Are you a Basketball or Football Company?

“Would you make your best players better or make your worst players less worse in your football team?” asked noted author Malcolm Gladwell to his audience.?

Well. It is not a puzzle so I will come straight to the answer: You make your worse players less worse, or better. Why? Because football is an inclusive game controlled almost equally by all the players. In an intriguing game – Tottenham made 48 passes amongst themselves before scoring a goal. Imagine a player missing a crucial pass, and the flow is interrupted.?

Next question: What would you do in basketball? Work on your best players or worst players??

Answer: Work on your best players. Why? So, basketball is largely controlled by the 3 best players in the team. It doesn’t much matter what others contribute. I am not an NBA fan but that’s what the fact states. So, if you have 3 great players in your basketball team, it doesn’t matter what a tall hunk is doing at the back.?

The questions compel us to ask: Are we a basketball or a football company? That’s for you to decide and answer.?

The Psycho-logical Alchemy of Irrationality?

Reading Rory Sutherland’s latest Alchemy is a test in itself. It is an opinion-destructor and a mind-bender. For all we have been taught to think logically and rationally, it delves into the cosmos of irrational thinking. Yes, you heard it right! And the man has written a book to explain why irrational thinking is important.?

He cites the example of Red Bull which did a test run before it was even launched. It was unanimously termed ‘pathetic’ in taste. Today, Red Bull is a USD 6 Billion behemoth that has a cult following of a Greek God. Imagine McDonald’s pitching to an investor saying it would only have a limited menu of a few hamburgers that would be churned out at the fastest rate! Or Airbnb where residents would host strangers (and vice versa with people staying in strangers’ houses) and make money.?

He urges to ask basic questions like Why do people brush their teeth? Or Why do people not like to stand in metros when the seat is not available. Apparently, the obvious isn’t so obvious. We have just been conditioned to believe in the obvious. If we scratch beneath the surface, we might find answers that tell other than the popular truth.?

Give this book a try, especially fellow marketeers, because Sutherland also happens to be Vice-Chairman of Ogilvy UK.