The Musings Of An Opinionated Sod [Help Me Grow!]

Each and everyone proclaiming to be ‘the right way’ to do something.

A way that claims effectiveness … efficiency … accuracy and performance are all but guaranteed.

And while it is true that in many cases, they increase the odds of good things happening … that’s all they do.

Sure, many have a ton amount of data accompanying them to back things what they say … but as we all know about data, when used right [or wrong] you can make it say or prove anything you want it to.

The reality is our industry, pretty much all these systems are less a shortcut to wealth and prosperity, and more an insurance policy against failure and destruction.

Nothing wrong with that other that it does the opposite of what many claim and instead, champions conformity more than liberation. But then what do you expect when many of the people doing the spouting of systems and processes have a vested interest in everyone using those very systems and processes.

Again, I’m not suggesting you ignore all these things. As I said, many play an important role in developing products and brands … however when someone suggests they’re ‘the secret to success’ and must be embraced to the letter – then you need to think about whose success are they really talking about.

It’s why I bloody loved this interview with Marc Andreessen – the businessman, venture capitalist, and [former] software engineer. Specifically the bit about ‘why hyperlinks are blue’.

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OK, so he tries to rationalize it at the end, but fundamentally what he says is: “blue is my favorite colour”.

That’s right … the colour of our hyperlinks were chosen.

By a human.

Because he liked that colour.

Kind of reminds me of the ‘wings’ on a Cadillac.

There was absolutely no functional reason for them to exist other than the fact the designers just thought it looked better with them.

That’s it.

And with that, they turned a car into an icon. And here lies a key lesson …

Sometimes, the things we like are simply because we like them.

There may be many alternatives.
There may be other possibilities.
But at the end of the day, some choose things for no other reason than it works for them.

And at a time where everything needs to be justified … rationalised … reviewed and tested … I think those people deserve credit for backing their belief, judgement, vision and preference.

It’s easy to do what a system tells you to do.

It’s easy to follow what others tell you is right.

But it takes confidence to embrace what you believe is the right thing to do. And while I acknowledge some will suggest this approach is an act of ego and arrogance … when you consider how many of these ‘dot-to-dot logic™ systems and ‘researched-to-within-an-inch-of-their-life’ campaigns/brands/products fail to perform [often because the impact or output they create is deemed secondary in importance to the adherence of every step of whatever system or logic process you have committed to using] you could argue the person who backs their judgement is no less an idiot than the person who outsources all their responsibility to someone else?

Whether we like it or not, sometimes the best things are a product of someone doing something they preferred.

They will justify it.

They will rationalize it.