here's one I prepared earlier...

So has this ever happened to you?

The head of IT security wanders into your office and says "we need to do an awareness campaign about security issues because our human firewall is our biggest risk".

And you say "errr what?"

After a few minutes you work out what he's on about...and you are getting ready to discuss objectives, measurement and all the normal stuff when he says...

"You don't need to worry about all that because we've bought a ready-made comms programme from the tip top experts in the field - all you have to do is insert it in the magazine/post it on the intranet/stick up the posters for me..."

If it's not happened to you...stand by it's coming your way soon.  And not just for IT security.  It's clearly quite a good wheeze

Now some of this stuff is probably quite good and contains some sound advice.  Others are frankly dreadful (would you buy anything about communication from an organisation that has the worst sort of 1980's stock photography on its website???).

But how do you feel about the practice???  A bit sniffy I bet...

I was talking the other week to a chum who said he's had some good experiences but only because he put a lot of work into making it work for his organsaition.  What I saw looked like an excellent product and an interesting approach if you're looking for something a bit different and don't want to bring in a consultant. But my chum had bought it precisely because it was adaptable and, I suspect, he'd be acknowldged as the professional who'd introduced the supplier...

But...how do you handle the conversation when the supplier is imposed upon you?  And what if the supplier clearly knows lots about the specialist subject but sweet F.A. about your organisation, your people and your communications needs?

There's an old story in advertising about the first ready-made cake mixes.  When they first appeared they didn't sell apparently because housewives thought it was slovenly to resort to quick fixes in cake making - that most essential duty of love in a home.  So what did the marketeers do?  They designed a mix that you had to "mix in your egg" - in other words contribute some essential skill that made your cake a wholesome, nurturing home-made product...

I'd hate to think that I wasn't open to new ideas, but I bet the ready-made IC products industry would really take off if they could find the equivalent of adding your own egg...

Liam

PS wish me luck this weekend - it's my final qualifier for my mega cycling marathon and it looks like rain!

Comments

[Liam]

And this is too good not to share:

http://despair.com/ambition.html

Great website recommended by Matt O'Neill on the Communicators Network

Thanks Matt

[Matt O'Neill]

hey liam,

they're doing the thinking so we don't have to.

isn't life simple when problems are solved 'out of the box'?

nice post.

m

[Liam]

I hope you're refering to the ready-made solutions rather than getting depressed at work!

Liam

[Matt O'Neill]

liam,

actually i was being a bit sarky. trying to say 'one size doesn't fit all'.

ready made anything in comms terms makes my skin crawl.

cheers,

m

[Liam]

I'm willing to be open-minded but I'm actually naturally very suspicious of this sort of thing. I gave the IT Security example because I was involved in just such a project a few years ago and still get regular mails from all the sites I registered with at the time.

One of my biggest problems was getting the uber-techies I worked with to explain in simple terms what they were on about (never mind get a sense of proportion into all this stuff). So ready-made content was very interesting.

Sadly the treatments and executions of everything was so awful that I could never use it. Or it involved some on-line solution that would have meant making a business case for three new servers and two FT developers...

Of course that didn't stop colleague 'helpfully' sending me links to the latest website featuring the most out of date generic stock photography and some skin-crawlingly dreadful slogans...

Liam