Opportunity, or overwhelm?
About 8 years ago, I was deeply insecure about whether I was even strategy material, so I remember asking a peer how they introduced themselves. They were more experienced than me, so I figured, hey, this guy's gonna have some wisdom on how to best think about this job.
"I solve problems". That was his answer. Very simple. But also, quite mysterious. So I've been obsessed with this answer and come back to it time and time again. Yeah but, tell me more? What does that mean?
Two shapes of problem
What follows is a thesis I've been playing with for a while. See what you think, and please do build on it. Anything any of us ever writes is, at best, co-created with others. But I see problem solving as coming in two shapes.
You're either growing something (for example, meaning, money). Or you're minimising something (for example, confusion, churn). Both are valid choices, and they really come down to one question you ought to ask yourself at the start of any brief. What's the biggest painkiller right now?
We'll come onto what this means for your client conversations, but let's talk about private communities for a minute. Under the above framework, any private community is about one of two things. Either they're about opportunities (e.g. to get hired), or about overwhelm (e.g. to feel seen).
This became clear to me as I heard more from what Salmon Crew members were valuing about the group. When you think about a group, you think, great, another place to learn and also to get jobs. But this brings a hidden danger, which is that you end up turning the place into something that in theory is valuable, but in practice becomes extremely functional.
Instead, the unlock came when I hear folks say things like (and this is a real quote from last week): "I came for the strategy but I stayed for the people". The context of this was that someone asked for help on a work thing, and the conversation then evolved into tips for visiting Portugal.
Holding space
This is what I also increasingly realise about the nature of strategy. We're in the business of problem solving, yes, but also of holding space. For what? For problems, yes. But also for people. Tensions. Conversation. Divergence. Hope. Space for the unsaid to finally be said with others.
I've worked tons of times with clients who didn't want a revolution, they just wanted clarity. They needed to, a la Rick Rubin, reduce not produce. And you know what? I'm tired of pretending these are not exciting briefs, and the only exciting briefs are about transforming everything right away.
Mark Rukman, who I now quote on a weekly basis it seems, talks about how client-side conversations focus less on the "right answer" (as if there is only one), but rather the "agreed answer" (which should be logical and evidence-based, of course). And the trick to this comes down to not just being a really good strategist on paper, but knowing how to negotiate.
So this takes us back to the original question. What's the biggest painkiller you're facing right now? Are you in a situation where you're all trying to maximise opportunity? Or instead are you trying to minimising the overwhelm in a situation? And sure, you can cop out and say "a bit of both", but you and I know there is secretly one of them taking the lead.
Think like a negotiator
I've been thinking about this because my dear friend (and Salmon Crew member) Rachel O'Donovan is running a workshop on how strategists can think like negotiators. Happening on July 18, 1pm GMT. Rachel's done tons of great work in agencies, and now works with VC and tech startups on brand and business problems. She brings some field lessons for us all.
This workshop is exclusive to Salmon Crew members, so join the crew today and I'll make sure you get the invite. And if you can't join live for some reason, don't worry. Every workshop is recorded and stored. And you can always access Rachel in our private group to ask any questions.
