WHEN SIMPLE SOLUTIONS BECOME OBVIOUS

Do you have a business issue with apparently no easy or reasonable solution?  Is there an issue that seems so difficult, you can’t find the motivation to even start addressing it?

Does it compare to the challenges Christopher Columbus faced discovering the Americas?

What has become known as the egg of Columbus is any solution that seems deceptively simple in hindsight. The expression refers to the story of how Christopher Columbus, having been told that discovering the Americas was no great accomplishment, challenged his critics to make an egg stand on its tip. After his challengers gave up, Columbus did it himself by tapping the egg on the table so as to flatten its tip just enough to make it stable. 

As with most legends, there is a conflicting story here.  Evidence exists that decades earlier, Italian architect Filippo Brunelleschi (among many other great accomplishments, the architect of Santa Maria del Fiore, in Florence, Italy) had presented the same challenge after refusing to show Florence city officials his model for the dome he planned to put on the cathedral.  No dome so large and heavy had been built up to this time and Brunelleshci believed others could likely replicate his design after being able to see his model.  Just like everyone reading this should now be able to make an egg stand on end.

Are you losing share to competitors?  If so, why?

• Do you believe they are fundamentally smarter or better or harder working than you are? 
• Do they have access to resources you do not?
• Is their value proposition better or is it similar to yours, but in better packaging?
• Or are they simply outmaneuvering you with a better understanding and execution of basic tactics?  Have they found simple solutions to problems that continue to hinder your sales?

What other eggs are falling over in your business because you don’t have the skills, experience or resources to solve them?  With experience solving business challenges for over 100 clients over more than a decade, we’ve learned a lot of different ways to approach problems.  And maybe we can help bring new perspective to your problem.