I’ve been often amazed at throughout my jobs how much more importance is put on talking about doing things, versus actually doing them.  At one of my previous employer’s, it was incredibly common for many folks to be praised and rewarded not so much for the results they actually delivered, but the way they presented their work.  Many a promotions were awarded simply because someone could put together a snazzy powerpoint about how incredible they or their team was.

Recently we had a client that hired us to provide them a marketing plan…that’s it.  Just a plan about how they could go about doing a better job marketing themselves.  Don’t get me wrong, I can understand the value of strategic planning and it’s importance in driving business results.  But in this client’s case, they didn’t have any additional budget…just enough for a plan.  I couldn’t help but think to myself, why pay for a plan that you won’t be able to act on?  What good does a few pages of words do you if you can’t put it in action?  Needless to say I was able to convince the client that they were much better off putting those dollars to better use and have us actually do some work for them instead.

There’s too much talk in the world and not enough action don’t you think?  Everyone talking about what they are going to do, and often times never seeing those things happen.  I like being in the business of getting shit done, and associating myself with others that do.  You can never go wrong with those folks.  If you’re looking to hire someone, whether it’s a full time employee, contractor, etc., make sure you hire the do’ers and not the say’ers.  It makes all the difference in the world.