The Shoes

Many years ago, two salespeople were sent by a British shoe manufacturer to Africa to investigate and report back on market potential.

The first salesperson reported back, "There is no potential here - nobody wears shoes."

The second salesperson reported back, "There is massive potential here - nobody wears shoes."

"Nobody wears shoes." Both salespeople had the same comment. I began wondering. Why is that? Is it too hot? Maybe they don't have the facilities or resources to make shoes? Were they just hiding them from the salespeople because they didn’t want their shoes to be stolen? Maybe they only wear shoes on special occasions?

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that this story is also about how a single situation can be viewed in at least two quite different ways – negatively or positively.

But what if we did this more often, skipped over the negative and positive bit (we know this already), and went straight to wondering? Being inquisitive? How would that change things?

Something to think about...

"Do what is right for you. No one else is walking in your shoes."

- Unknown