Hasty Decisions Have Consequences - My Third Lesson In Product Marketing
Do you remember the excitement of taking your first overseas business trip?
For me, it was as a 24 year-old engineer traveling to Copenhagen to support a site survey and sales call for a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) system were pitching to a large University hospital.
This was a really big deal for me. I was itching to see the world. I rushed to get a passport, bought a new suit, and prepared my materials meticulously. My mother - worried that my suit would wrinkle - bought me my first garment bag.
As I waited for the driver to pick me up at my parent’s place for the ride to JFK, my dad said, “ I hope you have a lock on that garment bag.” Out of time, I grabbed a zip tie from his work bench, fastened the two zippers together, kissed my mom, and was off.
Arriving In Copenhagen
As my sleepless red-eye flight approached Copenhagen, the morning sun lit the red-tiled roofs of the city. I had only seen these rooftops in movies and magazines. This was Europe!
I hustled off the plane, picked up my garment bag, and headed towards Immigration. I was in a hurry, as someone on my team was waiting for me in a car outside the airport and we were driving directly to the meeting.
As I approached Immigration, the corridor split for Danish Citizens and Foreign Travelers. A security woman, anxious to keep the crowded corridor moving, waved me through the citizen line. I guess she thought I was a Dane.
Once in the Arrival Hall, I found a bathroom to change into my suit. That is when I realized that I did not have anything - or the strength - to cut off the zip tie. Panic set in.
I left the bathroom and found a shop where I grabbed a pack of matches.
I found a “family” rest room and locked the door. I struck several matches, burning the zip tie until I could break it free, and raced to get dressed. A light began flashing, a siren rang, and I realized that the smoke from the zip tie triggered an alarm. Within seconds, there was a pounding on the bathroom door, with people yelling words in Danish that I could not understand.
I tied my shoes, zipped my bag, and walked out the door as security people rushed in.
I walked out the exit, found my coworker, and headed to the meeting.
Once settled in the car, I yawned. This got progressively worse after I arrived at the first meeting, worked through a full day, and attended dinner with the prospect. By the time I finally made it to the hotel, I realized that I had been awake for over 30 hours.
The Lessons
The primary lesson I learned from my trip to Copenhagen is that Hasty Decisions Have Consequences. You must take care and consideration in every small decision you make to help protect yourself against bad decisions.
This is particularly important in product marketing.
All of the bad decisions I made on this trip resulted from little decisions I made and were the result of haste or inexperience. In the example above:
If I were not in a rush, I would have remembered to pack my cable snips in my carry on bag when I zip tied the garment bag. This would have avoided the bathroom incident.
If I were not so excited about my first trip to Europe, I would have thought to sleep on the flight. This would have allowed me to perform better in the meetings.
If I were not inexperienced - and in a hurry - I would not have listened to the security woman who directed my through the Danish Citizen line in Immigration. This would have saved me an incredible hassle explaining to US Customs at JFK why there was never a stamp in my new passport upon my return.
If I were not in a rush, I would not have burned the zip ties directly under a smoke detector.
If I were not inexperienced, I would have known to consume copious amounts of caffeine - and water - before stepping off a night flight and into an all-day meeting.
In product marketing, you make hundreds of little decisions every month. Each has the potential of producing an unforeseen, negative consequence. Bad decisions cost you in time, money, and business. They can also cause you embarrassment and reputational damage.
It takes discipline to slow down, bank on your experience, and think things through. I have found that this is nearly always the proper path.
By the way, we did close the deal.