Law # 11 – The Law of Perspective

“Marketing effects take place over an extended period of time.”

From The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing1– Ries & Trout – page 50

While you think about that concept (and dredge up some of our previous discussions on the subject of what matters, when it matters, and what time has to do with it), let’s jump over to a somewhat related topic: yes versus no. The true warrior knows that, if the answer to a question is anything but an unqualified “yes” … then the answer is “no”.

Let’s consider this example: “Are you ready?”

If you said (or even thought) anything but an unequivocal “yes” … your truthful answer is “No, I am not ready!” You might splutter and object, telling me that you could be ready, that you could say “yes” … if you knew what it was that you were supposed to be ready for. You might tell me that, in fact, I have treated you unfairly and failed to provide the proper context for the question. The true warrior knows that this is still a “no” … as is anything other than an unqualified “yes”. Why is this such an important distinction? The true warrior does not prevaricate. He or she must be in a position to act at all times, for such is the nature of the true warrior. Answers to his or her questions cannot be ambiguous.

Let’s get back to marketing, the “Law of Perspective”, and the fact that marketing is a time-based activity that requires a long view. Having a sale is not marketing, and is often a negative activity when evaluated in the proper context (i.e. the passage of a reasonable amount of time). This ties back to the overarching principle that what you do today does matter. Even though the end result is often impossible to measure in the short term, in the long term it matters immensely. What you see today is all noise in the context of today. There is not much in the way of visible signals. Those come later.

For example: the current level of the Dow Jones Industrial Average is just noise. But your investment account statement, showing the performance of that account over the past five years, is a clear signal about the performance of that account when looked at today.

The true warrior only pays attention to clear signals. “Yes” is a clear signal. Anything else is just noise. You are warriors and if you insist on speaking clearly and paying attention only to the signals that are all around you, you will make effective plans and decisions that will result in great success in many areas of your life. So it is written.