Wide or Deep?

We choose to go wide or deep.

Kasparov went deep into chess. That’s why he’s the world champion.

Deep Blue went wide into chess. That’s why it beat Kasparov, using brute-force calculations rather than by actually playing chess.

Most sales people go wide into prospecting. That’s why you get so much spam in your email, your LinkedIn inbox, and Facebook feed.

People you do business with go deep into prospecting. That’s why you only got a few messages from them, but they were hyper-focused around you and your world, not around what they’re selling.

Going deep needs humans. To care more. To learn the market’s pain. To understand how to play the game.

We can choose wide or deep either. But one choice will be automated away. The other will be a breath of fresh air.