Poker involves luck, uncertainty, risk, and sometimes deception

Poker involves luck, uncertainty, risk, and sometimes deception.

Every decision you make for your agency is a bet.

What new business opportunities should we pursue?

What ideas should we pitch?

Like poker, these are bets because not all the facts are known.

You don’t know what cards are in the other players’ hands or what cards will be dealt next.

You typically don’t know what other agencies are in a pitch or what the client really wants.

You have probabilities and possibilities.

In Texas Holdem, two Aces are a good hand.

But it doesn’t guarantee a win.

Even bad hands win once in a while.

To make better decisions (and pitch better), think like a poker player.

With each hand, poker players evaluate the probability of outcomes.

Do the same.

Imagine the future.

If your pitch ends up a loss, what are the possible reasons why?

Use this to establish your confidence level.

Plan accordingly.

But remember, good decisions can have bad outcomes.

And bad decisions can have good outcomes.

Whether a pitch turns out or not doesn’t make it right or wrong.

The best poker players don’t change their game strategy if a few hands don’t go their way.

Decisions and pitches shouldn’t be based on the result but on the process taken to make it.