Peering up at the title, you might be expecting this post to be funny. It probably won't work out that way...
I read Matt Ruby's Sandpaper Suit comedy blog regularly, and yesterday's entry was really terrific. He discussed Conan O'Brien's first show as host of "The Tonight Show" and pointed out some really important characteristics of good comedy:
[O'Brien spoke in an interview about the challenges in hosting a nightly TV show:] "...There are 35 variables every night - what comedy do we have? What's the audience like? Who are the guests? What time of year is it? What's my mood? You need 15 cherries to line up to pay out the jackpot. And, every now and then, the stars align. And you keep chasing after that feeling."
[Ruby writes:] All those variables are what make standup [comedy] so fascinating. So many things play a role: the room, the PA, the crowd, the host, your confidence, the placement of each word, little variations in timing, etc. It feels almost impossible to come up with a fixed formula because there are so many moving parts. But yeah, when you hit it and really lock in, there's nothing quite like it.
This is a good a description of complexity in business as I've read anywhere. Just like in comedy, when you release a new product, or enter a new market, there are 35 variables, none of which you can control. Ruby's comment is worth repeating: "It feels almost impossible to come up with a fixed formula because there are so many moving parts."
So, like the comedian, the salesperson or the product manager or the channel manager has to deal with those 35 variables, work within them, try stuff out, sense what's working and continue that, abandon quickly what's not working, and try to get the stars to align. Failure is not only an option, it's possible and even likely in some circumstances. Business these days is not easy, but when it comes together, it's beautiful, not least because it's so difficult to do well, like a comedy act or "The Tonight Show."
Now, did you ever hear the one about the traveling salesman...?
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