Arnold had created a masterpiece. It was a remarkable piece of engineering, with its white plastic body taking on an interesting configuration. It was this configuration which made it different from all the rest. Arnold held his creation up to the light. It had taken months of measuring and tweaking to get it just right. Now he would only need to find a manufacturer and he would be successful… yes successful beyond his wildest dreams.
Just then he felt a twinge in his right shoulder. He glanced over at it but it appeared to be nothing. Again a twinge of pain only this time much stronger. He still didn’t see anything but it seemed now like a voice was talking in his ear. The voice seemed to be talking about the piece of plastic in his hand. “You’ll never get anyone to make it to your standards,” whispered the voice. A few seconds passed and another quiet outburst, “It could crack and hurt someone”. The voice was relentless. It seemed to get more fearful every moment.
Arnold brushed his shoulder and the pain and the voice seemed to go away. Suddenly he noticed a heaviness on his left shoulder. Again he looked but could see nothing. It was if a little fat animal was sitting on his shoulder. This time a faint intonation came to his left ear. “You don’t want to worry about this plastic part today… after all the game is coming on in a few minutes”. Arnold thought to himself, “I do want to worry about it today. If I don’t get it to market someone else will.” He brushed his left shoulder and he could swear he heard a thunk on the ground.
Arnold didn’t realize it but he was being attacked by the Nabobs of Negativity, those invisible little men that sit on your shoulder and talk into your ear. He had just experienced the Nabob of Fear and the overweight Nabob of Procrastination. Luckily he had brushed them off and he would experience temporary relief.
Facing an onslaught of negativity, Arnold found himself in a quandary. Would he go ahead with his manufacturing plans? Or would he be defeated by the ever so soft negative voices? Would he have enough faith in himself and his plans to go through with the process? Luckily for us, Arnold brushed the Nabobs off and succeeded in getting his Ipod holder for cars to the market. Now thousands of Ipod owners will have a place to put their players when driving and Arnold will be counting his royalty checks.
This is the story of a Purple Cow and Faith.
Arnold knew he had something remarkable, but like so many of us, had doubts and second thoughts about the process.
In his book, “Becoming a Person of Influence,” John Maxwell states that most people have trouble believing in themselves. They see a difficulty in every possibility. John goes on to surmise… “For most people, it’s not what they are that holds them back, it’s what they think they’re not.”
In Seth Godin’s book “PurpleCow, Transform your Business by being Remarkable”, Seth gives us a definition of this purple beast. “Cows, after you’ve seen one, or two, or ten, are boring. A Purple Cow, though…now that would be something. Purple Cow describes something phenomenal, something counterintuitive and exciting and flat out unbelievable.”
Do you have a purple cow idea, product or service? Do you have enough faith to take it to market?
In our next installment we’ll address the next obstacle… Convincing other people to have faith in you. Selling your idea to your spouse, loved ones, business partners and the world.
