News item, December 2012 — Dead whale needs to be removed from beach in New York.

News item, November 1970 — Dead whale needs to be removed from beach in New York.

With all due respect to departed marine mammals, there’s an object lesson that I can’t help but think can be applied to social media and other business matters that was learned in the whale incident of 1970. Or perhaps we should say the exploding whale incident of 1970.

When a problem arises in business, some leaders will readily throw money, people or new technology at the problem to try to make it go away. Sometimes it doesn’t matter how much power — or in the case of the whale, dynamite — you deploy against a problem, if the strategy is not thought through and well-implemented, someone’s going to get hit with flying blubber. And you’re still going to have a whale of a problem.

Watch this video, then think — “Do I ever add dynamite to a situation that would be better served by a well thought out strategy, a sound plan and the right tactics?”

Social media is definitely a think before you act proposition. Be sure your social media actions are guided your business strategy and that it is well thought through. And remember, more dynamite doesn’t always produce better results!