We all get tied into the the things that we "know" are right. Those are the safe options. (Back in the day, these were the things like "no one ever got fired for buying IBM.") We may tweak things a little bit, here or there, but we never venture far afield from our comfort zone.
Had a great exchange with Nicole Lazzaro, a couple of weeks back, that really brought out the fallacy of that logic. Our exchange:
nicolelazarro: Sounds like this conversation is a step backwards from efficient vending machine purchase to a shared cup of tea before buying a rug in the bazaar.
ccarfi: is that really a step "backward?" it’s transaction v. relationship. Relationship is more valuable.
nicolelazzaro: Exactly. A step forward is actually back to our roots. Fond memories of Istanbul, where merchants and customers have not yet forgotten the art of conversation.
The key here is that things that look like a "step backward" may be exactly the things you need to do in order to get out of a rut. You may be near the top of the hill, but the next feature over might be a much higher mountain. You need to go down the hill in the short term (away from what locally looks like the "best" answer), in order to get to the real best answer.
Related: Tabu Search
I agree completely and love the tea versus rug metaphor.
The late, great Michael Dertouzas of the MIT Media Lab wrote in The Unfinished Revolution that the Internet was no more complicated than a Greek marketplace. Basically, if your idea works there, it’ll work on the Internets.
Ever been to a Greek marketplace? I have. Shopping is a byproduct of the day’s social event. I see that happening time after time with many women online. We want a conversation before we “buy,” whatever that “transaction” is. Particularly in these times, we’re not going to part with any kind of currency until we know what we’re getting, which means we want to talk a little first.
My two lira. Erm, Euros.