Positioning is defined in motion, not a statement

I've had the displeasure of being involved with companies that didn't have a clear positioning, who couldn't answer what exactly they do and for whom without rattling out a list of services or features that even their exact ICP (imaginary) would throw "??" at.

And I get it, positioning is hard. It's a chicken or egg problem:

How do you know who your ICP or offering is when you don't know what works?

So you have to do the obvious thing: stay broad and throw sh*t at the wall in hopes something sticks. Right? Right??

Well … partly.

Like most positioning consultants, I came to the conclusion that it's better to pick one positioning and then try to validate it before moving on to the next in case it doesn't work. At least that's what the 'Growth literature' suggests. But I've changed my mind. That never works because:

• Companies don't have the time
• They also don't have the budget to run these detailed experiments
• Every positioning test leaves a breadcrumb that skews the later experiments
• Positioning doesn't exist in isolation and neither can these experiments, and it's hard to coral everything whenever the CEO changes her mind

And so on.

So, what do you do if you don't know what to do?

You … act.

That's the one thing you don't do when you don't have a clear positioning. It's like being obese. You have to do what you didn't do to get stuck in this situation: Exercise.

And yes, you can stretch the implications from that analogy: it's companies that refuse to act that end up without a solid positioning. Chicken or egg, as I said, but in this case it's the chicken first.

Inaction leads to no positioning leads to more inaction and so on.

So, the next time you sit down to ponder "what do we do?", try one of these questions instead:

• What ad campaign can we run today and on which channel?
• What post should I make on LinkedIn or X that pitches my business?
• If I had to write a viral launch thread on Reddit, what would it look like?

Etc.

Basically, do ANYTHING except nothing.

That frantic, random activity itself will lead you to your correct positioning.

Case in point: PipelineScientists itself doesn't have a clearly defined ICP yet. But since we know roughly what we want to do, that's enough for us to act. To write these blogs, to create content on LinkedIn, to ask people questions etc.

Over time, as the evidence piles up, we'll know the answer.

But until then, we don't do nothing. And neither should you.

Stuck in positioning paralysis? We help companies find their voice through action, not endless strategy sessions. Let's figure it out together.