It’s the same old story time and time again in the dojo: a new student signs up wanting to learn karate. They never want to start with the basics, though; no, it’s all about the spinning flying reverse roundhouse kick. As anyone who has studied any martial art (or any art, for that matter) for a while will tell you though, the basics are the foundation upon which all other techniques are built. If your foundation is strong, everything else will be too. And guess what? It’s the same in business.

Let’s take my discipline, Marketing, for example. Any Marketing 101 course will teach you about the four Ps of Marketing: Product, Price, Placement, and Positioning. At its score, everything we do in Marketing is about influencing once of these four foundational elements of Marketing strategy.

So why is it that I hear all the time about the latest shiny object in Marketing?

“Oh the future is social media. We need to go viral.”

“Oh the future is the Metaverse. If you’re not there, you’re dead.”

“Oh the future is ChatGPT-enabled scripts. If AI isn’t designing your commercials for you, you might as well close up shop.”

All of these sorts of things are the jumping spinning reverse roundhouse kick of the Marketing world… and your world probably has an equivalent.

Look, I’m not saying you shouldn’t try to bring innovations into your world of work. But when thinking about doing so, always think back to your foundation, and ask yourself: “How will this new thing/tool/channel” enhance our ability to deliver on our strategy?”

If you can’t answer that question, you need to give yourself a good hard look in the mirror and ask why you’re so keen on this thing in the first place. Is it because everyone else is keen on it too?

Wrapping it Up

There’s always going to be a new shiny object when it comes to your world of work. And that’s totally ok. Just don’t neglect your basics – the foundation of your work – while you pursue the next big thing. Doing so is like trying to build a house with no foundation. Sure, it might tentatively stay standing for a short while… but sooner or later, that structure is going to come tumbling down.