It’ll Do That To You

When I was 38, I started guitar lessons. It wasn’t that I wanted to be Taylor Swift—rather, I wanted a hobby that engaged a different part of my brain from content.

Practicing guitar has changed my creativity. When I practice, a different part of my brain gets engaged. And I find when I return to writing and content, I feel refreshed and able to focus.

Why am I telling you all of this? And, what does it have to do with content governance?

It’ll Do That To You

Recently, my guitar teacher, Amilcar, was teaching me a complicated chord change on Purple Rain (rest in peace, Prince). I got so frustrated I almost threw the guitar across the room. He chuckled empathetically and said, “It’ll do that to you.”

Learning a new skill is frustrating. Getting your brain and your fingers to cooperate means neurons have to fire and new pathways forged. It takes will and desire—and most importantly, practice.

It’s the same with content governance. Getting people to stand in one line and kick at the same time also takes will, desire and practice. It may seem like an impossibility with your current team and structure. But you have to start somewhere.

I gave a three-hour workshop at Confab Intensive on content governance called Better Workflows, Stronger Governance. Take a look at the slides—you’ll see some new templates, get ideas about how to move ahead with a rigorous content governance program and even pick up a checklist that will get you started. Email me if you’d like a one-pager of the checklist.

There are times you’ll feel frustrated and want to throw the whole content governance playbook across the room. But just remember—in the wise words of Amilcar—”It’ll do that to you.” And that’s okay—you’re going to keep at it until you and your teams get it right.