issue in one day he/she isn’t worth a shit as a facilitator or “consultant”. It isn’t some type of voodoo. There aren’t but so many solution vectors available. And most people who look at their problems when you force them to truly strip things down can see the core issue (heck. They are typically smart folk. Sometimes they just get caught up in the fog of politics and random important unimportant things they have to think about.

One day.

One room.

The right people.

You should get close to the core issue and solutions.

Consultants also drive me a little nuts. Especially how they get paid.

Here is the deal in my eyes.

Initially pay me for my time and the effort I put into it. Cover my expenses. That is it. If the consultant sucks that is all you pay. And that is all the consultant deserves. Even if the consultant in their brilliance believes they have given you brilliance (and you just weren’t brilliant enough to see it) they shouldn’t be rewarded for that. They just weren’t good enough for you to see the brilliance. Don’t pay them anymore then their time and initial effort.

Okay.

You were happy. Thought there was value. You felt it was time well spent. You may have even found a solution (by the way. No matter what you are told you may not walk out with a usable solution.) Or for a variety of reasons you may get close to “the answer” but just cannot implement it or whatever. But. SEEING the solution was worth it. Pay some more.

Last.

You thought it was worthwhile AND you found a usable solution. Pay more. The consultant earned it.

Paying more by getting help implementing.

Well, sometimes a consultant can earn more by helping you implement the solution. I believe the lure of money can make people do some things they just may not want to be involved in.

Sometimes it is good to part company and to walk away then. Implementation can use some outside guidance but I kind of believe you will either get it done as an organization or you won’t. Sure. There are some tricks that can help gain embracing of an idea but bottom line is it takes management fortitude to win the day not organizational alignment tricks (tools).

Sometimes great consultants are like “hit men.”

Their strength is focus and solution for the issue. And I admit I also like to offer up a couple of methods to implement a solution (usually right when the solution is discussed). But I am probably better served walking away and maybe coming back in a year and talking with the same group about “the solution” and how it is going.

In other words continue to maximize the strength of “stepping in, assessing, and offering a solution.”

But, hey, that’s my opinion.

Communicating meaningful information so people can make meaningful choices.

Let’s talk about the definition of ‘Marketing.’

It isn’t sales.

It isn’t some psychological mumbo jumbo of convincing people to do something they don’t want to do.

It IS about attitudes & behavior. That means … at its heart marketing should be about education.

And similar to our school systems I believe marketers have a similar responsibility as teachers … a responsible transfer of information.

Okay.

That doesn’t mean, as a marketer, I have to always facilitate a debate on the positives of social democracy versus socialism in the marketplace with regard to adult diapers but it does mean marketers have a responsibility to speak the truth. Not nuances of the truth (or selective lying … or selective or partial truths).

So, in the end, I tend to believe marketing’s struggle will always reside within individuals’ definition of “meaningful information.”

And we shouldn’t be naïve enough to believe that even if everyone agrees with this definition that everyone will “get it right.”

In some cases people will make true mistakes based on “I think it should be ‘this’ versus you think it should be ‘this’.” <note: because whether we want to admit it or not … people in marketing are … well … people .. and not all people think exactly the same way … sorry about that>

On other occasions, someone will decide to try and communicate something unimportant and try to make it important (shame on you).

The largest error in our ways will be reflected in what I see is the biggest flaw in the marketers’ world.

The fact that most marketers delude themselves into shaping something <product or service … or worse … a ‘brand’> as unique when it is simply well crafted information (and not unique).

Regardless.

I believe marketing is ultimately about truth.

Maybe I am naïve but I believe common sense and honesty always ends up winning. False “uniqueness” is uncovered as emperors’ clothes in the end … so why not stake truth out, meaningful information, for all to see and let people make meaningful choices?

You are gonna have to do it anyway <because consumers are pretty smart people>.

In other words, educate people and they will judge what you say, your product,your company, your brand with an unjaded eye.

The potential prize? Maybe, just maybe, they will actually choose what you are offering for all the right reasons.

So.

All that said. Here is a surprising definition (that is if you have done the math and uncovered the formula) … the definition of Marketing is … well … truth.