Tag Archives: tactics

The Wildebeest Speaks On Tactics vs. Strategy

So I finally wrote my new edition of my LinkedIn newsletter The Wildebeest Speaks—“On Types of Expertise”—on March 11.

And then found a spelling error on March 12.

Now if this had been client work, I would have quietly fixed it and went on my merry way.

But I’m more transparent when I’m writing for myself.

So rather than quietly correcting the error, I publicly did so.

The Wildebeest Re-speaks.

In addition to preserving my transparency, the episode allowed me to illustrate the difference between tactics and strategy.

When a writer misspells the word “tactical” in an article and freely admits making the error, this is a tactic…not a strategy.

Solving Problems vs. Problem-solving

Marketers, let’s return to school and talk about the difference between solving problems and problem-solving. Afterwards we’ll go back to work.

Marchetti SP and P-S

Some time in 2008 or earlier, Carolyn Marchetti heard this:

“Problem-solving is what you do when you don’t know how to solve a problem.”

She contrasts this with solving problems, where you apply known techniques to a problem that has already been solved.

Marchetti approaches this from an education perspective, where students ideally learn solving problems AND problem-solving.

Shah SP and P-S

This distinction is not unique to Marchetti’s anonymous speaker. Sam J. Shah, also dealing with students, notes the need for problem-solving in certain scientific disciplines:

“[M]ost of the work done in fields as sterile as combinatorics or as messy as molecular biology involves navigating corridors of inquiry, trying (and often failing) to draw connections, and coming up with new lenses with which to look at problems. Frustration and dead ends are part and parcel of working in these fields.”

Bredemarket SP and P-S

We encounter these issues outside of school when we go to work.

  • For businesses, Bredemarket usually solves problems: your prospects don’t know about you, your prospects don’t know why they should care about you, your prospects lack information. There are known solutions.
  • Occasionally, Bredemarket engages in problem-solving, where there are questions without clear answers, and you and I work together to determine how to move forward.

Your company probably needs to both solve tactical problems and perform strategic problem-solving.

How?

I’ve worked on both the strategic and tactical levels. Let’s talk. https://bredemarket.com/cpa/

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