At the end of the day, are clichés really a poisoned chalice?

I’m amazed that everyone is so down on clichés. When all is said and done, clichés help to make sure we’re all on the same page. People get clichés, so there are no ifs or buts. What’s wrong with tried and true? I’m sick and tired of people telling me I must think out of the box. Some of us give 110% but not all of us are rock stars. Not all of us want to push the envelope or go out on a limb all the time. At the end of the day, the path of least resistance has a lot going for it.

How long can I keep this up for? Let’s go with the flow and see for ourselves. We’re all in the same boat here, and the proof is in the pudding. Once the genie is out of the bottle, it’s too late for a paradigm shift. I know the ball’s in my court, and I’m willing to step up to the plate but let me give you a heads-up: I’m no genius, I’m no smarter than the average bear. I don’t mind collecting the low-hanging fruit; I’m happy to leave the cutting edge stuff to the leading lights.

The bottom line is that it takes unflinching determination to push through, but I’m no Sir Galahad. I’m just a team player, and I do my best not to drop the ball. I’d love to blow your doors off with my writing, but I can’t raise the bar that high. I’m no Shakespeare or Steinbeck, or even a Mark Twain. The way these guys write just blows me away.

I’m no visionary, evangelist, or thought leader either. A man’s got to know his limitations. Evangelist. Visionary – I love amazing words that take our writing to the next level. And new ones like monetise, mesmerise and incentivise. Just thinking out loud for a moment: if we put words like these together with strong clichés, will we have a marriage made in heaven?

Sometimes I really wish I could be more innovative and come up with an actionable idea that we can monetise, and idea that just blows all the other guys out of the water. Come up with a value proposition that has real synergy, maybe one that is future-proof. I’d love to come up with a strategic idea that goes viral, one that ticks all the right boxes. Have to make sure we don’t leave money on the table, of course.

I can see that I need to take my game to the next level. I really should bite the bullet and crank up the pace so I can hit the ground running. As I said, I’m no Einstein so it’s not exactly a level playing field. I can’t get the same leverage as the top guns, let alone the 800-pound gorilla in this patch.

I have to put more work into my core competency – I’d love to be seen as Best of Breed. I’m not ready to throw in the towel yet, and it goes without saying that I don’t want to bite the dust. At this point in time, I can see the writing on the wall and the light at the end of the tunnel – that’s really confusing. I think it’s time to go back to the drawing board before all my chickens come home to roost.

Kim