Deciding priorities
Perfection is elusive, and priorities matter.
But while it's easy to say — obvious, even — that you'll want to consider the costs and benefits of any effort at improvement...
it's a little harder to put in the time and effort to understand the real benefits, and to know what the potential costs will be.
Say for example you have these two problems:
A large percentage of your mass mailings are getting bounced, dropped, or routed to the Junk folder.
Your email open and click-through rates are becoming increasingly unreliable due to privacy protections by Apple, Gmail, and other inbox providers.
Which of those is the more troubling problem, and by extension has a greater benefit if it's addressed?
Which is more difficult to address, and thus more costly?
Benefits:
The benefit of fixing a problem is something you can determine almost completely on your own (though it can help to talk through it with someone more experienced).
What's the negative impact of leaving this problem unresolved?
If you could fix this problem by waving a magic wand, how would that help your organization, your mission, your staff, or even yourself?
Even if you can't put a number on it, you might at least have an idea how it would feel.
Costs:
Understanding the costs can be more difficult. You may have no idea which of those problems is easier to fix.
If you'll need outside help, you can't know the monetary cost of that help without asking someone.
And non-monetary costs — like staff training, configuration and maintenance, and changes to your existing workflow — are also hard to think about without significant experience or research.
Professional opinion:
This is where it helps to have a good relationship with a knowledgeable expert who knows you and cares about your work.
Because uncertainty entails risk, reducing uncertainty — and thus reducing risk — has real value all by itself.
Here's the thing:
Of course, there's no such thing as a sure bet. Any effort you undertake may not get you the results you hoped for.
But reducing uncertainty in the beginning gives you a much greater chance of celebrating in the end.
All the best,
A.