I’m usually fairly productive, even on my days off. I get up at 6, take a refreshing shower, and have breakfast and a crossword under my belt by 7. It’s a fairly standard routine, and I’ve become accustomed to getting up at that time even when I’m up until 1 the night before. Trust me, once you’ve built a habit, it’s fairly easy to stick to.
For the past week, though, I’ve been sleeping in some days until 9:30. It’s odd to be getting up and ready to go when other people are thinking about lunch. I couldn’t figure out why the strange sleep schedule started until the next symptom hit me. One day while working, I was suddenly overcome by the uncontrollable urge to sneeze. And sneeze. And sneeze again.
You guessed it. I caught a cold.
Rather than getting my quirkily early start on weekends, I’ve been relegated to late mornings, early evenings, and a steady diet of chicken soup. I’m happy to say that, roughly one week into this sickness, I’m finally on the up swing and getting back into the groove I’m so used to. I’m waking up earlier, I’ve tidied my workspace (no more soggy Kleenex), and started disinfecting doorknobs and phone receivers – no sense in giving this bug to anyone else.
In the world of marketing, though, bugs like this can take a huge toll on a brand. A disgruntled employee can send out a foul memo on corporate letterhead, a computer hiccup can cause costly customer delays, or a competitor can slander your name in public and steal precious mind share. All of these are very serious problems, but we think of them like the end of the world.
Last week when my nose was running and I couldn’t stop coughing I just wanted things to be over. I was through with feeling sick and useless and tried to force myself into productivity several times. The reality, though, was that the bug needed to run its course. I kept doing things like I should, taking time to nurse myself back to health and hit each new day with a reignited fervor.
If your brand experiences a similar temporary illness, make sure you do the same. Rather than force yourself to maintain your usually high levels of performance, take the time to step back and evaluate what needs to be done to get through the problem. It will be hard, but in the end your brand will emerge victorious and you’ll have a natural corporate immunity to similar kinds of problems in the future. But don’t ignore the problem in hopes it will just go away – had I ignored my cold it would’ve lasted a month, not just a week.
