Listen to another intellectual provocateur, this one by the name of Christopher Locke: "As practiced in most of the 20th century, market research works against creativity and the kind of risk taking that's crucially prerequisite to innovative products and services." That's from his just published Gonzo Marketing: Winning Through Worst Practices (Perseus Publishing; 243 pp.; $25.00). It's not that Locke has missed the fact that we're in the 21st century, but that the accumulated efforts of the better part of the 20th century are still with us. Consequently, there is a continued stifling of what needs to be part of the discourse in all organizations, the discourse that throws out new ideas to be implemented, not hackneyed variants of what have already been uttered and then frozen in the amber that is a product. All of us have been schooled during the past several years that we must abide by "best practices." But Locke notes, "I hope to provide a new kind of model demonstrating to business that it not only can, but must move beyond its unhealthy fear of error and imprecision. Today it is certainty that is not an option. Failure is almost guaranteed." So fail and move on until you find success. Then screw up some more because your success will be fleeting -- at best. Worst practices can work.

from: Value-Added-Differently by Gary S. Vasilash
source: Automotive Design & Production, 1 December 2001
via: HighBeam Research
Copyright © 2001 Gardner Publications, Inc.

"screw up some more"