A Monday Morning Memo from The Wizard of Ads
How Are You Connecting the Dots?
A Monday Morning Memo for the Clients and Friends of Williams Marketing
“Don’t refuse to go on an occasional wild goose chase. That’s what wild geese are for.” Anonymous
“In order for you to profit from your mistakes, you have to get out and make some.” Anonymous
“You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.” Plato
“It’s never too late to have a happy childhood.” Tom Robbins, from Still Life with Woodpecker
You look down at the sheet of paper lying on your desk and notice what appears to be the dotted outline of a sailboat. Instinctively, you connect the dots. Congratulations, you’re the four thousand, seven hundred and seventeenth consecutive person to connect the dots in such a way as to create that same tedious, predictable and boring little picture of a sailboat.
If you had paused to ponder the dots just a little longer, you might have seen how you might connect them to reveal two swordsmen fighting on a mountainside, or the skyline of New York City, or a little boy swinging a baseball bat at home plate.
It’s strange, but some people actually argue about what the picture is “supposed” to be. It isn’t supposed to be anything! It’s just a bunch of dots. You can make of them whatever you want.
Or are you just drawing the sailboat?
Roy H. Williams
