They were sprawled out on the sectional sofa like scattered laundry, mandibles hidden behind $1.29 plastic bags of frozen peas, eyes slitted, bodies immobile.
My two oldest children had a end-of-summer-before-college-begins preemptive assault on wisdom teeth this morning. As this surgeon played the role of the nurse, Jane went to the grocery store to get a liquid dinner for both of them. Michael went with key lime pie. Eliza, very much her father’s daughter, choose ice cream.
Jane is not an ice cream aficionado and would, and often has, chosen a second helping of the entree over an ice cream dessert. Not for Eliza and her dad. So leaving the sole choice of ice cream in the hands of my wife is always a risk.
“Hey,” Jane said as she came though the door, “Look what I got! It’s called ‘The Great Divide,’ half chocolate and the other half vanilla.”Â
Our worst fears were realized. Chocolate and Vanilla. Good intentions simply don’t cut it for choosing ice cream.
Don’t get me wrong, we like chocolate. We like vanilla. But just because there’s a clever name, the combination of the most basic of ice cream flavors fails to even achieve lackluster. Only Neapolitan could be worse by adding the third basic element, strawberry.
When we offer products that are pretty much vanilla and chocolate, sometimes it’s tempting to package them and call the combination a spiffy name. But when you add vanilla + chocolate/1+1 will still only equal 2. And that’s if the chocolate AND vanilla are really good. Neapolitan: chocolate + vanilla + strawberry/1 + 1 + 1 = 0.4. Because the individual flavors always suck, even if you eat them individually.
When considering a partnership or an alliance with another individual or business, if the sum of the total is only the sum of the integers, it’s also not worth the effort.Â
Ben and Jerry get it. Pfish Food is chocolate, chocolate fish, marshmallow, and caramel/1+1+1+1 = oh, I don’t know, maybe 101! Ben and Jerry’s Dublin Mudslide? Also off the charts.
When creating a product for a customer, or when joining into a partnership, make sure the combination of ingredients add up to much more than simply adding the individual components. Joint ventures between physicians and hospitals can be tedious or thrilling.
Real value is when the whole is much greater than the sum of the parts.
That’s why I am happy to pay more, and receive less volume of ice cream, with Ben and Jerry than a cleverly named uninspired combination of jaded flavors.
Be a brilliant Ben and Jerry flavor.Â
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