Which way is right and which is the wrong one in asking people what they want? This is a questions which if deeply thought about may drive one to a big dilemma. Most of people believe that there exists a conventional parameter through which every activity should be compared. However, this may not be the absolute truth. What people perceive and accept to be the right things may be otherwise if several cases are considered. Chapter five of the reading dwells much on how to determine whether something is right or wrong especially where people are the one trusted with this conclusion. It examines the means through which we can conclude what the people want not necessarily by requesting for their personal comments about the case in question but rather by observing their behavior and deriving the implied opinion. Several ways through which one can tell what people want other than asking them are discussed in this chapter. One of these examples is giving a second look to the first impression.
The chapter commences with a case study of a musician by the name of Kenna who was brought up in Virginia Beach by his parents who were immigrants from Ethiopia. Innocent Kenna could not comprehend why his uncle had to take him along to disco and dancing until when he was given a thrilling U2’s tape whose music inspired him in such a way that he decided to pursue it (Malcolm 50). The fact that Kenna did not have the traits of a rock star did not deter him from working towards realizing his dream in music. If people were to give their opinion on him being a rock star, Kenna would be phased out simply because he did not have the staginess and swagger of a star. May be the people opinion could have been confirmed by the start up music he did. People could not categorize his music to any existing categories although it was an overstatement to say they were weird. In fact a good number of people were moved by his music. In several of his performances people appreciated him with applause.
The way Kenna appeared is absolutely the source of the problems he experienced in developing his career in music. Although Kenna managed to compose and record good music which was even played by MTV, a top channel for music lovers, for more than 475 times in a period of more than two months (Malcolm 51). This shows that indeed Kenna music gradually rose to that higher class. But when the opinion is collected from the people some of Kenna’s records scores less than average and others average but never reached that score the experience on the ground could have given.
The opinion of the people may have been biased since Kenna was a black or did not have the appearance of a rock star.
In avoiding coming up with a wrong conclusion about what people want, it is advisable to give a second look, or rather a thought to the first impression. For instance in the Kenna’s case the assessors ought to have considered other factors like the impression from his audience during his life performances. Another case in support to this is about Morris who introduces a new political technique to Clinton of going beyond how the crowed appears and asking them about their feeling a about his political ideas (Malcolm 52). Likewise, in business, the marketers consider the consumers behavior in addition to their opinion in regard to certain product before reaching a conclusion.
References
Malcolm Gladwell, Blink: The power of thinking without thinking. New York: Little, Brown and Co., 2007.
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