The Unreasonable Man: It’s All In Your Point of View

George Bernard Shaw said, “The reasonable man adapts himself to the world. The unreasonable man adapts the world to himself. All progress depends upon the unreasonable man.”

Some have observed that most people are reasonable, that’s why they only do reasonably well.

I’m sure there is something to that, but don’t we need to clarify things a bit. What does the word “reasonable” mean? And are we saying that being unreasonable is a formula for success?

First, if we’re saying that reasonable means never trying something new, always sticking with tried and true things - then it’s plausible that innovation and progress stem from ideas that challenge those things. But if we’re saying that being unreasonable is the failure to deal with reality, the inability to see things as they really are and a host of other mental difficulties - then I’m not on board with the idea Shaw wrote of.

In recent months I’ve been studying the knack of seeing things from a different perspective. It’s a worthwhile pursuit to help our minds get unstuck. It’s not intended to eliminate reality. The world is full of drug addicts who lack the ability to be reasonable. They don’t behave in reasonable fashion. They don’t think of consequences in a reasonable fashion. And they’re hemispheres away from being productive, much less progressive. That’s why reasonable versus unreasonable needs some qualification. It’s just not as clean and easy as Shaw may have wanted to make it.

Through the years I’ve been involved in business initiatives that involved (cough) “thinking outside the box.” Traditional ideas sometimes give way to new ideas. Just the other day I was reading about a trend in appliance retailing in California - where we know most unreasonable people live. Here’s the trend: opening Tuesday through Saturday, closed on Sundays and Mondays. Here’s the thought: every employee has the same two days off each week. The result is all hands are on deck for the days the store is open. That prevents customers from coming back later, only to find the salesperson who helped them is off. It’s a novel idea because it challenges what retailers have believed to be true. And it’s contradictory with the big box retail notion that 24/7 is the way to go.

Does it work? I don’t know. Employees love it. Do customers? I don’t know. Does that make it a bad idea? Or a good idea? Again, I don’t know. I need more information, but it’s not unreasonable to me because I enjoy considering “what if” questions. And maybe that’s the key to all this reasonable talk. What if?

What if things weren’t as they seemed? What if that realtor radio spot that claims realtors can get 16% more for your house than you could by selling it on your own is all wrong? What if it’s a lie? What if the car dealer is lying when they say they can’t discount that new car you’d love to have? What if that intimidating boss wouldn’t fire you if you spoke your mind?

Progress comes when people (reasonable or not) ask the question and take the time to answer it. It’s easy to ask. It’s much tougher to answer.

What if retail stores closed on Sundays and Mondays?
What if we could earn as much selling our house as we would through a realtor?

Just consider those two ideas and let your mind go wild with thoughts of how life would be different. Just consider those two ideas and think of the business opportunities that might result.

Maybe the real issue is our point of view. For some, it’s easy to question traditional points of view. For others, it’s almost impossible. Traditional retailers might find the thought of closing on a weekday insane. Meanwhile, there are retailers who only open on certain days of the week and they wouldn’t think of following the crowd. I know a popular restaurant that is only open Tuesday through Friday. Go figure.

Point of view. Maybe this is the difference between what Shaw thought of when comparing reasonable and unreasonable men.

As young man I recall reading about an interview conducted with Frank Zappa. The interviewer had a wooden leg. He said to Zappa (a smarmy character), “With your long hair, from where I am sitting you could be a woman.” Zappa replied, “From where I am sitting you could be a table.”

(That’s a picture of now deceased Frank Zappa. He doesn’t exactly look like a reasonable man, does he?)