RETAILOBSERVER.COM SEPTEMBER 2023
4
Eliana Barriga
eliana@retailobserver.com
It's time to see the world differently,
SEPT. 2023, VOLUME 34, ISSUE 9
CELEBRATING OUR 34
TH
YEAR
AS THE RETAIL OBSERVER
PUBLISHER/MANAGING EDITOR
ELIANA BARRIGA
DIRECTOR OF SALES AND MARKETING
MOE LASTFOGEL
ART DIRECTOR
TERRY PRICE
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
RICK BELLOWS
STEVEN FRIEDMAN
ANDY KRIEGE
PAUL MACDONALD
STEVE MORRIS
ROB STOTT
JOHN TSCHOHL
LIBBY WAGNER
DARIN WILLIAMS
ALAN WOLF
DEADLINE FOR NOV. 2023 ISSUE:
OCT. 1, 2023
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Elle's View As I See It
W
ith school now back in session, great professors are stimulating young
minds by challenging their students with the art to muse. I stumbled
upon this story the other day and it struck a deep chord for me personally,
and invited me to explore deeper both my business strategies as well as this journey
called life.
One day, a professor told his students they were going to have a surprise quiz. He
handed out the quiz, placing it face down on each student's desk. He then asked the
students to turn over the paper. To everyone's surprise, there were no questions –
just a small black dot in the center of the paper. The professor told them, "I'd like you
to write about what you see on the paper." The students looked very confused but
completed the project. At the end of class, the professor read each response out
loud. Every single student wrote something about the black dot, either explaining its
size or position on the page.
Then the professor said, "I'm not going to grade you on this, instead, I just wanted
to give you something to think about. No one wrote about the large, white portion of
the paper. Instead, everyone focused on the tiny black dot. The same thing happens
in life – we tend to focus on only the black dots in our life, and careers.
–Author Unknown
As retailers, I know how easy it is to be looking at several black dots at once, your
challenges, such as internet competition, rising operating costs as well as
competitive pricing and shrinking margins. So often we are so caught up in the
overwhelming details of our lives and businesses that when things "go wrong", we
tend to obsess about them, focusing on the small details, distractions and
problems–the dark spots. We fail to take the time to step back and look at the big
picture. That wonderful abundance of white space that can be explored and filled
with infinite possibilities for change and growth.
As Henry David Thoreau once said: "It's not what you look at that matters, it's
what you see." This is the absolute truth.
THE RETAIL
ARE YOU
FOCUSING ON
THE BLACK DOT?
