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We often make decisions and deals and run projects that may not seem like winners. They may not seem like we’re getting a very good deal in the process. But that may just be a surface view of the project value.
In the mid-2000s my wife received a free iPod at the Apple store with her purchase of a new MacBook Pro. She didn't really have a need for it so she gave it to our third oldest son. Eventually he got a newer iPod and gave the free one to his older brother. Then, about 4 or 5 years ago my wife and son came to me wanting to make the iPhone switch. I was still in contract with Verizon who didn't yet have iPhones but they were out of contract and wanted to jump to AT&T. To sweeten the deal - because I was now going to have to pay for two phone plans – they said I could have the iPod…which was now old technology. I said, “ok” because it was what they were going to do anyway and I wanted an iPod…even if it was all scratched up. I’ve since jumped to AT&T as well and made the switch to iPhone and basically our whole family is now using Apple products for just about everything possible.
With an average price of $200 per month for our plan – which is definitely low – over the course of 4-5 years that means I now have an iPod valued at more than $10,000 in that “deal” with my wife and oldest son. Yes, it still works fine (I’ve had to resuscitate it a couple of times from near death) but I think it might be a little overvalued in the deal.
So where am I going with this? When we look further we see…
The move was inevitable
Just as when I acquired the $10,000 iPod, we may realize that the move was inevitable anyway. My Verizon plan was overloaded and we needed to add a child who was now old enough to need a mobile phone for her various activities. Likewise, our creative projects can necessitate certain decisions and actions that look like they aren’t worth the price but were going to be necessary anyway…like changing to a new technology or a new marketing process from something that was outdated or not focused on winning new clients and drumming up new business.
The move puts us in a better strategic position
The move for us was good in the long run because we all were wanting to take advantage of the best smartphone at the time (but couldn’t because Verizon didn’t offer it) so the slow move to iPhones that this action allowed us enabled us to start making the jump as a family without making it in one big painful financial move. The same can be true for any organization facing a similar choice. It may not look like a great value at the time, but offloading difficult clients or ones who do not necessarily align with our corporate direction or culture may be the best move in the long run from a strategic perspective.
Everyone will be happier in the end
Finally, in the end, everyone was happier once we made the move. And the same can be true on our creative projects. Those sacrificial moves that are difficult but do make sense can help our organizations grow in the long run– whether it means opting for new software to run our creative projects to restructuring our ad department to better matchup against our closest competition.
Summary
You can’t always go with black and white. You can’t always go with face value. Sometimes you have to lose to gain – and that is true with everything in life…even in the project management world. We sometimes have to give up good business (or at least so-so business/clients) to get better business and better clients and projects that we really want to work on and that our creative staff will thrive on and perform incredibly well for. Sometimes it just takes a little faith….even if what you end up with is a $10,000 outdated iPod.
Image may be NSFW.
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