Ryan Wakefield's Blog

I just got done with Seth Godin’s Book, “The Dip.”  Seth has really become the best in the world at these short marketing books that give you some simple and powerful ideas to think about.  He has a way of taking what we probably already know and packaging it in such a way that we’ll actually do something about it. 

In this book Seth talks about dips, cul-de-sacs, and knowing when to quit and when to press on.  His suggestion is that both quitting soon and pressing on can have enormous benefits; you just have to know when to take what course of action.

So what does this have to do with capital campaigns?  Well, as leaders we have to avoid getting a campaign stuck in a cul-de-sac and we need to help people understand how to get through “the dip.” 

One great analogy that Seth uses in the book is that of the air pressure in a tire.   Think about it… even after your first 70% of your energy pumping air, the tire is still flat.  However, once the tire is full, the next 10% can make it burst.  Going back to campaigns, it’s true that you could do a campaign about 80% of the way and it still come across flat.  And if you push too hard, the entire thing can blow up.

When it comes to individuals, it’s true that most everyone involved in your campaign is going to face a dip.  That is the point where faith and vision hit reality.  In the dip it seems like you’ll never be able to reach the top.  My suggestion is that leaders have to anticipate that people will hit a dip and we have to know how to lead people out that dip.  If not, people will become discouraged quit too soon.

Finally, as leaders we have to keep campaigns out of cul-de-sacs.  A cul-de-sac is where you end up going around and around doing the same things over and over again without going anywhere.  People are good at knowing and sensing when an organization is in a cul-de-sac.  I’d suggest that the worst-case scenario is a campaign that hits a cul-de-sac at the same time people are hitting dips. 

There’s really so much that could be discussed on this topic, and obviously these thoughts are fresh on my mind from reading the book.  Are you in a dip, or maybe a cul-de-sac?  Maybe you’d benefit from reading Seth’s book.