What good looks like
The most elusive thing for strategists to learn is “what good looks like.” There’s a reason for this, and also a way to fix it.
Many strategists struggle because they don’t know what they’re aiming for. This is what I mean when I say they “don’t know what good looks like.” We often work alone and don’t have the benefit of a mentor or thought partner.
We’re mostly feral, left to figure it out for ourselves, more concerned with survival than thriving.
But even beyond that, there’s often an assumption that - because of our title or the client brands on our resumés or the agencies we worked at previously - we must know what we’re doing. This is often a flawed assumption.
I don’t say that to be judgmental about the strategists I’ve met. Sometimes I see it, but more often they tell me themselves - that they’ve climbed the ladder and still don’t know how to do strategy right.
And that they want help, because it really sucks to be uncertain all the time.
But this assumption that we must know what we’re doing creates a vicious cycle. We’re left to work alone, which means not just no collaboration - but no evaluation. I’ve talked to an alarming number of strategists who are reviewed each year by managers who don’t even see their work or their process. Their evaluations are based on feedback from non-strategists on their accounts, and from clients. In other words, anecdotes, not evaluation.
So how do we break this cycle?
First, someone who knows what good looks like needs to collaborate with your strategists. Not just check in every once in a while and tell them what’s a miss, but actually collaborate in real time while they’re working so they learn not just what they’re aiming for, but what process will get them there. (If there’s no time for this in your agency look for outside help. I know a guy.)
Second, learn how to properly evaluate a strategist’s work, capabilities and potential. Yes 360 degree reviews are useful, but as a complement to what you know already, not a substitute. A strategist’s manager should have a rubric for evaluating their team so they can guide their strategists to the next level intentionally, and provide fair and defensible feedback on skills the strategist lacks.
The evaluation rubric I use with my clients is 12 points across four categories:
Our partners in Creative get this - they never work alone and enjoy constant collaboration to make the ideas bigger, and help each person know what good looks like and how to get there. As a strategist, I’d rather emulate that model than envy it.