Implement the Solution
Step 7 covers implementing a solution: it requires coordinating the work, obtaining approvals, and planning its rollout. Timelines vary with the organization, the solution, and the people affected.
THE IDEA
Step 7. Implement the Solution
Implementation can be tricky. Sometimes, it will be as easy as hiring a company, if you’re one of those marketers who has the luxury of hiring an agency to do the content-creation work for them. Even if you do have that luxury, it’s not always smooth sailing – you still need to oversee researching vendors, check references, get internal signoff, and do many other tasks. Other marketers are faced with having to add the work to their own – and others’ – plates.
Beyond creating and implementing the solution, you also need to think about how easy it will be to roll it out both internally, at your company, and externally, with customers. Sometimes your solution will be well received, and people will ask for it sooner. Other times, people are going to resist and slow things down because they disagree with the solution, do not understand it, or cannot accommodate the change.
Sometimes you may be the only person involved in a solution. Other times, it may take a year to roll something out. For example, I once worked on a brand rollout that took about eighteen months to implement. On the other hand, I also worked at a company where the brand rollout happened literally overnight. Both companies were very large; they just had different approaches to change.
When to use it
Implementing a new marketing campaign with vendor research and internal signoff
Rolling out a brand refresh across a large organization with multiple departments
Introducing a new software tool to a team that is resistant to change
FROM THEORY TO EVERYDAY LIFE
In practice
Brand rollout timelines
Experience with two large companies: one brand rollout took eighteen months to implement, while another was completed overnight, illustrating different approaches to change.
A MOMENT TO REFLECT
Put it to work.
What are the key factors that determine the ease or difficulty of implementing a solution in your organization?
How can you anticipate and address resistance from stakeholders when rolling out a new solution?
What strategies can you use to ensure a smooth rollout both internally and externally?
CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION
Source texts
- Thinking in Systems and Mental Models Think Like a Super Thinker (Dawson, Marcus P)