Strategy work isn’t always about maintaining professional distance.
It’s possible to dive so deep, you find yourself on the other side of the world, pitching your client’s innovative food ingredient to Chinese manufacturers.
That happened to me.
I’ve never been 100% comfortable being just a fractional CMO or external consultant. When I believe in a product, I can become absorbed in its possibility.
The lines blur between advisor and advocate.
This approach isn’t for everyone. It can mean:
- Long nights studying industry specifics
- Learning new cultural contexts
- Understanding manufacturing processes
- Becoming fluent in client capabilities
- Living their challenges
But it leads to something irreplaceable. You stop being just an order-taker or hired consultant. You become part of the story.
In I Need That, I talk about how products succeed when they fulfill genuine, deeply felt needs. To understand those needs across cultures requires interest and attention.
Or way better, immersion.
Like the time I found myself explaining North American food trends to skeptical executives in Shandong province. Or presenting applications to R&D teams in gleaming Guangzhou test kitchens.
The deepest client relationships teach us something valuable: great products are much more than physical manifestations of innovation.
They’re narratives waiting to be told. And sometimes the best way to tell that story is to become a fully experiencing part of it.
What exciting, one-of-a-kind story are you helping your customers tell?
How have you put yourself right into it, to know it with all your senses?
Laurier
P.S. Learning to say “Nǐ hǎo” and “Xièxiè” and other key phrases was a worthwhile effort, to show respect for my hosts’ culture. It opened doors. Even though my pronunciation was far from perfect, it showed respect and built rapport. Sometimes small gestures create big opportunities.
(Plus my daughters love to use the Mandarin I taught them whenever a chance arises. (Usually food related, so far.) Who knows where that might lead?)