Does our perspective dictate our opportunities?

The story of the African Bata shoe salesman

At the end of the 1800s, Europe was bringing Africa under European colonial rule. International trade between Africa and Europe was then opening up.

Victorian England sent two representatives, from shoe companies, to assess the opportunities.

Salesman one reported back “No one wears shoes. There is no opportunity.”

Salesman two reported back “No one wears shoes. There is an unlimited opportunity. Send inventory fast.”

Perspective

On the face of it, it is all about perspective. Two people viewing the same picture, but seeing very different things.

Two salesmen viewing the same market and seeing very different opportunities.

It’s like one of those pictures where some people see an old lady and some people see a young lady. There is no right or wrong answer. Just perspective.

You can argue any point of view if you can persuade people to see your perspective.

Salesman one assumes no one wears shoes because they choose to not wear shoes. They choose to go barefoot. That everyone has already seen the options and already chosen no shoes. They have already made their decision. There is no persuading them. There is no opportunity.

Salesman two assumes the people have not yet chosen. That people have yet to see all the options. To see what’s available. And when they see that shoes are an option, plenty will want to buy some shoes. There is an unlimited opportunity.

Maybe our perspectives are dictated by our assumptions. Do we assume the people have already chosen? Or, that they are yet to choose?

Perhaps the truth is somewhere in the middle.

If we can look at the same thing but with a different perspective, then perhaps we will see more opportunities. The more opportunities we can see, the greater our chances are of achieving what we set out to do. We will have a greater number paths to success to choose from.

The untold part of salesman one

This story started out as a myth. But then documentation was found to support that this story may have some truth. Someone at the British museum came across a manuscript. It was written by the daughter of one of the salesmen. She recounted some of the story and what happened next. 

Salesman one returned to London. He was rewarded for mitigating a potential disaster. He was given the newly-formed sales territory in France to oversee. This was a large territory and included Paris. He went on to build a successful business in ladies dress shoes. He became a leader and mentor to many young executives. He met and married a French heiress. He no longer needed to work for money. He continued to work for his love of shoes. He retired in his 70s after the start of World War II.

In the first half, we probably believed that Salesman one was short-sighted. That he wasn’t able to see the opportunity that salesman two could see. Most people would have wanted to be salesman two. They would have wanted to see the opportunity. 

What if salesman one couldn’t see the opportunity, but maybe it wasn’t his opportunity to see?

Maybe we are not meant to see all the available opportunities. Maybe we are only meant to see the opportunities that are meant for us.

You would agree that Salesman one seemed to do alright. He experienced success. He married a loving wife. He found work he was passionate about. Maybe in life’s great plan, he wasn’t meant to see the opportunity in Africa. But maybe he was meant to see the opportunity in France.

Maybe we aren’t meant to see all opportunities. We shouldn’t beat ourselves up for not seeing the opportunities others see. We should just focus on the ones we can see. Focus on the ones that were meant for us. 

The untold part of salesman two 

Salesman two built an office and a warehouse. He ordered a lot of shoes. He recruited locals to work for him and help sell the shoes. He estimated sales of 2,000 pairs of shoes in the first year.

At the end of the first year, salesman two sold less than 100 pairs of shoes. The shoe company was not impressed and was threatening to pull out of the market. Salesman two had to reduce his budget and let go off staff. Salesman two concluded he had made a mistake. This was the worst market for selling shoes.

In the first half of the story, we would have said that we preferred salesman two’s perspective. To be able to see the opportunity. But after reading the untold part, we might change our mind.

Salesman one couldn’t see the first opportunity. But took a different opportunity much later and went on to be successful. Salesman two took his first opportunity and failed. Or did he?

Did salesman two fail or did salesman two have a lesson to learn?

Perhaps salesman two needed to learn that there wasn’t an unlimited opportunity. There was an opportunity, but it wasn’t unlimited. In terms of shoe sales anyway. There seems to be no mention of testing the market. He could have taken 10 pairs of shoes with him and tried to sell them. That may have indicated how much interest there was. He could have spoken to people, done surveys, he could have even given away some shoes as loss leaders. To try and understand people’s opinions on the matter. To understand what interest there was.

Seeing unlimited possibility for sales and having unlimited amounts of optimism are positive qualities. But some element of pessimism, of caution, some prudence is needed.

He didn’t take the time to know and understand his market. He didn’t get to know the people. What they wanted. What their mindset was.

When successful entrepreneurs tell you how they started, there are stories of failure. There is normally a string of failed enterprises before they hit the successful one. Each failure provides an opportunity to learn. A lesson they can take with them into their next venture.

Maybe salesman two’s opportunity was a lesson not an opportunity of success. He needed to learn to test his market. To test his product in that market. To test his product in that market for a long enough period. Before jumping in both feet.

Takeaways

If you can change your perspective, you may just change the opportunities you can see. Opportunities can open up to you that weren’t there before. The more opportunities you have open to you, the more choice you have to do something different. To do something greater. To achieve want you want to achieve. 

If you can’t see an opportunity that someone else can see, don’t worry. Don’t beat yourself up about it.  That opportunity wasn’t meant for you. It was meant for someone else. The problem you have, is out of the opportunities you can see, which one do you choose?

You have changed your perspective and you can see more opportunities. Out of all the opportunities, you think you have chosen which one to follow. Before you jump in, test the water. We all need hope and optimism in the world. But don’t be anybody’s fool.  Be smart about it. Check things out. Trial the idea first. 

So, does our perspective dictate our opportunities? 

Footnotes

‘The Occasional CEO’ provided the article with the untold parts of the story:

http://theoccasionalceo.blogspot.com/2010/04/two-shoe-salesmen-rest-of-story.html?m=1