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Top of Mind Thursday Memo Archive
Top of Mind Thursday – January 5, 2023: The Definition of Insanity
As of this morning, the US House of Representatives has voted seven times to elect a Speaker for the new term. . . without any candidate getting the majority vote required to win.
Kevin McCarthy has clearly been the top candidate for this position since the Republicans regained control of the House in last November’s elections. Yet, he can’t come to terms with members of his own party who have publicly said they would not support his candidacy and have chosen to vote for a different candidate instead.
This is the first time in a century this has happened. It’s not clear how it will be resolved, because all parties appear to be firm in their positions: McCarthy won’t step away, the dissident Republicans won’t vote for him, and neither will the Democrats. Meanwhile, Congress is on hold till this is resolved.
Albert Einstein famously said the definition of insanity is doing the same thing time and time again and expecting different results.
While this may be a very public extreme example, in reality, we all face this problem in our day-to-day lives. Have you ever had a medical problem that wasn’t easily diagnosed, and required visits to multiple doctors–all of whom start by repeating the same diagnostic tests, again and again? How many times have you called customer support and been asked the same standard questions, time and time again, even though that didn’t resolve the issue?
This is the time of year when many people make resolutions about eating better, exercising more, or giving up harmful habits, like smoking. Yet, they take the same steps each January that didn’t work the previous year…and are frustrated to find themselves no better this year than last.
To move forward, you have to let go of what’s keeping you stuck. In many cases, it’s a belief that this should be the answer and therefore we’re going to try it again and again and again.
What tried-and-true and unsuccessful activities are you bringing forward into the new year? Time to jettison them. Anything else is just insane.
Check out our marketing thought leadership podcasts and the video trailer for my book, Marketing Above the Noise: Achieve Strategic Advantage with Marketing that Matters.
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Let us help your business rise to the top.
linda@popky.com
(650) 281-4854
www.leverage2market.com
Top of Mind Thursday – December 29, 2022: A Total Meltdown
Holiday travel is known to be fraught with challenges. This year’s set of intense storms, coinciding with peak travel days, was sure to throw kinks into the system.
But no one expected the total meltdown experienced by Southwest Airlines.
At one point, nearly 70% of Southwest flights were cancelled. Passengers were left stranded far from their destinations, and told the next available flights might be days away. Some couldn’t retrieve their checked luggage. The phone system had a wait time that stretched into hours.
In our case, my daughter’s 40 minute flight from LA to San Jose was followed by over an hour of sitting on the tarmac because there were no gates available to deplane. By itself this was not such a terrible thing, but consider that this flight was full of deadheading crew trying to get to San Jose to man their next flights. Wouldn’t you think it would be a priority to get the plane full of flight crew to a gate quickly, so they could get the next round of flights in the air?
Every airline on the planet was impacted by the weather, but all of the others managed to work their way through it with only minor delays. However, it appears that Southwest’s reservations and operations infrastructure is mightily outdated. This is the only major airline not to have a way to track checked baggage, for example. When weather impacted so many flights simultaneously, everything just fell apart. It may take days or weeks to get it back up and running smoothly. (We’re not taking any chances–we’ve booked a return flight on another airline.)
Failures like this don’t happen overnight. There were likely plenty of red flags that upgrades were needed, but they were ignored. It’s often too easy to keep the status quo, instead of taking the necessary steps to be properly prepared for the future.
As we enter a new year, this is a great time to take stock of your own business. What systems and processes that worked well in the past might not do so in the future? How might things need to change to be effective in a post-pandemic world? What investments do you need to make now to avoid a Southwest-style snafu?
Wishing you a happy, healthy, safe, and prosperous 2023, with calm skies and safe, on-time landings.
Check out our marketing thought leadership podcasts and the video trailer for my book, Marketing Above the Noise: Achieve Strategic Advantage with Marketing that Matters.
.
Let us help your business rise to the top.
linda@popky.com
(650) 281-4854
www.leverage2market.com
Top of Mind Thursday – December 22, 2022: The Light Won’t Be Extinguished
Yesterday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made a surprise visit to Washington, DC–meeting with President Biden at the White House and speaking before a joint session of Congress.
His speech to Congress thanked Americans for their help and included references to other key conflicts in our history, including WWII and the Revolutionary War. He talked about how American support was helping keep Europe safe and strong, and how the money sent to Ukraine is not charity, but an investment in the future of a free world.
Today is the fourth day of Hanukkah–the holiday that celebrates the Maccabee victory over the Greek invaders. The oil to light the lamps in the Holy Temple that should have lasted only one day instead lasted eight, and the Macabees successfully fought off the intruders.
What an appropriate connection. The nation of Ukraine was expected to fall to the Russian invaders within a week, but instead–like the light of the menorah–10 months later, Ukraine is still standing strong and beating back the enemy.
Zelensky talked about the will of the Ukrainian people to keep fighting for their freedom and their refusal to accept anything less than victory. Like the Macabees two thousand years ago, they will not let the light burn out, but instead continue to bravely fight on for their right to exist as a free people.
As we celebrate the holiday season, let this be a lesson to all of us. We don’t have to heal the world all by ourselves. We just need to keep a small flame burning, one day at a time.
Wishing you a happy, healthy, and meaningful holiday season. Let us each be the light that carries peace and prosperity forward.
Check out our marketing thought leadership podcasts and the video trailer for my book, Marketing Above the Noise: Achieve Strategic Advantage with Marketing that Matters.
.
Let us help your business rise to the top.
linda@popky.com
(650) 281-4854
www.leverage2market.com
Top of Mind Thursday – December 15, 2022: Flying Too Close to the Sun
This week, 30-year-old Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of FTX, was arrested in the Bahamas in relation to the billion dollar collapse of his crypto company.
It now appears that the rapid rise of FTX was based on a house of cards–billions of dollars are unaccounted for and thousands of people are unlikely to get their money back. Other crypto companies are trying to stay alive–over 3200 cryptocurrencies have already failed this year.
How did a company that in November was worth $32 billion crash into bankruptcy this quickly? This is what happens when valuations are based on market frenzy–without any underlying source of value.
In a manic craze like this, people want what you’re selling–whether it’s Beanie Babies of the 1980, the tulip mania in 17th century Holland, or crypto and NFTs in 2022. Prices rise quickly, but they can fall just as fast.
When something seems too good to be true, there’s a good chance it’s not. When you fly too close to the sun, you’re likely to get burned.
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Check out our marketing thought leadership podcasts and the video trailer for my book, Marketing Above the Noise: Achieve Strategic Advantage with Marketing that Matters.
.
Let us help your business rise to the top.
linda@popky.com
(650) 281-4854
www.leverage2market.com