The Shiny New Toy Syndrome

Shiny New Toy Syndrome or Shiny object syndrome (SOS) is when people focus on an idea or app that is new and trendy, but quickly drop it once something new comes along.

Key Takeaways

• Shiny object syndrome (SOS) affects entrepreneurs specifically because they tend to be highly motivated, crave new technology, want new developments, and aren’t afraid to start new projects and create new things.

• This happens a lot in marketing strategies when they see what the competition is doing and assume that what they’re doing is working.

Here’s the scenario: You have a problem. You don't have the leads or sales or “fill in the blank.” Whatever it is, something is not performing they way you want it to. So you call the team in a room and have them brainstorm! You think about all the random things you guys could do. They’re reading all the blogs, watching the competition, getting all the information from you can from all these different sources. And then, you guys just kind of pick something and just start it.

Fast forward: You don't know why it works (or don't know why it doesn't work). And then you just waste a lot of time and money. And say, “Forget it. Stupid idea, scrap it.”

Does this sound familiar? If so, you may have the shiny new toy syndrome. Here are four general symptoms you should check for:

• The first thing is you might not be sure what's working and what's not working. You got stuff going on, you see some results, but you don't know how they're correlated.

• Second, you may start some new initiative, but you never see it fully completed. And this is probably because you read some article, you heard some great ideas, the team got fired up, but then it just couldn't get implemented or you just didn't know how to make it happen. And so it just kind of fizzles. And all that time and all that money is just wasted.

• Or you have many different marketing initiatives happening. You've got Facebook and paid ads, you got landing pages, emails, all these things happening, but they all seem very siloed. They don't seem to complement each other. There's not a cohesive kind of reason they all exist.

• And then lastly, if you do see results, it's almost always directly associated with buying more traffic completely. “Hey, we need a bump in traffic. We'll just spend some more money in Facebook, spend some more money in Google.”

If you have ever encountered one of these four symptoms, you may be suffering from the shiny new toy syndrome. Here’s how to overcome it:

• Sit on ideas before launching them. Before you have your team begin work on that new project that’s going to “change everything,” take a moment. Do some more research on the idea and think about whether this is the best use of your company’s resources. Not every idea should be acted upon, and giving yourself this “buffer time” can spare you from an overly hasty decision.¹

• Communicate with your team. When you have a new idea, talk to your team members about it. Ask them what they think, and listen to their perspectives, concerns and needs. They’ll be able to help you realize when you’re moving too fast, and if you do decide to go through with your decision, they’ll be happier that you came to them first.²

• Set both long- and short-term goals with each new project. Slow down when you start to shift gears. Set long-term goals for every project, including how long you anticipate the project will last. Set short-term goals to help you close that gap and keep the team focused.³

• Abandon projects only when necessary. Once your long-term goals are in place, don’t abandon the project until you get there. The only exceptions would be if your project starts costing you far more money than anticipated, or the landscape has changed significantly enough to undermine the project's effectiveness entirely.⁴

1. https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/288370

2. https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/288370

3. https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/288370

4. https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/288370