THE SHORT SHOTS
What’s the difference between a short shot and a medium shot ?
In a medium shot situation, you depend partially on yourself and partially on outsiders. In a short-shot situation, you depend totally on outsiders for your success. When you get totally outside of yourself, the odds are better.
The Product Horse : 7 to 1
A person can become successful by being associated with a product that is successful. That is by riding the Product Horse.
This shows that, recognizing somebody else’s genius is almost always the key to your own success. The biggest problem that happens is that, most people can’t recognize a good product when they see one.
Another aspect which is interesting is that, it isn’t necessary that the person who invented a particular product becomes successful. Most of the time, it is the person who recognized the potential of the concept, who becomes successful. The best example being Dick and Mac McDonald who introduced the concept of hamburgers in drive-in’s. However, it wasn’t these two brothers who gained the maximum profits out of this new concept. In fact, it was Ray Kroc, who recognized the brilliance of the McDonald’s concept and made hundreds of millions from it through the famous McDonalds outlets, which he set up after getting the rights from the two brothers.
The Idea Horse : 6 to1
Everyone knows that an idea can take you to the top faster than anything else. But people sometimes expect too much of an idea. They want one that is not only great, but one that everyone else thinks is great too. There are no such ideas. If you wait until an idea is ready to be accepted, it’s too late. Someone else will have preempted it. As going the saying, ” Anything definitely in is already on it’s way out.”
To ride the Idea Horse, you must be willing to expose yourself to ridicule and controversy. You must be willing to go against the tide. You can’t be first with a new idea unless you are ready to stick your neck out. And take a lot of abuse.
A good idea is seldom recognized as such. When Brian Epstein went to London to try to get a recording contract for the Beatles, he was snubbed. Among the rejections came the classic from Decca: ” Go back to Liverpool, Mr. Epstein. Four-groups are out.” It is a different story altogether that the Beatles went on to become the most famous group in history. Experts are usually wrong, especially when they pontificate on subjects which tend to reflect unfavorably on their own expertise.
According to Ries and Trout, a good idea which needs nurturing, can be recognized, by asking the following questions.
- Is it a First ?
- Is it Bold ?
- Is it Obvious ?
- Is it Simple ?
- Will it upset the Apple Cart ?
A good idea has publicity value. And nothing has more publicity value than an idea that is shocking. Advertising agencies have learned that shocking ads make good publicity. And good publicity makes a successful ad agency.
The Other-Person Horse : 5 to1
The key to success is always somebody else. Even when you ride an idea or a product to the top, you are counting on others to recognize the value of the idea or the product. You don’t make a sale. Somebody else has to buy. What’s true in selling products is also true in selling yourself. First somebody else has to recognize your good qualities and then “buy” you by giving you a job or a promotion.
In the course of a typical career, this selling and buying process takes place many times. Furthermore, the timing can be brutal. There is an easier way. One of the best horses to ride is the Other-Person Horse. You sell yourself once and the job is done. The person who is most suited to be the Other Person is your Boss. By impressing not only your immediate boss but the boss two to three rungs above you, will make your task of getting to the top that much easier.
The Partner Horse : 4 to 1
The Partner Horse, of course, is a variation of the Other-Person Horse. The difference is that partners are combinations of equals. Equality has a number of advantages. True partners trust each other. They can be objective with each other. Usually you are not a good judge of your own ideas. You need someone you can trust to evaluate your ideas, perhaps to suggest changes and modifications. And vice-versa.
Partners can be a powerful combination in almost any business or professional situation. Two people can usually do better than either one would alone. There’s a long history of entrepreneurial partnerships in the business world. Jobs and Wozniak of Apple. Allen and Gates of Microsoft. But perhaps the most successful of all partnerships was the one that was started in 1938 by Bill Hewlett and David Packard in a garage in a rooming house.
The Spouse Horse : 3 to 1
Marriage used to be for two reasons : love and/or children. But times are changing. New divorce laws have redefined marriage as an “economic partnership.” In the living room as well as in the courtroom, marriage has been an economic partnership for many years. Most women, like most men, are nowadays employed. With both spouses working or looking for work, it’s a tragic waste to ignore what you can do for your spouse, or vice versa. There are signs that riding the Spouse Horse is becoming more and more popular. What about love ? Who’s to say why people marry the people they do. If you marry for money instead of love, at least you suffer in comfort.
For whatever reason you find yourself married, make the most of it. It’s crime not to. No one is likely to be more helpful in your career than your spouse. No one has more motivation to help you. No one is available 24 hours a day than a spouse. Every one of us needs someone else to give us a boost up the ladder. It is ironic that many people would rather ask a stranger for help than their own spouse. An “economic partnership” implies cooperation, not competition.
A horse in the barn is worth two in the bush.
The Family Horse : 2 to 1
You can’t divorce a son or a daughter, or a parent for that matter. That fact alone gives this horse an advantage over the Spouse Horse. The Family Horse is responsible for the many corporate dynasties you find in the world today. 175 of the Fortune 500 largest industrial companies are family controlled, according to Family Business magazine. That’s 35%. The magazine defines family control as 25% ownership with at least two members involved in running the company. That leaves out some big companies with large family ownership positions.
The Family Horse ought to be your first choice. Before you look for another horse to ride, look at your birth certificate. If you find a name like Kennedy, Ford, Trump, Tata, Birla, or Ambani, look no further. These are powerful family dynasties. Maybe your family belongs on this list. If so, accept your good fortune. Don’t fight it.
A horse in the house is worth two in the fields.
It should be remembered that it is not necessary to stick to one particular horse. During the course of your career, you can and should change horses, as and when required.This Horse Sense concept totally explodes the line of thinking that success depends on the efforts put in by a person. Success is given to you, and does not come from within.
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