Marketing Catalysts: The Practice of Making Stuff Happen

If you've read my stuff before, or listened to the Crazy, STUPID Marketing show, you'll know that I'm a firm believer that most marketing job descriptions are lists of things to do. Track data. Send emails. Post posts. Research competitors. Build decks. Update the CRM. Rinse. Repeat.

And so, most young marketers become really, really good at doing those things. Assuming that "doing" will get them to the next level.

But doing things and making stuff happen are two very different jobs💡

A doer moves tasks across a board. A catalyst moves a business across a threshold.

A doer produces output. A catalyst produces momentum, decisions, direction, and sometimes even a whole new conversation the team didn't know it needed to have.

So, ignoring that fact that most organizations haven't used their job descriptions to identify if they are looking for a doer or a catalyst, how can you identify who you currently have on your team? And more importantly, how to find the RIGHT resources if you are constantly cycling through the wrong ones?

Keep reading :)

Catalysts: Personality Type or Intention?

Many people assume that "Catalyst" is a personality type. That we can look at things like DISC, Enneagram, or the results of "culture fit" interviews and identify them.

Except...that's not true.

Catalysts—in marketing and otherwise—are people who have practiced a specific set of muscles until "make stuff happen" became the default setting.

Which means everyone COULD be one.

With the practice layered on to the right intention 😉

The "Doing" a Catalyst Actually Does

If a doer's job is to execute activity, a catalyst's job is to create the conditions where the right activity becomes obvious. That might look like:

• Asking the question in the meeting that changes what the meeting is about.

• Noticing a pattern in the data that nobody else noticed.

• Running the small test that reveals whether the big plan is worth doing at all.

• Bringing a recent customer conversation into the room (when everyone was about to build something based on a persona document from 2022).

• Asking "why are we doing this?" in a tone that opens a generative conversation.

None of those things are on a job description (although arguably they would be more helpful). But they do all contribute to what turns a marketing team from a content factory into a business function that actually moves the business.

Why "Doing" Feels Safer Than "Catalyzing"

Let's be honest about why most marketers stay in doer mode.

Doing is measurable. You can count the emails sent, the posts scheduled, the reports delivered. At the end of the week, you have a list of things that got done, and the list is proof that you were useful.

Catalyzing is harder to count. You asked a question. You noticed a thing. You changed a direction. There's no clean row in a spreadsheet for "shifted the conversation on Tuesday."

So doing feels safer. Doing feels like proof. Doing feels like a job.

But doing without catalyzing is exactly how teams end up busy without being effective. It's how activity becomes a shield, and the shield becomes the whole job. Or even Marketing's entire role.

The good news? You don't have to stop doing to start catalyzing. You just have to bring a different muscle to the same work; one that's already in your body.

Permission to Do What Matters

Check out that list above again. Have you ever been in a room where it felt unsafe to do one (or more) of those things?

This is where things get crazy, folks.

Technically, not one of those actions requires permission. They don't require a budget. And they don't require a promotion.

But they do require us to give OURSELVES permission to do them.

Having a question or noticing a pattern happens automatically in our brains. We actually ALL have them. On the daily.

We just don't ASK them. Or share our insights.

And there's tons of business cultures that don't invite it.

But what's actually more common is that WE become the filter. We don't allow ourselves to do the things, even though there IS space in the business environment for it.

And until we do it once, it will always feel hard.

But once you start, and you continue to practice, all of a sudden you put yourself into the category of catalyst...all on your own :)

The Four Muscles (and the Questions That Practice Them)

Every catalyst move I've ever seen someone make traces back to one of four muscles. And exercising them out loud, in real time, in the actual work.

Before we dive in, quick reminder: You don't need to practice all four at once. In fact, I would recommend that you don't.

You need to figure out which one is yours to lean into first, and let the practice reveal the rest.

Muscle 1: Purpose (asking "why is this the work?")

The doer takes the brief and runs. The catalyst pauses long enough to make sure the brief is pointed at something that actually matters. And it's not about being difficult in meetings. It's about noticing the moment where a task got handed off five people ago, and by the time it landed on your desk, nobody remembers why.

Questions to practice:

• What outcome is this actually meant to create? Do I know, or am I guessing?

• If this task disappeared tomorrow, would anyone notice? Would the business?

• What would I be doing instead if I trusted my own gut on what matters right now?

• Whose question am I answering with this work? Is it still theirs? Is it still relevant?

💪Start Training: once a week, pick one thing on your list and ask "why is this the work?" out loud. Not to challenge it. To understand it. If you can't finish the answer, you've found your first catalyst move.

Muscle 2: Exploration (asking "what would I try?")

Doers wait for the plan. Catalysts run the small test that tells if the plan is worth building before knowing whether or not it's going to work. The "work" is in the noticing, experimenting, reflection and adaptation. In being willing to try one thing this week and see what happens.

Questions to practice:

• What's one thing I've been curious about that I haven't actually tested?

• What's the smallest version of a test I could run this week without asking anyone?

• What's a "we've always done it this way" I'd like to prove or disprove?

• If I could learn ONE thing about our audience by Friday, what would it be, and what would I do to find out?

💪Start Training: pick one small experiment a week. Not a campaign. A test. One variable, one signal, one thing you didn't know on Monday that you'll know by next Monday.

Muscle 3: Your Personal Brand (asking "is this how I want to practice marketing?")

Catalysts bring themselves into the room. Not their title, not the playbook, not the borrowed language from the last LinkedIn post they read. Themselves. And it's not about vanity or ego. It's about coherence. It's about leading by example in how your decisions, behaviours, and point of view all point in the same direction.

Questions to practice:

• What do I actually believe about the problem we're solving? Would I say it out loud in this meeting?

• Where am I performing marketing versus practicing marketing?

• What's the point of view I'd share if I trusted that it mattered?

• What would I do differently this week if my name were on every decision?

💪Start Training: pick one meeting a week where you share a real point of view, not a safe one. Speak before you polish. Clarity usually shows up after you've said the thing, not before.

Muscle 4: A Head's Up View (asking "what am I not seeing?")

Doers optimize what's in front of them. Catalysts zoom out far enough to notice whether "what's in front of them" is even the right thing to be optimizing. It's the muscle that connects a campaign to a customer journey, a channel to an ecosystem, a metric to a meaning; and it's the difference between optimizing a subject line and asking whether the email should exist.

Questions to practice:

• If I zoomed out from this task, what would I see that I can't see from inside it?

• Are we talking AT our customers, or WITH them?

• Is this still the right goal? The right system? Is this still serving the people it's meant to?

• What's the conversation happening around this work that nobody is naming?

💪Start Training: once a week, spend twenty minutes not doing marketing. Read something outside your industry. Talk to a customer. Watch how someone actually uses your product. And then come back and notice what looks different.

How to Figure Out Which Muscle to Start With

Everyone can develop all four of the above muscles. But most catalysts have one that comes more naturally; one they lean into first. Your Signature Experience. The trick isn't to be strong in all four on day one. It's to notice which one is already whispering to you.

So, of all those "Start Training" challenges, which one feels the most accessible?

Start with that.

That's how catalyst muscles turn on.

Not through assignments or deliverables.

Through one intentional rep, followed by another one.

What Changes When You Practice

The funny thing about the practice? It might seem like nothing dramatic changes.

That's the point.

Your calendar probably looks the same. Your job title didn't change. The list of things to do doesn't shrink (does it ever?)

But somewhere in the practice, you'll notice something has shifted.

A meeting will end differently because of a question you asked.

A campaign will get shaped by a small test instead of a big assumption.

Someone will start bringing you problems earlier, because you're the person who helps them see the problem more clearly, not just the person who executes the response.

That's the moment.

That's when you've stopped being a marketer who does things and started being a marketer who makes stuff happen.

And once that flips? It doesn't flip back.

The industry doesn't need more doers. It's already drowning in them.

It needs catalysts. Practiced ones. Ones who know which muscle is theirs and use it on purpose.

You've got one. You've probably got more than one.

So? Who's ready to start practicing? 🎉

If you want to come practice in community with the Authentic Marketing Fellowship, join today!