Microwave Pizza or Reap the Whirlwind
You see this cold slice of pizza here? It’s your idea. You’ve had it for a while, but it sets there, waiting for you to eat it, but like it or not, it’s not as popular as hot pizza. You might like it better, and you’ll find a select subsection of folks who like cold pizza no doubt, and others who will eat it out of convenience, but unless you adjust it to the proper temperature, the broadest spectrum of people will not want to shove it in their mouths.
I’ve talked about ideas from all kind of different angles, but today I’m going to talk about something I feel strongly about, and that is folks giving careful consideration to what they put on the plates. Let’s say, I’ve got a little pizza shop–that’s cool, but I decide to open a franchise which is essentially what getting a license is, and with the license there is certain expected standard from the people who come in to eat my pizza. There are a few other Brand X pizza joints around town, and that’s cool, because we’ve had Joe Pizza, Owner of Brand X come around and give us good advice, has us prove we can make pizzas up to his standard, and we’re off and running. People enjoy Brand X pizza and visit our different shops depending upon what part of town they’re in (and by town, I mean genre, savvy?). Well, after awhile you get a lot of pizza joints opening up, and that can be good up to a point, but what that point is happens to be a blurry line. More Brand X means more name recognition and more people are likely to stop into your shop for a slice of your offering. That is, if everyone’s making good pizza. If one person starts under cooking his pizza, doesn’t allow the dough to properly rise, and shoves them into hungry mouths, they aren’t going to be happy for long. If it’s a cheaper pizza, they may eat it while it’s hot, but they may not make Brand X their pizza of choice, especially when Brand Y has stricter quality controls. The other end of the spectrum is when people don’t check out their recipes, don’t check out how Brand X does things, and throws on a bunch of toppings, crosses their fingers, and hopes for the best. This doesn’t make me, a Brand X pizza guy, particularly happy. Luckily, I was one of the first folks to open the pizza joint, but it still makes it tough to sell a slice. What’s a pizza man to do, right? Just keep on with the mantra “quality will out”.
At the end of the day, that’s what I’ve gotta think. There is nothing ominous meant here. I had these thoughts earlier this morning, and you’ve all seen similar threads about various and sundry topics addressing this at length. What prompted me to talk about it today was a slice of leftover pizza which I popped in the microwave for brunch. I heated it for 11 seconds, and it could’ve gone 12 and it would’ve turned out just right. Some folks don’t want to wait the extra second, whether they write, workout, or send an email. A moment of reflection can mean a lot, and a lot of folks don’t have any sense of self-restraint. They feel if they have an idea, it must go out into the wild, even if it is in a semi-embryonic state and can’t stand on its own half-formed legs, let alone suck in enough oxygen to sustain itself. If you’re reading this, you may have been guilty of it at some point or another. Even on something as simple as “let’s play this new game, I haven’t really done more than skim the rules, but…”
Think of the One Second Rule. Think of the Pizza. Do not do this bad thing or else you may well reap the whirlwind. The whirlwind which is harsh criticisms from the outside world or even from your inner voice asking you “why couldn’t you wait a moment longer?” To spell this out more explicitly and drive the point home, if you have an idea, give yourself a second to think about it, if it’s good, it could be better, if it’s better, it could be great. You have to not rush things. First doesn’t always mean best. If your idea is coming from your heart and your passion and you have the talent and skill set to execute it properly, it will still have as much value in a year, as you may in your rush lust, thinks it has (but it doesn’t) right now.
We beat on ideas around here until they are black and blue, and then kick ’em while they’re down. If they have the brass to get back up and show us what they’re made of, maybe, just maybe, we’ll let them make it into one of future projects, and maybe, just maybe, when the time is right, we’ll unleash them on you. Remember, you’ve been warned.
With these harsh, reassuring words of warning, I cryptically bid you adieu!
