Do you find solutions (or just complain about problems)?

I used to live in College Station, Texas. I now live in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Consequently, I don’t often run into old friends up here in Sioux Falls. So when my friend from College Station said his roommate’s band was playing in Sioux Falls and he was going to travel up with them, my excitement grew.

As a result, I ended up at Nutty’s North on Wednesday night to hang out with my long-lost friend and hear his roommate’s band (Flawless Escape…which was awesome) and a more nationally-renowned band called Flyleaf (which also rocked).

And then I realized something. I’m a hypocrite.

I often find myself complaining that I don’t particularly feel like there’s a “lot of stuff to do” in Sioux Falls. That, after having lived in larger “college towns,” the Sioux Falls landscape isn’t really aimed at engaging the 18-24 year old demographic in which I currently fall. That I wish I were in a city like Minneapolis or another place full of ways to have fun.

Here’s the hypocrisy: I’m not trying to change things. I’m not trying to make a difference. I’m simply complaining about a situation I’m fully capable of changing/adjusting. It’s just easier not to.

How often do we as marketing and social media strategists fall into that trap? How often do we complain that “We could do that campaign so much better!” or ask ourselves “What were they thinking when they made that ad?”

But do we follow that up by going out and changing things? Do we ever step up and say, “Their campaign is awful…let’s show them how we can do it better!”?

Because, until we’ve done that, we’re all just being hypocrites.

I mentioned earlier that I went to a concert Wednesday night. I’ll openly admit that I would have NEVER gone to the show if my buddy wouldn’t have been in town. But, while I may complain about a “lack of ways to have fun,” it’s obvious that this city has plenty of opportunities to provide for a fun night. It’s just a matter of whether I choose to whine about the limitations or choose to take advantage of (or create) those opportunities.

Learn from my mistake. Don’t be a hypocrite. Come up with solutions rather than complaints. That’s when change happens. That’s when we up the ante and transform the industry in a positive way.

And that freakin’ rocks.

How about you? Have you seen opportunities to improve (rather than complain) and then taken advantage of those opportunities? Have you done something fun lately that you had never done before and care to recommend it? Disagree with the post entirely? Let me know by leaving a comment below or hitting me up on Twitter.

-Mike

P.S. - Here's some video footage from Flawless Escape's performance at Nutty's North (straight killing it, fo sho)...



P.P.S. - That sick photo is by Barry Dolton.

P.P.P.S. - This post, written by me, was originally posted on my work blog at Deep Bench.