A professional has internalized process to achieve good results. If you impose process on a professional, they become sub-optimal.
In marketing it would be nice to normalize everyone into "If A then B". Follow the 10 steps and viola out comes the desired output. But with new products and new markets that just isn't so. A professional plays the odds and on autopilot goes down certain paths. That leaves more time to look for the variables and sense the patterns of what is going on. Then adjust. Formalized processes become an inhibitor to good results.
A classic rookie marketing mistake is finding an indicator but thinking it is a cause. So a lot of effort goes into improving the indicator without realizing the root cause and frustration sets in.
The most interesting paradox is trying to get a very successful person to give the formula to how they work. They cannot. The ones who can explain are those who are not the top in their fields. So complex processes usually are derived from those who are at best, second best.
But still useful when establishing a baseline for new people and expansion. You just hope that at some time they grow up to be professionals and internalize those things that work.
What does this have to do with marketing? When bringing someone into the fold or hiring a contractor, look at the portfolio and not how they got there.
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