You're not thinking big enough

Small thinking is stopping you and your company from great things – including public relations

A man in front of a computer, thinking. The biggest issue I see with most companies is they’re not thinking big enough.

They set reasonable goals and objectives that don’t inspire their teams to stretch.

I’d rather push myself and fall short than work in an environment where I don’t feel challenged. We encourage “failing forward” because you learn and achieve more by allowing yourself to take risks and make mistakes.

For example, a friend of mine owns an awesome video production company. He was thrilled when his company produced a local TV spot during the Super Bowl. He called it a bucket list item. And candidly, he’s underselling himself. I absolutely believe he has the talent to produce an official Super Bowl commercial airing on national television. The issue is it seems he doesn’t have the ambition or leadership.

Meanwhile, our company, which doesn’t specialize in video production, produced a local TV spot for a client during the Super Bowl more than a decade ago, and we didn’t give it a second thought.

How much harder would his team work for and rally around a BHAG – big hairy audacious goal — that their grandchildren will hear stories about vs. thinking so tiny, micro, and local?

Small thinking costs you money, talent, employee recruitment and retention, reputation, success, and so much more.

In advertising there’s a great quote by Morris Hite: “There is more money wasted in advertising by underspending than by overspending. Years ago, someone said that underspending in advertising is like buying a ticket halfway to Europe. You’ve spent your money, but you never get there.”

I see this every day in PR and marketing. And it’s happening in every department, board room, and conference room.

There’s also a systemic problem where employees aren’t encouraged to think big. They’re not given the time and resources to think. That stunts creativity and employment satisfaction.

Entrepreneurs have no problem thinking big — sometimes too big. It’s the companies with the resources and means to be big thinkers that seem to discourage disruptive thinking.

If I could give those companies one piece of advice, it would be to think bigger!

Stop limiting yourself and stop making excuses before you need them.

We went 63 months at Axia Public Relations with zero employee turnover. That came from creating a strong culture; providing more professional development resources than other employers; giving our employees workplace autonomy; encouraging our team to work from home three, four, or more days per week; getting rid of timesheets; giving permission to focus on great work, not on the hours; offering play time including unlimited PTO, permission to take frequent breaks, and go on creativity walks; etc.

Since 2016, we’ve given every employee two hours per week to ideate and innovate — and even more time when they need it.

Having created this culture made it really easy for our PR company to survive and thrive during the pandemic. Then Forbes named Axia as one of America’s Best PR Agencies.

We believe it’s all related.

Clients love Jason’s passion, candor, and commitment as well as the team he has formed at Axia Public Relations. He's advised some of America’s most admired brands, including American Airlines, Dave & Buster’s, Hilton, HP, Pizza Hut, and Verizon. He is an Emmy Award-winning, accredited public relations practitioner, speaker, author, and entrepreneur and earned his certification in inbound marketing. He founded the PR firm in July 2002. Learn more about Jason.