(making an) Ass Of You And Me

Back in school when I discovered marketing research methodologies and analysis, I asked my professor why we’re doing this in the first place. I tend to do that, bug people to give good reasons why our activities are important.

He sighed and replied:

”I’m going to teach you a new acronym, this is the most important acronym you’re ever going to need as a future marketing professional.”

He started writing on the white board:

(making an) ASS of yoU and ME

He then turned his head and expained:

”Never assume anything, assuming means making an ass of both yourself, and the people around you.”

Then he spoke about how everything we do should be reflected by knowledge about people, society, business, culture, technology and so on, making his key point:

”Real knowledge that is, not your own assumed fantasy about the surrounding world. Real knowledge has a scientific approach and that’s why we teach you these methods.”

Assumptions leads us along a path where we lose opportunities for genuine insight. They could be completely wrong and thus; make us look like asses.

This is not that hard to grasp, at least not on a theoretical level.

Assuming in the real world

This reasoning makes perfect sense to me, especially in the day to day activities as a marketer and PR-guy.

I do my best not to make anyone look like an ass, and I expect the same thing of people around me. More importantly we need to make sure not to make asses out of clients or the end consumer.

It seems to me, our own dreams and visions about what a brand is, or should be in the world, are completely irrelevant. We are indulging in the act of assuming what’s important to people, society, business, culture, technology and so on.

We try so hard to make facts support our preconceived ideas when we should be doing the exact opposite; looking at facts and figure out what they mean in the context of current situations.

Methodology against bias

And hey, let’s be honest, it’s really hard to look at the world without bias. I struggle with it all the time. Lucky for us, there are a few basic tools we can use. We can read others (real) research, or do our own, and we can count , observe and interview people. We can test our findings against others and so on.

Sometimes just scratching the surface by making a few phone calls will lead us to new knowledge.

Keeping an open mind doesn’t mean we should be open to every idea or opinion from anyone. It means we should be open to new facts and knowledge. It means we should be wiling to question preconceived ideas.

This approach requires keeping our own assumptions at arms length, and really try not to make asses of each other.

Flickr credit: Manuel Alarcón