Frankie's Marketing Blog

I’m deviating from my usual posts here. In trying to unlock some ideas for a book proposal, I just started writing, thus I thought I would share. There are a few typos, but I’m sure you will get the picture. This may or may not be in the book, it was more of a brainstorm and there is probably a professional writer involved. Enjoy!

Watching the conditions. It's business out there.

Keep Your Eyes On The Water

On February 13, 2010, in the sleepy Northern California town of Half Moon Bay, 13 people were hurt while standing on a jetty outcropping that protects harbors from the oncoming onslaught of the wave action that pounds this hardy coast during the wintertime. The spectators came to this spot to watch the Mavericks Big Wave surf contest. Mavericks, is a fickle surf spot that breaks only on the biggest of Northwest swells. These swells develop from powerful storms thousands of miles out to sea off the Aleutian Islands of Alaska and travel for days to Northern California waters. Because of these swells, Mavericks boasts one of the world’s most ferocious instances of watery power. Waves focus on a shallow ledge of reef, hundreds of yards from shore, off a tip of land known as Pillar Point. The sheer speed and momentum of all that water converging on this one piece of underwater earth slows both suddenly and dramatically. The cascading liquid rises to towering heights. Only the brave, fearless, just plain crazy, or a combination of all three, willingly paddle ten foot plus surfboards nearly a half a mile off land to immerse themselves in the exact area, where waves the size of buildings, slam down hard enough to kill the average person.

When these waves break out on the reef, they push so much water across it, the energy continues until it reaches the beach or the jetty. On this crisp February day, the combination of powerful swells and a high tide coincided with a rush of salt water that slammed into spectators like a pedestrian in a car accident, nearly knocking the entire scaffolding off the jetty where the contest announcers were seated. Fortunately, nobody lost their lives; however, there were some broken bones and no doubt some frightened souls and embarrassed egos.

What experienced surfers and business people alike will tell you about this incident is, in order to safely navigate the natural environment we all occupy, we need to KEEP OUR EYES ON THE WATER. It is terribly easy to be caught off guard in the ocean and business, whether it is the changing behavior of consumers, the performance of our products and services, or the actions of competitors. Surfers, when they arrive at a surf spot, typically spend several minutes watching the ocean. Wave riders continuously monitor the ocean, analyzing the tide, wind and swell conditions. They look for the frequency in sets of waves, the shape and direction of the swell. Surfers feel the wind direction and spot areas that can help them get to the lineup quickly. Rip currents, the enemy of swimmers and lifeguards everywhere, are a surfer’s friend. Before paddling out, surfers also have a keen eye for the competition for their share of waves. The surfer, also keeps his or her eyes on the water. They know a placid and serene day of surfing can turn dangerous very quickly. Waves of three feet can quickly become ten to twelve feet without warning.

Conditions in the business world can quickly become dangerous and out of control rapidly as well. Competitor products can undermine operations, surprising the marketplace. Simple, mistakes can quickly become a public relations nightmare. Vendors can suddenly go out of business. The surfer can sometimes be considered an adept weather forecaster. The entrepreneur and small business owner can also become a competent weather forecaster also. In the business world, the weather is not in the ocean, but rather the business climate itself. Like the surfer, monitoring conditions before paddling out and keeping all eyes on the water, the business person must monitor the environment constantly and develop a keen awareness for changing conditions. To do this, it is prudent to gain a grasp on all of the various factors that can affect the marketplace. This is where planning and research take place. Being prepared for potential changes to the environment is not a onetime operation. Business schools teach the SWOTT analysis as a simplistic method for gauging the environment. SWOTT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats and Trends. Essential for startup organizations, the SWOTT analysis is the basic weather forecaster for the business world. Like ocean conditions, the business environment is in a constant state of flux. Even the most experienced surfers and business people can be caught off guard. Yet, keeping your eyes on the water allows you to be prepared when caught inside of breaking wave the size of a tall building.

As a younger surfer, I made the mistake of not keeping my eyes on the water.

On a fine winter afternoon in Northern California, I made my way to the beach without checking the ocean conditions beforehand. On my drive, I could tell the slight offshore wind blowing from land to sea would make for waves that were groomed, like someone running a fine toothed comb across the cold, green water. When I arrived at the surf spot, I took a quick glance and saw that everything seemed to be in its place. A rather fun looking four foot swell appeared to be rolling through with a minimal crowd. The lack of surfers in the water was surprising considering the typical weekend gathering. I ignored the question of my usual spot absent throngs of people and quickly slid on my thick 4/3 O’Neill wetsuit as fast as I could. I spread some surf wax around on the deck of my smallest board and paddled to the lineup in record time, with my hair still dry. In the lineup, I marveled at the light dancing through high cirrus clouds, bouncing off the waves. I made some small talk with a friend in the water and proceeded to catch two incredibly fun right handed waves. I banked a few turns off the top of each wave and paddled swiftly to the lineup with a great big grin on my face. This was easy, I thought to myself. Maybe the horde of “50,000 of my best friends” were surfing somewhere else that was better. It was too tranquil for me to care. I relaxed, waiting for the next set of clean little waves to roll into the lineup. Just then, I looked to the horizon, where at that moment, my eyes grew as big as saucers. Approximately, fifty yards away and closing in like a locomotive, was a giant wall of water stretching from the point of land to my right, all the way down the beach as far as the eye could see. I spun my board toward China and began taking deep and powerful paddling strokes directly at the freight train of ocean bearing down on me. I hoped I could get to the bottom of portion of the wave and duck myself under before the breaking crest of water landed in front of me. It turns out my timing was just a split second off. The falling lip of this sizeable wave landed square on my back. I was in what they call the “impact zone.” The resulting force ripped the surfboard straight from my hands, which gripped the board with so much force; I thought my fingers were going to punch right through the fiberglass. The air in my lungs was subsequently forced out and my body was thrust into the sandy bottom, bouncing up into a watery suspension after the impact with the sea floor. Like clothes in a washing machine, I was forcibly spun over and over until I had no sense of direction to tell which way was up and which way was down. With my lungs screaming in agony for air, I reached my leg rope tethered to my surfboard, and followed it one hand over the other, knowing the flotation of the surfboard would carry the surfboard to the surface where the air was. When I finally reached my board and was able to take in a huge gasp of air, I looked back toward the horizon and found another avalanche of whitewater heading toward me. With air finally in my lungs I dunked myself as deep as I could go to avoid the underwater turbulence. It didn’t work. I was projected like a ragdoll once again, nearly colliding with my surfboard underwater. Fortunately, the energy of the entire wave carried me reasonably close to the beach, where I consequently reached for my board and paddled my way to the beach. The zipper on my wetsuit was ripped undone during my ordeal and cold, fifty-two degree water was thrust down my wetsuit like a blast from a fire hose. Dazed, I slowly walked up the beach, with bruised ego, thankful to be alive. As I turned my view from the parking lot back to the ocean, several more bombs unloaded on the sandbar before returning to a calm and peaceful state for several minutes. Then another set of ocean slabs struck and not a sole was in the water.

What I failed to notice in my haste to gain the upper hand on uncrowded, clean ocean conditions was the large long period swell closing out across the sandbar. Had I waited before hurriedly charging blindly into the ocean, I would have seen the set of waves that took me out. What looked like a day of happiness riding waves with a few friends, turned swiftly into deceitfully dangerous water.  I learned a lifelong lesson on that day that applies to business as well….KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE WATER.