Ideas * Human Teams = Missions

A quote from the Prof G newsletter:

• This is the moment where we should all start believing again, when ideas become missions ..."

Ideas do not become Missions without Human Teams.

That's where you enter the picture!

Ideas generally come from an individual. To implement the idea, you need one or more (sometimes many) Human Teams to get the work done, to build the bridge from ideas to a Mission.

Take a moment, and articulate in ONE SENTENCE what the MISSION is of your marketing team.

I know, it's hard to boil the essence of your marketing team down to one sentence.

This might be the MISSION of your MARKETING TEAM.

• "To connect as many people to your brand as many times as possible at the lowest possible cost, thereby generating increased profit."

The equation that represents your MISSION is as follows:

• (IDEAS) * (HUMAN TEAMS) = MISSIONS

The equation can be stated differently. Are your HUMAN TEAMS effective? Divide each side of the equation by IDEAS and you get the following:

• HUMAN TEAMS = (MISSIONS) / (IDEAS).

This is where it gets good! For instance, assume you have 1 mission and 10 ideas.

• HUMAN TEAMS = 1 / 10 = 0.10.

Now assume you have 1 mission and 100 ideas.

• HUMAN TEAMS = 1 / 100 = 0.01.

You have a framework for thinking about how effective your HUMAN TEAMS are. What if your marketing team has no missions and 200 ideas?

• HUMAN TEAMS = 0 / 200 = 0.00.

Your HUMAN TEAMS are effective when they convert ideas to missions at a high rate.

This is the thing we all observe ... all the time. There's nothing more irritating than sitting next to an "ideas person". The "ideas person" slows everything down ... they are ineffective in that nothing gets done at a reasonable pace but they control the discourse by constantly polluting your marketing ecosystem with ideas. "Big Ideas" are even worse.

Now think about Apple with the iPhone. That's an IDEA that is converted to a MISSION through HUMAN TEAMS. The device doesn't have to do everything ... that's too many ideas.

Bad ideas also result in problems, because bad ideas consume human teams, taking resources away from good MISSIONS. When #papertarians demand that you turn the clock back to 1955 and mail a catalog (because Gen-Z has digital fatigue or whatever), they are asking you to implement a bad idea that consumes the resources of human teams, taking away your ability to complete your MISSION.

(IDEAS) * (HUMAN TEAMS) = MISSIONS.