It’s been part of our firm’s key messaging (think.create.sell.) and differentiator for a number of years. We often tell clients and prospects that it’s our thinking – before the doing – that is of great value to organizations as it establishes the strategy foothold in much of our work (the “create” part), which enhances marketing results (the “sell” part).

But I’ve noticed recently an element that I believe takes this to a higher level. It’s that we think out loud. It’s been part of our team’s DNA and our approach with clients for quite awhile. It goes to the heart of our ongoing process of finding better ways to do what we do. It’s how we collaborate as a team effectively. It’s how we work with clients to get at the core of the strategy before we let loose our creative juices.

The reason I was made more aware of this recently is because our daughter, Megan, just joined the Scheffey team in an internal support role of helping serve our clients. We pull her into many internal collaboration meetings, and I found myself giving her some background to help get her up to speed. But then I realized that the bulk of our meetings among the gathering team members is thinking out loud before we set off on our action items.

Thinking out loud gets team members informed and involved. It improves clarity that avoids missing opportunities or going down the wrong path. It allows for risk-taking … verbalizing ideas that might be a little crazy, but could very well lead to a great idea.

It forms unity around purpose before people scatter and do their parts of the project. And most importantly, it generally leads to a better idea than an individual’s silo thinking.

Even when we feel Megan is fully up to speed with the marketing world and our clients, I hope we continue to think out loud amongst our team and with our clients. I highly recommend it for you and your team as well.