7 Myths CMOs (and Their Bosses) Gotta Stop Buying

Myth #5 - "I don't care what it takes, just get it done!" We all love the Nike "Just Do It!" campaign. It plays to our desire to turn our dreams into action. It makes us feel proactive, alive and like we're taking charge of our lives. But "Just do it" also has its dark side. How many times has an executive commanded that we stop making excuses and get something done – damn the consequences? In the process, we alienate our press contacts, our partners, even our customers. We see this often in the sales cycle when we push so hard to make a quarterly quota that we put our customers in awkward (even risky) positions, with nary a care about their exposure. We may get a short-term fix, but in the long-run we damage important relationships because we are overly-focused on taking care of our company's "needs" at the expense of whatever and whoever is in the way.

Myth #6 - "We can't spare a dime to invest in research." Our bias for action can lead us to believe that research is a waste of time. We convince ourselves that things are moving so fast that any data we collect will have a short shelf-life anyway. Or if we realize we don't have a plan to convert data to actionable insight, we justify away the need for research. Or the research we do is conducted by people who don't have the training (or time) to do the job right. So instead, we shoot from the hip. We keeping marching out the same marketing programs that we believe have always worked for us (long after they stopped being effective). Our marketing plans are grounded in assumptions and beliefs that would likely not survive serious scrutiny. Our entire marketing effort sits atop a very shaky foundation.

Myth #7 - "We don't have time to examine our own navels." Whoever came up with this comment must have had an issue with process and the value of learning from experience. George Santayana reminds us that "Those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it." Marketing teams need to take the time to collectively review the effectiveness of their marketing strategies and how well (or poorly) they worked together to realize (or fail to realize) them. Successful execution of marketing strategy is reinforced by a healthy system. When is the last time your organization underwent a system health check? Did your bring aboard an objective professional to assist in the diagnostic process, or did you do a self-examination? How did that work out? Did you make substantive changes or did you file the learning away to be acted upon some day?

So, here's a message for all you cow-folk out there: stop shooting yourself (and everyone around you) in the foot! You've got an unprecedented opportunity to do things differently. We're in the 21st century now! Let's leave the Old West behind and step into the new world of Web 2.0, Marketing 2.0 and Marketing Operations 2.0. You may not get to flash your shotgun as often, but you'll sure play a bigger role in building a flourishing town (your company) into something which you can truly be proud.

Gary M. Katz is founder and CEO of Marketing Operations Partners.

Next Page: Myths #5, #6, & #7