Don't Chase Shadows

on the day that the nation honors martin luther king jr (or at least when they should be), let’s ponder one of his lesser known thoughts — “everything that we see is a shadow cast by that which we do not see.” very interesting indeed. the same theme was underlined in re-watching a favorite movie yesterday with my wife. erin brockovich. in business, don’t be fueled by what’s made obvious. dig deeper to the real. advertising has suffered in recent years, as american consumers have grown tired of false claims and information “left out” of the offer. on google, don’t assume that the competitors who are perched atop various searches are forces that cannot be challenged and overcome. in negotiations, be careful of what appear to be the leverage points. look for what isn’t being discussed, or is being discussed less. in pricing, watch out for what many call “the pricing wheel of death” whereby $99 feels much less expensive than $109 simply because it has one less digit. all sorts of groups manipulate pricing to produce the feeling they want from the tag. i could go on and on here, but you get the gist.