And increase your chances of being wrong by about 100%
If you think you have asked enough questions, ask some more. Here is the story of my PR plan: After a heavy brainstorming session, I established that we could achieve the business objective by targeting five key demographic groups. It didn't take long for me to realise that this was far too ambitious.
I had experienced a serious information overload, which admittedly over-complicated my thoughts and slowed me down a lot. I then decided to slim it down to three target stakeholder groups by asking my supervisor to clarify which three of the five groups, should take priority. Once I had my answer, I had to establish which ONE sub-group to target within each main demographic group. I started visiting the Australian Bureau of Statistics and a handful of Government websites to determine which group demanded the most social assistance. After spending several days researching, I presented my plan to my Supervisor. To my disappointment, I had made the mistake of assuming that strong research automatically means "I am right about whatever I decide."
Although I had based my decisions on credible sources - my research was made redundant by the fact that we already had existing relationships with two of the three key demographic groups and organisations which I had researched and selected to be targeted. #DANGIT. The hard lesson for me, was that despite how much it has been drilled into me, research is not always everything. In the end, I could only blame myself for not asking more questions, before endeavouring to immerse myself in time-consuming research. As a consequence, I have to redo the best part of a 2500 hard-earnt word count.
The Moral of the Story, is ask questions even when you think you are on the right track. Ask questions especially when you are certain that you know what you are doing, because if you don't - there is a solid chance that you are already doing something wrong.
Hope you don't make the same mistake.
- Mivalaa
