Get The Expert – The Goldilocks Test

Looking for the right fit agency or service provider ? Had a bad experience with an agency (or team member) who’s caused a massive mess and didn’t deliver ?

The Goldilocks Test is here to help ;

It separates the try-hards from the TRUE experts. If you haven’t yet read our warning on Goldilocks and the digital age, you can find it here here. There are also many good resources online for reducing cognitive bias and purchasing biases we recommend, especially in the fast paced digital landscape. (links below);

So back to Goldilocks – Don’t think that the Powerpoiubt your holding isn’t designed, framed to make the agency look brilliant and just distract you from measuring more important factors, like will it deliver the commercial outcome in the long term?… We all have bosses, clients, boards, share holders or the public measuring our success. In short, to avoid being suckered, don’t leave your door open for Goldilocks to waltz in and leave a mess.

Align and work with people who will make you look brilliant – if they are referring to themselves an expert, chances are they aren’t. So, how do you find the real experts? Take our Goldilocks test below.

The Goldilocks Test :

1. Try the porridge – The proof is in the Pudding!
   The outcomes and results should be based on real outcomes actual sales or results, not fluffy power-points, not buzzwords, not followers. If this ‘expert’ is not guaranteeing quantifiable positive shift in actual real-world outcomes, measured awareness or social change, then you may be talking to a Goldilocks and you’re being misled, hypnotised to the wrong “results” – chase them out!  – As an example, if you’re working on digital targets – try &Mine’s Analytics Aggregator. It will ensure you quantifiably measure and compare success across all digital platforms.
2. Test the chairs – Which ones are working ?
   Don’t just sit in one, you will need a set of digital tools and platforms all working together seamlessly. Know the ecosystem of digital success. If your ‘expert’ is not talking about the many other aspects of digital and talking oppouruntities across the  entire landscape (or at least providing hard data on why to avoid a pathway or platform), they may have focused you on the chair they sell, not the one you need. The right experts consider what YOU need, not what they sell. We will pass on a project if the solutions we offer don’t fit the clients success.
3. Check the beds – are they asleep on the job ?
   After discovery sessions and setup, answers should be swift! If they come slowly then either the ‘experts’ are actually still learning or they’re asleep on the job! You should receive answers backed by reason, logic and accurate data and FAST!

Most importantly, take responsibility, don’t just pay for it. This is the tough one; as they say, you don’t know what you don’t know, and in digital, the devil is in the detail. If you’re tendering a larger project then the challenge is even greater, as you don’t have the luxury of getting it wrong. The Goldilocks Test will help, but learn more about digital yourself – and be equipped with the knowledge to cut through the bull$h!t and buzzwords. Ask more questions, dig deeper and find people you trust in digital, that have delivered consistently for you before. They may not be experts on the project you’re working on, but they will have insights or can vet recommendations before you spend years and a small fortune on messy outcomes.

When in doubt, always ask these three questions:

• How can the agency ensure the goals of the project will be delivered ?
• Do we have the right goals for this project ? (or are we being showed the ones the agency want ?)
• During the project, am I able to get precise answers quickly ?

If you want to go wider than digital – as mentioned above helping reduce bias is easy once you’re thinking about it, but for a good start wikipedia has an excellent top level list here.

Finally, there is a firm reality to success – if you’re not capable of hearing it or challenging it before you start spending $$$, then reality will come knocking for you at some point, and yes – your business and your job is at stake! Don’t leave your house or project unattended for too long – get back in there, look around, ask questions and reassure yourself everything is on-track.

If you don’t have clear confident answers to these questions above, if the people you are working with aren’t aware and they’re not discussing the gaps and challenges they see, then Goldilocks is going to leave a mess in your house sooner or later; and just like for the three bears, it won’t end in happily ever after !