Organizational challenges are undeniable realities. They can be negative, such as declining profits, or they can be positive, such as lack of focus during a hyper-growth period. Regardless of what they are...

We all have 99 problems, but solving them should not be one.

Much like a personal journey through uncharted waters, my organization's response to the pandemic encapsulates the emerging dynamic marketing trends. This story serves as an analogy to explore nine key trends that have reshaped the marketing landscape since the onset of the pandemic.

I absolutely draw inspiration from all forms of science and thought. But when it comes to physics, I get the most geeky. And not because I can use physics to create better marketing (well, I do), but because I use physics concepts as a metaphor with my teams.

My life and I suspect that it may be the same for many of you, has been a constant stream of expectations: sometimes they are met, sometimes they are not. When my expectations are met, I feel a sense of fullness; when they are not, I feel a sense of dissonance.

Whether you are the senior leader in your organization, someone with empowered organizational influence, or rank-and-file on your team, here are five truisms that will help you change culture – or do something enough like it.

Because, you know, clichés exist for a reason - they, after all, are based in truth (or at the very least describe reality). If that is the case, then why do so many writers/bloggers/pundits out there do so much to speak out against the use of clichés (simply do a search for the word cliché, and you will see as many posts about avoiding them as anything else)?

I believe the goal of marketing is to produce a behavioral change in people from something that does not benefit you to something that does, and the way you do that is to "tell the right stories to the right people."

As a matter of course, everyone, every day, is faced with a series of decisions. A constant onslaught of decision points interweaves the fabric of our lives. It starts at the first dawn of consciousness and ends with its last flicker. The very moment we experience lucidity is the very moment we have to make a decision.

In the most iconic scene in the movie "Se7en," Brad Pitt's David Mills reacts to receiving a box from the antagonist by hauntingly saying, "What's in the box?" This scene can be a gripping analogy for a CEO delving into the underside of their organization's culture. Like the suspense surrounding that fateful box, leaders embark on a nerve-wracking journey when they conduct a 360-degree internal audit of organizational culture.

Sometimes, when we look at competing ideologies of organizations, we can easily fall into the trap of considering those ideologies as absolute or a binary construct. If we like one, we can’t like the other. So, let’s dive into two of the more critical voices in organizational culture: Edgar Schein and Peter Drucker, the heavyweight champs (as it were).

But what indeed fascinates me about it is something that goes beyond the traditional ideas of organizational development in the sense of strategy and structure. I am enthralled with the constituents of the organization itself.