Do you see the world differently as you grow as a business person? Do you see business situations through different colored lenses?
I learned something about myself this last week on a 7-day cruise I took with an old friend. I've traveled a lot, but not that way. I felt like a fish out of the water among those other 4,098 guests so I studied the corporate business model of the cruise line. It was obvious to me that the "guests" were being soaked for every dime they had brought with them -- and a whole bunch more money via their credit cards. They were happily herded through carefully planned product funnels on the ship, and into ports-of-call "villages" that were owned and operated by the cruise line. The people seemed totally unaware that they weren't visiting the natives who lived in those countries. Exiting the ship was all punctuated with scantily clad young girls dancing to native sounding bands. It was simply a carefully crafted photo opportunity, posed with those girls in front of a port sign -- that again cost the "guests" a few more bucks for the ship and a tip for the girls. Even when the "guests" left the cruise line area, the only off-site transportation sources were owned and controlled by the cruise line. If I hadn't been in business for all those years, I would have never noticed nor understood how that whole cruise system worked. I was a captive audience for the duration of the trip -- an interesting business study!
What have you become aware of because of your business experience?
I learned something about myself this last week on a 7-day cruise I took with an old friend. I've traveled a lot, but not that way. I felt like a fish out of the water among those other 4,098 guests so I studied the corporate business model of the cruise line. It was obvious to me that the "guests" were being soaked for every dime they had brought with them -- and a whole bunch more money via their credit cards. They were happily herded through carefully planned product funnels on the ship, and into ports-of-call "villages" that were owned and operated by the cruise line. The people seemed totally unaware that they weren't visiting the natives who lived in those countries. Exiting the ship was all punctuated with scantily clad young girls dancing to native sounding bands. It was simply a carefully crafted photo opportunity, posed with those girls in front of a port sign -- that again cost the "guests" a few more bucks for the ship and a tip for the girls. Even when the "guests" left the cruise line area, the only off-site transportation sources were owned and controlled by the cruise line. If I hadn't been in business for all those years, I would have never noticed nor understood how that whole cruise system worked. I was a captive audience for the duration of the trip -- an interesting business study!
What have you become aware of because of your business experience?
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