Two shoe salesmen were sent to Africa to see if there was a market for their product. The first salesman reported back, “This is a terrible business opportunity, no-one wears shoes.” The second salesman reported back, “This is a fantastic business opportunity, no-one wears shoes!”
So a couple of short questions for you..
Which salesman saw the best opportunity?
Which salesman was wiser?
Many would call the first salesman a pessimist and the second an optimist. True, can’t argue with that, but did the optimistic or pessimistic one see the best opportunity?
Personally, I think neither saw the best opportunity. The judgement of both salesmen were clouded by egocentric quick-profit centered thinking. Neither sought out to find what they could learn from the shoeless Africans. They knew the answer to the question and the answer was shoes. One realized that it would be fruitless to educate the Africans on the benefits of footwear, while the other thought he could and make a nice profit at it.
Neither imagined they could learn anything from the Africans about footwear. For example, how could we minimize our need for shoes? Is there a product that might work better than traditional footwear? Is there something the Africans need other than shoes? Is the Africans’ lack of the need for footwear worth additional research and development?
Well no mention of any such research happening in this story, though the 'optimist' stayed in Africa believing in a profitable opportunity selling shoes, while the ‘pessimist’ left seeking other (perhaps easier and less risky) opportunities.
I found the following link, which gives an insight on how well the ‘optimist’ and ‘pessimist’ succeeded. The conclusion may surprise you:
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