Appearance is reality
Recently, I am watching Designated Survivor TV series on Netflix. To give a backdrop it's a political thriller based out of Washington DC, USA, where the entire government is assassinated save two-three people. From these remaining, one gets to become the President of the United States (POTUS). The drama then begins chasing culprit, closing in on leads, betrayals within the government so and so forth. The series also spans on political challenges one administrator faces such as tabling of a bill, domestic issues of violence (gun), etcetera. Amidst all scandals, politicking, bills the ruling office hires someone who can direct and improve overall public image of ruling party. The hired professional says appearance is reality. He goes to back and forth with his prolix language to have POTUS agree to his. After watching episode and in last few weeks having digressive discussion over this I have starting to believe this more and more.
It's all about packaging. There are certain things that can be taken at face value but the determinant is mostly how one presents it. Let's begin with one of the best sellers in Technology world, Steve Jobs. He didn't have a degree, he didn't write a single line of code for Apple. There's a loads of stuff that can be found about his presentation skills, his personality, his persona in meetings. In the initial release of iPhone there were multiple iPhones present at his desk to showcase different feature because iPhone's development hadn't reached a stable point. Of course people didn't know it. He had everyone's focus on features and a thing that revolutionized telecom, internet industry. When he released Apple MacBook air he brought it in an envelope to explicitly display thinness of the object within. Apple like any other phone does mundane things such as calling, sharing, cloud, photos, yet everyone wants it. For few it's a status symbol, few think Apple is the best without using any other phone. Steve Jobs compelled everyone to buy it, he made sure that it's affordable and it's a must have. That image to be imprinted in the minds of hundred thousands of people is inconceivable and says how persuasive his skills were. If one touches an iPhone the suaveness it's is majestic. The look and feel part is a determining factor that pulls and pulled massive number of people to Apple store, stand in lines when iPhones were launched.
I'll try to put this from a different instance. The college/University I studied had close to thousand individuals. MIT, Harvard, Stanford have over ten thousand students. From these individuals not many are at the best position the Universities brag about. Hardly a tenth, if everything goes without any bump. The ones at the top they do the same thing what others have done of writing exam, preparing for interviews, appearing for entrance tests, clearing them. They might get lucky, or they might be smart by few points in these stages but they have an X factor which propel them forward. They know how to spin story, they can make anyone riveted to any presentation they are showing, tone, body language, same results, same question they make everything absorbing. They would be having grammatical errors, they might only have 90% of work complete, but the gloss and finish on accomplished one grabs everyone's attention.
I'll take an example from my settings. When someone writes a research grant science plays a key role. The problem at hand and approach used on how to cut problem, to gain insight does make driving force, along with name, past research papers, academia politics, name of his/her immediate boss so and so, but along with these usual strings how the idea is pitched is far more important. The captivating way which keeps any reviewer on toes to read it in single seating is necessary. The grants comprise scientific question, clinical assessment, costs of personnel hired, cost of IT infrastructure for future analyses and other things that are to be concisely put in say six pages. They story needs to be tailored that isn't abrupt like my posts, aren't like shooting in dark, or neither absurd goals presented that none wants to fund for.
I think I've started to understand, believe and accept that the absoluteness doesn't assist after a certain degree; even wherever it's helped things could have floated in grey scenario too, so why push oneself (of course, myself) so hard? Things always flow when in grey, rather seamlessly. Once you wrap things none knows if the packaged thing is grey, black or white, most don't want to know. It's how the item is packed with appealing appearance.
It's all about packaging. There are certain things that can be taken at face value but the determinant is mostly how one presents it. Let's begin with one of the best sellers in Technology world, Steve Jobs. He didn't have a degree, he didn't write a single line of code for Apple. There's a loads of stuff that can be found about his presentation skills, his personality, his persona in meetings. In the initial release of iPhone there were multiple iPhones present at his desk to showcase different feature because iPhone's development hadn't reached a stable point. Of course people didn't know it. He had everyone's focus on features and a thing that revolutionized telecom, internet industry. When he released Apple MacBook air he brought it in an envelope to explicitly display thinness of the object within. Apple like any other phone does mundane things such as calling, sharing, cloud, photos, yet everyone wants it. For few it's a status symbol, few think Apple is the best without using any other phone. Steve Jobs compelled everyone to buy it, he made sure that it's affordable and it's a must have. That image to be imprinted in the minds of hundred thousands of people is inconceivable and says how persuasive his skills were. If one touches an iPhone the suaveness it's is majestic. The look and feel part is a determining factor that pulls and pulled massive number of people to Apple store, stand in lines when iPhones were launched.
I'll try to put this from a different instance. The college/University I studied had close to thousand individuals. MIT, Harvard, Stanford have over ten thousand students. From these individuals not many are at the best position the Universities brag about. Hardly a tenth, if everything goes without any bump. The ones at the top they do the same thing what others have done of writing exam, preparing for interviews, appearing for entrance tests, clearing them. They might get lucky, or they might be smart by few points in these stages but they have an X factor which propel them forward. They know how to spin story, they can make anyone riveted to any presentation they are showing, tone, body language, same results, same question they make everything absorbing. They would be having grammatical errors, they might only have 90% of work complete, but the gloss and finish on accomplished one grabs everyone's attention.
I'll take an example from my settings. When someone writes a research grant science plays a key role. The problem at hand and approach used on how to cut problem, to gain insight does make driving force, along with name, past research papers, academia politics, name of his/her immediate boss so and so, but along with these usual strings how the idea is pitched is far more important. The captivating way which keeps any reviewer on toes to read it in single seating is necessary. The grants comprise scientific question, clinical assessment, costs of personnel hired, cost of IT infrastructure for future analyses and other things that are to be concisely put in say six pages. They story needs to be tailored that isn't abrupt like my posts, aren't like shooting in dark, or neither absurd goals presented that none wants to fund for.
I think I've started to understand, believe and accept that the absoluteness doesn't assist after a certain degree; even wherever it's helped things could have floated in grey scenario too, so why push oneself (of course, myself) so hard? Things always flow when in grey, rather seamlessly. Once you wrap things none knows if the packaged thing is grey, black or white, most don't want to know. It's how the item is packed with appealing appearance.
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