An old fish swims by two young fish

There are these two young fish swimming along, and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says, “Morning, boys. How’s the water?” The two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes, “What the hell is water?” (David Foster Wallace 2005)

I negotiated and facilitated commercial transactions for 25 years. That’s 50,000 hours, 40,000 more than Malcolm Gladwell said I needed to be awesome. Based on that alone, it really must have been a treat to work with me. You’re welcome! Over the years, the teams I worked with moved the equivalent weight of six Boeing 747’s full of industrial equipment from my company(s) to other companies. OK, I don’t know if it was really six 747s? ?It probably wasn’t, there were a lot of returns. ?In any event it was a worthwhile experience.

Over the last couple of months I’ve vacillated between thinking should I just “be retired?” Then I look at my IRA and say, “crap, go back to work.” For the moment, both notions feel unsatisfactory. In the meantime, while I wrestle with that, I’ll brew a lukewarm cup of tap water and summer lawn trimmings and pen various musings and observations, attempting to connect random philosophical ideas with the practice, art and detritus of B2B Sales and Marketing. ?

Are sales and marketing activities an art or science, a combination or something else? As it relates to repeatability of sales outcomes, if you overlay an environment of rigorous sales process and effective leadership, does it materially change the natural tendency of people to move from order to disorder? How best can commercial organizations justify their existence, relative to the overhead they exact from an organization? How soon will machine sentience reorganize the employment landscape? Maybe, sooner than we all think. The idea of this project is to eat into the middle of these type of problems from different directions to think about the possibilities

Scientists can look to physical properties, math, and the scientific method for procedural guidance on how to build or create a thing. Lawyers look to statute and precedent to make an argument and draw conclusions that can be affirmed by the courts. Where does the sales and marketing professional go for grounding? There are no examinations, licensing nor regulatory bodies with powers to admit and discipline members and as a result there is no codified universal code of ethics.

Philosophical ideas may seem like ivory tower abstractions from the affairs of our day-to-day existence. But, I submit, they’re simply collections of ideas and thought that have helped ancient folks as well as modern-day people move through the world. They raise questions of obligation, of morality, of ethics, of fidelity, they wonder about what “is” versus what “ought” to be. These ideas can prove helpful to the craft of sales and marketing. This I believe.

With that, let’s dig in to our first idea. The principle that "entities should not be multiplied beyond necessity," commonly known as Occam’s Razor

As a disclaimer, I pinch definitions from Wikipedia. Not an intellectually rigorous resource, I know, but it’s an accessible source and more importantly it reduces the time it takes to do this. ?

Occam’s Razor is attributed to William of Ockham a 14th century English Franciscan friar and theologian, as well as an influential medieval philosopher. Here’s the 2 Ideas. ?One interpretation is that if there are several equally feasible solutions to a problem, the least complex solution would be the one to pick. (This notion is the ancestor of K.I.S.S.). Another interpretation of the RAZOR, and the more interesting one to me, speaks to the mindset of not exerting a plurality of effort over a necessity of effort.?In other words, the RAZOR in this instance scrapes away all the inefficiencies and distractions in our day and requires us to exert only the specific effort required to get done what is necessary. ???

If you search “Occam’s razor and Steve Jobs” you’ll find entries that speak to the razor as applied to Steve Jobs' minimalism aesthetic.?I found plenty of content that overlays Occam to UX design principles.?The point here is that use of this Idea seems to be planted within the zeitgeist of the business world.?

Let’s try a thought experiment by applying the RAZORs exacting parsimony to a salespersons’ efforts.

1.??????A sales manager knows how many hours each of her team works. But no one else does, not even her manager.

2.??????The sales team members singular goal is hitting their number

3.?????There are 3 team members. ?The combined team makes the managers’ number

The final numbers for the year were as follows.

1.??????Salesperson #1 averaged 50 hrs. of work per week and finished at 102%

2.??????Salesperson #2 averaged 31 hrs. of work per week and finished at 114%

3.??????Salesperson #3 averaged 67 hrs. of work per week and finished at 84%

Salesperson #2 has his annual review with the sales manager. The sales manager asks salesperson #2 how he might have driven the sales number higher using the extra time he had each week.?The salesperson takes a beat and then responds by saying “I had a good year and did what was necessary with the effort required.” ?The manager then goes on to ask him if he could help his other colleagues with the extra time he has? Salesperson #2 looks puzzled and then responds “No, I wish I could, but there is nothing I can do beyond what’s necessary.” ??

Has #2 met the goal communicated to him at the beginning of the year – “hit your number” Has #2 in fact, done what is necessary?

Question: As stated above, the manager hits her number and no one other than her knows the hours each salesperson worked. Is there something for her to consider about #2’s effort??