The Doomsayers Among Us
Over the years, I’ve heard people in business utter plenty of inane things (often from corporate offices) and comments on competitors that go beyond the catty to outright slander. I’ve also experienced those who speak for a half-hour and offer absolutely nothing of value (usually from corporate types wandering in the real world for a change).
The danger comes when the faces and phrases change, but the concepts remain consistent. Hundreds of people with nothing in common – save that they’ve come within my earshot – make statements that, with a few words rearranged, say the same things.
When it happens, I wince and wonder how I’ve heard something yet again. And, how it happens to be just as wrong now as it was some two decades ago.
Maybe it’s time for me to sit down and write that book: Stupid Business #%!& That’s Not Worth Repeating. However, business themes don’t seem to be among the best-sellers today – The New Normal or Bankruptcy for Free can’t be shoehorned into the title – so I’ll offer the short course instead.
The phrases (with appropriate you-fill-it blanks) that give me the desire to run someone’s head through the nearest wall:
“ ____________ will disappear if we ignore it.” This is a bit of a stretch, since business people generally don’t say this word-for-word because, of course, they’re trying to make something go away by not talking about it. It’s the thought that comes out very clear, however, and it’s still very, very wrong.
The cliché offers the small child playing with matches and hiding the burning items in the closet, but it’s an apt allegory. Whether it’s with a production problem or a competing product, pretending that something doesn’t exist usually leads to situations where you’re rapidly losing control.
While the stone trade offers several of these conundrums, the perennial shining example involves man-made surfaces. It started with quartz (or engineered stone, depending on your preference) and continues with newer materials using recycled matter, such as cementious slabs. At times, the avoidance takes on an almost sect-like shunning and severe upbraiding of any association (including the acceptance of magazine advertising) with the stuff.
The problem is that the avoidance of something overlooks a couple of key points. For one thing, the stone trade doesn’t control the product mix in the kitchen/bath and commercial markets; customers know all about their alternatives, along with the properties and potential problems with stone.