Self-Reflection in Marketing

Self-Reflection in Marketing

Aug 20, 2023 | Organizational Behavior

Marketing is a business domain not only for promoting brands, products, and services but also as a platform for organizational self-reflection, engaging the entire staff in the process.

Why the need for self-reflection? Frankly, Western society shies away in general from genuine self-reflection, which I contend cannot be captured in a social media self-post curated in a local Starbucks. Maybe it can, of course, but let’s assume it cannot happen there.

The kind of self-reflection to which I am referring–at either the personal or organizational level–begins with simple questions, such as, “Why are we doing this?” Honestly, I have sat in many conference calls during which it occurred to me that several key elements were not clear to me (and obviously to others, too).

Let me use a specific example. Staff have developed what they believe is an incredible program, priced it according to what they feel is its value, and now present it to the marketing “guy” or “gal” to promote it.

The incredible part of this true story is that the marketing person was never consulted during program development or in any discussions related to its hypothetical value. Yes, I said “hypothetical,” because “value” is not something that exists “out there” in space and time, independent of our perceptions, preconceived notions, or cultural framework.

In many cases, value is quite arbitrary. Why can one museum charge $20 admission, whereas a seemingly similar institution cannot move anyone’s proverbial needle at half that price? Perception is reality.

While I am not a big fan of the word, “should,” I believe it applies here in that marketing should never be the final step in any process where revenue is concerned. When done well and from a systems perspective, marketing can invite deep self-reflection BEFORE (as opposed to after) money and time are spent.

Best Practices in Organizations

Best Practices in Organizations

Jul 16, 2023 | Organizational Behavior

Recently, I had a “conversation” with an individual about next steps related to further developing a nonprofit board. Excited about some of my recent research that touches on new ways to conceptualize the role of nonprofit board development, I indicated that perhaps we could consider new ideas.

I am not sure what I expected to receive for a response, but I was met with something to the effect that he wanted to move toward “best practices.” In that moment, I realized that not only was he not interested in what I had to say, but that he had employed absolute thinking.

Absolute thinking is a way to present an idea as incontrovertible, unassailable, and universally correct. How was I to respond to his statement of “best practices?” He left no room for dialogue or discussion. Was I to offer up “okay practices” or “less than practices?”

If you manage people or serve on a nonprofit board, I invite you to consider how you you think you know what you know. If you are not sure, that is perfectly okay. If your response is that your opinion is based in science or research, that is also perfectly acceptable.

My invitation, then, is for you to go farther in your inquiry. What has worked based on your experience? What do those around you feel or think about the subject? When developing an organization, there are extraordinary opportunities for self-reflection and process-building.

When anyone appeals to the somewhat amorphous and nebulously defined “best practices,” what they are subtly communicating is that they have no interest in any sort of dialogue within which new understandings may be co-created among diverse stakeholders.

After all, does anyone knowingly employ “best practices?” Ostensibly, the entire world is predicated on “best practices,” but for whom? Who benefits from these so-called best practices?

Heinz von Foerster developed something known in cybernetic thinking circles as the Ethical Imperative: “Act always so as to increase the total number of choices.” Are you increasing choices at your organization? For whom?

Not surprisingly, the gentleman I referenced at the beginning of this file never spoke to me again about nonprofit board development. The last I heard, he is developing various subcommittees and an overall board structure “by the book.” I wonder who wrote that book?

Motivation

Motivation

Jul 18, 2021 | Organizational Behavior

We have all heard it. “If I were you, I would…”

Is such a statement meant to motivate, or is it instead a strategy by which we assert our position in life? Is it motivation at all?

What is our positionality? Positionality is the idea that one’s personal values, views, and location in time and space influence how one understands the world.

In the context of motivation in an organizational setting, one way to think about ‘the other’ is to simultaneously recognize and balance the idea that he, she, them possess as much reality and/or validity as you. ‘They’ are you insofar as they are nothing other than themselves, which is an ontological idea with a specific, although loose, claim on the nature of existence.

What is ontology?  One of the longest standing ontological questions in philosophy concerns the existence, or not, of God or some sense of a higher being.

This seems abstract except when we frame this concept within our social, shared reality. Does reality exist independently from an observer, or is it something to be negotiated with others?

How we answer the above question is important, because it will inform how we think we should motivate those around us. If we believe there is an objective reality, we may not feel we need to understand another’ s positionality in order to advise them. If, on the other hand, we believe reality is a construct, one created with others, our belief in our ability to motivate others will be shaped by whether we think we understand their position in life.

The extent to which we feel the need to understand others is a reflection of a worldview, one that informs behaviors. Our worldview is often hidden from us. We often react, act, make statements, and conduct our affairs as if there is a bottom line that supports our rationale.

When we seek to motivate others in the workplace, it may behoove us to consider what it is we think we know and feel before we lay claim to what is needed to perform in a particular role.

“If I were you” could be reframed into something like, “I’m not you, but here is what has worked for me. Would you like to hear my view?”

There is a direct correlation between the effort we can make to consider the thoughts and feelings of others and what we receive in return. Is that statement a fact, or just the opinion of the writer? Doees the writer believe what he/she/them writes?

What is their motivation? What is yours?

Perspective

Perspective

May 15, 2021 | Organizational Behavior

If we are to understand an organization, we must ask certain questions first, right?

What are your job descriptions? What is your employee retention rate? Do you offer benefits? Are you profitable? What is your mission?

These and so many other questions are most definitely important, but does it make sense to jump right into an analysis of an organization before, in fact, we take a step back?

We are talking about perspective, which we define here for our purposes as the ability to see something in its largest context.

What are you as an organization now? Where were you before? Where are you going? Is it working well? Are there problems and/or challenges you would like to overcome? What connects all staff with one another? What might be driving them apart?

This line of questioning entails that we observe as well as reflect on what we see and hear before we jump into the kinds of questions that have binary sets of answers. If A, then B. If not B, then A. It is more complicated than that, of course, but answers to questions like, “Do you have benefits?” are easily answerable.

To gain perspective, we need to go into the gray areas of an organization in order to uncover clues to the ‘how’ and/or ‘why.’

Perspective of an organization does not begin or end within its proverbial walls. Rather, we must also consider the actual lives of the people who work there.

Are they motivated? Is this their first job? Their last? Are they parents? Grandparents? 

The roles we play outside the office has a direct bearing on how we conduct our behavior within it. Whether our staff work within an actual office or virtually, organizations operate by unwritten rules of behavior.

“This is the way the handbook says things work, but this is how it really works,” an incoming new hire might hear from a well-intentioned supervisor. Is this something we really want to hear?  

Perspective is the ability to see things from many angles. It seems like an art, but it is a science, one grounded in philosophic inquiry.

If we spend actual time each day thinking about the ‘how’ and the ‘why,’ there is a better chance we will gain insight not just into a business operation, but our very selves.

Ever work for a boss who was unable to offer you perspective? There may be nothing more uncomfortable in work, or personal, life for that matter than individuals unable to contextualize to any degree the behaviors around them…

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