Spike Jones of Brains on Fire wrote a post awhile back on how movements must start small, with one-on-one conversations between passionate, like-minded people. He points out how anathema that is to the marketing and PR worlds where people are trying to do BIG things, big events, big rollouts, big campaigns.
I agree. Nice post, Spike. As you say, “small takes a little more time than big”, it requires patience and nurturing. Small doesn’t have immediate impact, doesn’t explode on the world full of sound and fury. Small is the acorn.
But in some ways small doesn’t take a little more time – because small is about acting, about doing, about immediacy. Big is about extensive planning, strategy formulation, researching. Oh, don’t get me wrong, small doesn’t operate without strategy and vision but neither does it wait for the strategy to be perfect, to be run past the focus groups and the Board, to be checked and double checked while the opportunity stagnates.
Small says, “we know where we want to go, let’s get started and we’ll make adjustments and learn along the way.” But the journey is richer, deeper, and ultimately more rewarding for the starting.
In his post, Spike was referring to word of mouth movements. I think it extends to other areas. I have seen too many small businesses and startups fail because they waited for things to “perfect”, for the market to be just right, for the ideal customer who will buy the product in just the right way at exactly the right price, for the business plan to have all the answers, for that next round of funding to come in.
One of the advantages small businesses and startups have over their larger competitors is their nimbleness. They can take decisions, act quickly, move. They should make use of that advantage. They might not have the resources or the name recognition of the large players but they have the speed and the passion that those larger companies struggle to match. The key is in the name: “small business”. Small businesses can have those immediate conversations, take those small steps that get them on their way. In many ways there is no substitute for the momentum you get from acting, from doing.
So, while small takes patience, time (and a little faith), the reward is in the starting, the doing, the movement, and the growth.
Start acting small right now and plant the seed.
Image by Search Engine People on Flickr
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Great post Eric.
I very much run my own business (graphic design & web design) along the lines of ‘small is the new big’. I can move quickly as well as work quickly because I don’t have complicated client-facing procedures in place. I find that even medium-sized companies struggle with unnecessary internal systems.
My advice? Think big & act small.
Thanks, Nick.
I think the golden age of the quick-moving small company or sole trader (freelancer) may be truly arriving. Whether because of the economy or a greater emphasis on work/life balance or a combination (or something else entirely… I’m not a social anthropologist, what are you asking me for?) it seems to me that more and more solid people are working alone/for themselves and bringing in other sole traders when required. I allows for nimbleness and efficiency.
Nice write up and thanks for the shout out, Eric.
I agree with you. When we set out to ignite a movement, while we do have a process, there is a lot of it that’s organic. It changes along the way and takes on a life of its own. This happens because through putting the building blocks of a movement together, the people on the ground level realized that they have the power for change. And they know their passions better than any marketer ever could. Once they take the reigns, look out, because they will take the movement in directions we’ve never dreamed of.
Keep on fighting the good fight, Eric.
Thanks, Spike.
I think that’s the beauty of the lightly structured movement – the people involved (really involved) grow in confidence and commitment and the movement “moves” with them in surprising ways.
I’m intrigued by what you guys do at Brains on Fire. Must keep paying attention.
I wouldn’t say that they are “lightly” structured – especially at the ground floor. There’s a lot of building blocks that are put in place – high and low level strategy, curricula, online tools, offline tools, etc. . It’s when it gets bigger that it begins to get a lot more organic.
Thanks for the intrigue. We’ll try and keep living up to it!
Ah, poor choice of terms on my part, Spike. I was attempting to suggest an absence of heavy handedness not an absence of strategy and direction.