Marketers are busy bees. We're always running around to find the next task, the next metric, or the next step in our perfectly prepared marketing plan.

So it makes sense that Marketing Smarts guest Paul Ince would define flexibility as pausing to stand back and go, "Is this the right thing to do right now?"

"Sometimes I think it's good to pause, take a bit of a break, stand back, put yourself in your audience's shoes, if we want to go down that road, and try to think, What's going on here?" he says in this week's episode.

In fact, for all the industry talk of data-driven marketing, this episode is full of Ince's emphasizing that instincts and conversation are important to flexibility.

"I think a good way to get started is to take a look at the plan that you have already and to really try and work out, Does this plan feel right?

"We can talk a lot in marketing about theories and tactics.... I think some things you just know whether they feel right or not.... I think if it feels a little bit off, then that's your big indicator that there is some work to do there...something to dive into, unpick, and ask further questions about."

That doesn't mean completely ditching the plan you already have. But maybe it could use a few tweaks.