Want Marketing Success? Then Avoid the Ready, Fire, Aim Mindset

Patrick McFadden • January 17, 2014

This is a guest post by Troy L. Scheer. Troy is the president of MarketingIntel. MarketingIntel utilizes both inbound and outbound marketing channels to deliver effective marketing based on sound planning and desired outcome. Their tagline is” Opportunities Identified, Problems Solved.” Troy can be found on Twitter  @troyscheertmg.  If you’d like to guest post on this blog,  check out the guidelines here.

So, what’s the latest and greatest new marketing tool, tactic or channel out there today? Surely something shiny and new is available today to make marketing easy and successful. Oh, and it will be cheap, or better yet, FREE.

Yes, I’m being a bit harsh, but only to make a point. Marketing channels and tactics have become ever-increasing. There is Content Marketing and Social Media with Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Google+, YouTube and so on. Email marketing, blogging, mobile, local, event marketing, experiential, inbound, outbound, direct, radio, television, billboards, and the list goes on.

The questions I get are always, “What do we do?” “Should we blog?” “Do we get on Facebook?” “We need a Twitter account don’t we?” “Should we do a television commercial?” “What app do we need to create?”

The answer I give to all of these questions is, at least at first, I DON’T KNOW. Now I realize being the marketing guru I am, (I hate that term by the way.) I should just be able to magically answer those questions. Just right off the top of my head, I should have all the answers.

Instead, I have questions…

  • What are your business objectives?
  • What outcomes are you trying to achieve?
  • Are you looking to increase new customers?
  • Are you looking to retain existing customers and increase what they are spending with you?

Without having those targets in place and having a very specific outcome you want to achieve, you can be guaranteed you’ll hit what you’re shooting at. The problem there is there may be a lot of collateral damage simply because you weren’t on the target.

By not understanding who customers and prospects are and how your business can best meet their needs, the result is customers who are interrupted instead of engaged. Dollars and efforts spent may well be having the complete opposite effect of what you wanted and needed to happen. Instead of increasing the lifetime value of a customer through a targeted, outcome-focused approach, aiming at anything may well end the customer relationship on the spot.

Believe me, I well understand that companies want to get the most from their marketing investment whether it be a small business or Fortune 500 company. The rub is little of that investment is focused on clearly identifying what the real target it, what the outcome should be, and what to do when a tactic is ultimately seen to be off-target. To continue on with the target shooting analogy, businesses are willing to invest in the gun and ammunition, but lose sight of what is needed to make sure that those tools are focused on a clear target that can accurately and effectively be reached.

So what is the answer, you ask? Focus on the outcome. Develop an outcome map for your marketing. Start with the target and work backwards. Instead of diving into a myriad of tactics that may or may not help you reach your objectives, dive headfirst into what you want to happen. Oh, and be specific. Make sure outcomes are tangible so you can measure and understand what is working and where adjustments need to be made.

It’s a mapping process, a targeting process that can be achieved in a few steps:

  1. Establish 3 or 4 (no more) business outcomes that you want to achieve in a given year.
  2. Develop your measurable objectives and the key performance indicators that let you know whether or not you’re on the right path.
  3. Lay out strategies (not tactics) for achieving your objectives.
  4. Now focus on programs: online, offline, mobile, event based, etc.
  5. Finally lay out and execute tactics – here is where you decide if a mobile app, Google+, Facebook, Blogging, Content Marketing or traditional media are the correct tools to help you achieve the outcome you want for your business.

So the next time you feel the urge to ask your marketing director, marketing consultant or marketing team those off-target questions, stop yourself and think about what you want for your business and who your customers are. Placing value there will help you continue to align your sights on a clearly defined target. Remember, you may not hit it at first. Just gather intelligence, make adjustments and you will soon than later be on target.

Or continue to aim at nothing. I guarantee you’ll hit it on your first try.

The Missing Layer in AI: Why Judgment, Not Just Data, Will Define the Next Era of Intelligence

By Patrick McFadden • May 2, 2025
Everyone is scaling outputs. Almost no one is scaling judgment.

Everyone Talks About AI Judgment. We Built It.

By Patrick McFadden • May 2, 2025
Ask anyone in tech where AI is headed, and they’ll tell you: “The next leap is reasoning.” “AI needs judgment.” “We need assistants that think, not just answer.” They’re right. But while everyone’s talking about it, almost no one is actually shipping it. So we did. We built Thinking OS™ —a system that doesn’t just help AI answer questions… It helps AI think like a strategist. It helps AI decide like an operator. It helps teams and platforms scale judgment, n ot just generate output. The Theory Isn’t New. The Implementation Is. The idea of layering strategic thinking and judgment into AI isn’t new in theory. The problem is, no one’s been able to implement it effectively at scale. Let’s look at the current landscape. 1. Big Tech Has the Muscle—But Not the Mind OpenAI / ChatGPT ✅ Strength: Best-in-class language generation ❌ Limitation: No built-in judgment or reasoning. You must provide the structure. Otherwise, it follows instructions, not strategy. Google DeepMind / Gemini ✅ Known for advanced decision-making (e.g., AlphaGo) ❌ But only in structured environments like games—not messy, real-world business scenarios. Anthropic (Claude), Meta (LLaMA), Microsoft Copilot ✅ Great at answering questions and following commands ❌ But they’re assistants, not advisors. They won’t reprioritize. They won’t challenge your assumptions. They don’t ask: “Is this the right move?” These tools are powerful—but they don’t think for outcomes the way a strategist or operator would. 2. Who’s Actually Building the Thinking Layer™? This is where it gets interesting—and thin. Startups and Indie Builders Some small teams are quietly: Creating custom GPTs that mimic how experts reason Layering in business context, priorities, and tradeoffs Embedding decision logic so AI can guide, not just execute But these efforts are: Highly manual Difficult to scale Fragmented and experimental Enterprise Experiments A few companies (Salesforce, HubSpot, and others) are exploring more “judgment-aware” AI copilots. These systems can: Flag inconsistencies Recommend next actions Occasionally surface priorities based on internal logic But most of it is still: In early R&D Custom-coded Unproven beyond narrow use cases That’s Why Thinking OS™ Is Different Instead of waiting for a lab to crack it, we built a modular thinking system that installs like infrastructure. Thinking OS™: Captures how real experts reason Embeds judgment into layers AI can use Deploys into tools like ChatGPT or enterprise systems Helps teams think together, consistently, at scale It’s not another assistant. It’s the missing layer that turns outputs into outcomes. So… Is This a New Innovation? Yes—in practice. Everyone says AI needs judgment. But judgment isn’t an idea. It’s a system. It requires: Persistent memory Contextual awareness Tradeoff evaluation Value-based decisions Strategy that evolves with goals Thinking OS™ delivers that. And unlike the R&D experiments in Big Tech, it’s built for: Operators Consultants Platform founders Growth-stage teams that need to scale decision quality, not just content creation If Someone Told You They’ve Built a Thinking + Judgment Layer™… They’ve built something only a handful of people in the world are even attempting. Because this isn’t just AI that speaks fluently. It’s AI that reasons, reflects , and chooses. And in a world that’s drowning in tools, judgment becomes the differentiator. That’s the OS We Built Thinking OS™ is not a prompt pack. It’s not a dashboard. It’s not a glorified chatbot. It’s a decision architecture you can license, embed, or deploy— To help your team, your platform, or your clients think better at scale. We’ve moved past content. We’re building cognition. Let’s talk.

We Found the Missing Layer AI Has Been Waiting For

By Patrick McFadden • May 2, 2025
In every era of innovation, there’s a silent bottleneck—something obvious in hindsight, but elusive until the moment it clicks. In today’s AI-driven world, that bottleneck is clear: AI has speed. It has scale. But it doesn’t have judgment . It doesn’t really think . What’s Actually Missing From AI? When experts talk about the “thinking and judgment layer” as the next leap for AI, they’re calling out a hard truth: Modern AI systems are powerful pattern machines. But they’re missing the human layer—the one that reasons, weighs tradeoffs, and makes strategic decisions in context. Let’s break that down: 1. The Thinking Layer = Reasoning with Purpose This layer doesn’t just process inputs— it structures logic. It’s the ability to: Ask the right questions before acting Break down complexity into solvable parts Adjust direction mid-course when reality changes Think beyond “what was asked” to uncover “what really matters” Today’s AI responds. But it rarely reflects. Unless told exactly what to do, it won’t work through problems the way a strategist or operator would. 2. The Judgment Layer = Decision-Making in the Gray Judgment is the ability to: Prioritize what matters most Choose between imperfect options Make decisions when there’s no clear answer Apply values, experience, and vision—not just data It’s why a founder might not pursue a lucrative deal. Why a marketer might ignore the click-through rate. Why a strategist knows when the timing isn’t right. AI doesn’t do this well. Not yet. Because judgment requires more than data—it requires discernment . Why This Is the Bottleneck Holding Back AI AI can write. It can summarize. It can automate. But it still can’t: Diagnose the real problem behind the question Evaluate tradeoffs like a founder or operator would Recommend a path based on context, constraints, and conviction AI today is still reactive. It follows instructions. But it doesn’t lead. It doesn’t guide. It doesn’t own the outcome. And for those building serious systems—whether you’re running a company, launching a platform, or leading a team—this is the wall you eventually hit. That’s Why We Built Thinking OS™ We stopped waiting for AI to learn judgment on its own. Instead, we created a system that embeds it—by design. Thinking OS™ is an installable decision layer that captures how top founders, strategists, and operators think… …and makes that thinking repeatable , scalable , and usable inside teams, tools, and platforms. It’s not a framework. It’s not a chatbot. It’s not another playbook. It’s the layer that knows how to: Think through complex decisions Apply judgment when rules don’t help Guide others —human or AI—toward strategic outcomes This Is the Missing Infrastructure Thinking OS™ isn’t just about better answers. It’s about better thinking—made operational. And that’s what’s been missing in AI, consulting, leadership development, and platform design. If you’re trying to scale expertise, install judgment, or move from tactical to strategic… You don’t need a faster AI. You need a thinking layer that knows what to do—and why. We built it. Let’s talk.
More Posts