{"id":12170,"date":"2022-02-11T11:31:10","date_gmt":"2022-02-11T11:31:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/02\/11\/how-to-recognize-and-solve-wicked-content-strategy-problems\/"},"modified":"2022-02-11T11:31:10","modified_gmt":"2022-02-11T11:31:10","slug":"how-to-recognize-and-solve-wicked-content-strategy-problems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/02\/11\/how-to-recognize-and-solve-wicked-content-strategy-problems\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Recognize (and Solve) Wicked Content Strategy Problems"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"\"Content strategy is a wicked problem.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t worry. I didn\u2019t adopt Bostonian lingo.<\/p>\n

A wicked problem<\/a> is hard to solve because of \u201cincomplete, contradictory, or changing requirements that can be difficult to recognize.\u201d<\/p>\n

I like information researcher Jeff Conklin\u2019s description of wicked problems as those \u201cnot understood until after the formulation of a solution.\u201d<\/p>\n

I see wicked problems a lot in content strategy. One of the toughest is recognizing why you need to change when you can\u2019t see how things are broken.<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the toughest things to recognize is why you should change when you can’t see how things are broken, says @Robert_Rose via @CMIContent. <\/a><\/span>Click To Tweet<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Cooking up a wicked problem<\/h2>\n

My wife and I get around our kitchen just fine. We cook. The kitchen gets messy. We clean up and put things back where they go. We do the same thing at the next meal. It works fine for us.<\/p>\n

Recently, a friend who came over for dinner wanted to help us cook. It was pure chaos. \u201cNothing is in the right place,\u201d our guest said. She went to our junk drawer looking for silverware and opened our spice cabinet seeking plates. \u201cDon\u2019t even get me started with how the refrigerator is organized,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

My wife responded, \u201cThis is how we\u2019ve been doing this for years. It works for us.\u201d Then I chimed in, \u201cIt\u2019s the way we do it. It\u2019s an optimized process.\u201d<\/p>\n

Our friend played along and said, \u201cNo. It\u2019s the way you do it. But it\u2019s not optimized.\u201d<\/p>\n

She was right. As she pointed out how things could be more efficient, we realized we had a problem.<\/p>\n

A wicked problem.<\/p>\n

In content strategy, experts often say documentation<\/a> indicates a business\u2019s commitment to its content. At its surface, a document seems oddly bureaucratic. How can creating a robust Google Doc or PowerPoint presentation be the lynchpin of a content strategy?<\/p>\n

Spoiler alert: The document isn\u2019t important.<\/p>\n

However, having documentation means you\u2019ve thought through the details of who\u2019s responsible for what and how content works in and for your business.<\/p>\n

Imagine how different our friend\u2019s cooking experience would have been, for example, if we\u2019d given her a detailed map of our kitchen and meal preparation workflow<\/a> to review before her visit.<\/p>\n

As the chef, she still could have pointed out the sub-optimal parts of our workflow and \u201casset management\u201d strategy. But she also would have functioned better and, more importantly, could have seen where our kitchen organizational hacks made pragmatic sense.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a lighthearted example, but it shows how documentation takes a lot of wickedness out of the problem.<\/p>\n

#Content strategy documentation can take a lot of wickedness out of a problem, says @Robert_Rose via @CMIContent. <\/a><\/span>Click To Tweet<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

HANDPICKED RELATED CONTENT: <\/strong>The 3 Strategic Pillars Behind Every Winning Content Strategy<\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n

Questions with no answers (yet)<\/h2>\n

About three months ago, I worked with a large, fast-growing technology company to roll out a new governance model, workflow, and content lifecycle management plan. The people who\u2019d been with the company less than a year rejoiced. They loved it.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, senior leaders and many veteran marketing and content practitioners didn\u2019t. They agreed the solution sounded fine, but they didn\u2019t see the problem it would solve.<\/p>\n

Wicked.<\/p>\n

I hear this question from CEOs and CFOs all the time: \u201cI don\u2019t see the problem. Tell me what\u2019s the benefit of fixing it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The answer: We don\u2019t know \u2013 yet.<\/p>\n

Good people always lose to bad processes<\/h2>\n

Engineer and professor W. Edwards Deming once said, \u201cIf you can\u2019t describe what you are doing as a process, you don\u2019t know what you\u2019re doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

What does that mean? For example, I can\u2019t describe the process of writing this column every week, but I still get it done. I know what I\u2019m doing.<\/p>\n

But Deming doesn\u2019t mean you <\/em>don\u2019t know what you\u2019re doing. It\u2019s that the organization<\/em> doesn\u2019t know what it\u2019s doing.<\/p>\n

For example, I talked about the technology company\u2019s content creation process<\/a> with the two global marketing practitioners responsible for translation and localization. I asked them to explain the process for how the hundreds of content pieces are selected, planned, and prioritized for distribution.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how they described it:<\/p>\n

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  1. They select articles based on gut feelings. Sometimes they have email conversations about the options, but sometimes whoever has time chooses the pieces.<\/li>\n
  2. They list the chosen content on a spreadsheet, prioritizing each asset by highlighting it in red, yellow, or green.<\/li>\n
  3. They upload the assets to an external file-sharing service because their internal digital asset management<\/a> system doesn\u2019t allow access by the agencies doing the translation and globalization.<\/li>\n
  4. The agencies return the translated files to the two managers through the file-sharing service.<\/li>\n
  5. The global marketing managers email the translated files to the local marketing managers in the correct regional offices.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    How were other regional offices made aware of the content? How were the translated assets made centrally available? The two managers would upload them when they had time.<\/p>\n

    If those two managers left the business, the business would have a big ball of tangled translation and localization twine for the new person to unravel.<\/p>\n

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    HANDPICKED RELATED CONTENT: <\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    Cleaning the occurrent kitchen<\/h2>\n

    Let\u2019s return to the wicked challenge.<\/p>\n

    How can you answer the executives\u2019 question about the potential value of fixing problems the business doesn\u2019t know exists?<\/p>\n

    You can\u2019t.<\/p>\n

    But you can develop a culture of examining occurrent behavior.<\/p>\n

    Occurrent behavior is what happens in the business vs. what is supposed to happen or what the business perceives is happening.<\/p>\n

    The technology company offers a great example. From the CMO\u2019s perspective, nothing was broken. She perceived the operating model she inherited as working. When I showed her the translation and localization \u201cprocess,\u201d she said, \u201cThat\u2019s not the way it was designed to work. But if it\u2019s working, it\u2019s working.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Thousands of similar examples exist in every company. How people think things work differs from how they actually work. How many times have you onboarded an employee with advice like this: \u201cThis document says to email this department to get this answer, but just email Jane. She\u2019ll get you the answer 10 times faster.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Examine your content strategy \u2018culture\u2019<\/h2>\n

    Stack up all that tacit knowledge, and it becomes the \u201cculture.\u201d Whether you conduct an audit, a review, or a simple set of experiments, really examine the occurrent behavior of your content strategy.<\/p>\n

    Here\u2019s how to do it:<\/p>\n

    1. Figure out what\u2019s going on<\/h3>\n

    Develop a team to examine and document the occurrent behavior around your content \u2013 ideating, creating, managing, activating, publishing, promoting, measuring, and archiving.<\/p>\n

    If necessary, start with one area, such as marketing or thought leadership. Even better, start with one area of the customer\u2019s journey<\/a>. Document what happens (not what\u2019s supposed to happen.) Identify and categorize the obvious challenges and where approaches go outside perceived models (even for good reason).<\/p>\n

    HANDPICKED RELATED CONTENT: <\/strong>Content Operations Framework: How To Build Yours<\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n

    2. Plot the obvious gaps and inevitable costs<\/h3>\n

    With the gaps documented, identify the costs, missed opportunities, or high-probability risks if they remain as is. For example, at the technology company, the siloed content creation process prompted employees to create new content rather than reuse content created from another silo. They found one e-book had 32 versions. What is the cost of the time spent on 31 unnecessary e-books?<\/p>\n

    HANDPICKED RELATED CONTENT:\u00a0<\/strong>How To Manage Your Content Assets So They\u2019re Found and Used<\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n

    3. Take a dragonfly view of estimating the challenge<\/h3>\n

    Dragonflies see 360 degrees around them. People don\u2019t. No one can develop a\u00a0perspective that encompasses every aspect of every business process. But after looking at one area, you may be able to\u00a0estimate the value of fixing your wicked problems based on the audits or experiments you\u2019ve run.<\/p>\n

    Look at the costs for the obvious things (like the 31 extra e-books). Assume similar issues lie in other unexamined areas and extrapolate the costs. Include estimates based on what organizations similar to yours have found if you can.<\/p>\n

    Answer the value question<\/h2>\n

    These steps should give you a helpful estimate of the value of developing or improving your strategic content processes.<\/p>\n

    People (and businesses) are reluctant to change, especially when they\u2019re not feeling pain. But take heart. I\u2019ve worked on more than 300 content strategy engagements and found companies that struggle to build a case for content strategy change end up finding the most success.<\/p>\n

    They\u2019re already cooking, making meals, cleaning up, and succeeding, and they fear a change to that working routine will mess things up.<\/p>\n

    They\u2019re not wrong to be reluctant. If they can\u2019t understand the problem, looking at solutions can be confusing.<\/p>\n

    It\u2019s a wicked problem.<\/p>\n

    But, if you don\u2019t examine ways to improve incrementally, you\u2019ll always have to fix things disruptively. You may not solve the wicked problem, but you might just pull enough wickedness out of them to be helpful.<\/p>\n

    Get Robert\u2019s take on content marketing industry news (in just three minutes)<\/h2>\n

    https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=videoseries<\/a><\/center><\/p>\n
    Want to learn how to balance, manage, and scale great content experiences across all your essential platforms and channels? Join us at ContentTECH Summit this March in San Diego.\u00a0<\/em>Browse the schedule<\/em><\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0<\/em>register today<\/a>. Use the code BLOG100 to save $100.<\/em><\/em><\/div>\n

    Cover image by Joseph Kalinowski\/Content Marketing Institute<\/em><\/p>\n

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