Q: I had the best idea to make my partners more successful.  What happened?

A: Creative ideas are only half of the equation - success requires a careful balance of art and science.

The key to a competitive edge is the perfect balance of art and science.  Creativity is critical to coloring outside of the lines (aka - doing something your competition hasn't thought of).  Logic is critical to making sure your creative solution makes sense and will get you to your goal.

Unfortunately, many of us suffer from Latch-and-Run Syndrome.  We spend a great deal of time digging into the data and learning about our audience and one day a really creative idea pops into our head.  Without thinking twice, we Latch onto it and Run with it - never stopping to be objective and look at the science or process of the program.

While it's good to strike while the iron is hot (excitement surrounding an idea really gets people passionate), taking a minute to build in the science will balance your program and lower your risk.  A few simple steps include: 

• Set measureable goals:  What are the X's I want to acheive?
  • X Participants
  • $X in Revenue
  • X Partner-led Events Executed
• Build a process:  What needs to take place in order to make this happen?
  • What do I need to do?
  • What am I asking others to do?
  • How do we:
    • Start?
    • Run?
    • Finish?  
• Set milestones:  When will I review progress?  When is it OK to make changes to my strategy?
  • What milestones will I have?
    • Time
    • Activity
  • What flags should I look for?
    • Performance:  What are my go or no-go indicators?  (No-go is where you have the option to shift your strategy)
    • Participation:  Is my message clear?  Have I communicated this enough through the right channels?

We take the time to create a strategy upfront for a reason - up front we're spending the time to think clearly through information and balancing our creativity with logic.  Once we're in the throws of execution, it's easy to want to make changes and react to new ideas if our program seems to be anything short of amazing.  DON'T BE TEMPTED.  Success comes in one of two ways:

• Lucky break: one wildly successful program
  • Pros: you're a hero, your peers think you're brilliant, the success feels awesome
  • Cons: it really is a lucky break,it's often a one-time thing and you can't recreate it
• Balanced art & science: many programs that meet or slightly exceed the set targets
  • Pros: you consistently hit objectives,you are seen as smart and reliable by your managers, overtime you make a significant impact to the bottom line, your partners like working with you because they know your programs produce results (lower risk for them)
  • Cons: you get impatient with repetition, you don't get the rush that comes from wild success

Once you have your process in place - don't veer from the plan unless you hit a no-go indicator at one of your scheduled milestones.  Tuck your great ideas away for the next generation of your program and stick to your strategy.  Then watch the gap between you and your competition grow!