my shower-time thinking this morning was reflecting on a tweet and post by Faris, stating that the herd likes to rave and also seeing Seth Godin's post on a movement, both of them related to this video showing some dude in his underwear dancing like a crazy man. Faris says that "people like to copy each other." and he continues with "That one person [or thing] can change behavior, if persistent, because it doesn't happen right away, and if the actions, and the copying, are visible to enough people." Watch the video. What is it that the 1st guy experienced or saw that others around him did not? and then as a few more jumped in to participate, did they also see/experience what the 1st guy had going on? perhaps? Seth also adds the observation that it's when the 3rd guy jumps-in to participate, that's what's important, and so starts the trend.
anyone who's been on an early dawn patrol surf session, the 1st guy there is the one who gets the chance to see and observe what the ocean is doing. with enough experience he can probably figure out where to paddle out to catch the most or best waves. as more people start to show up at the beach, you'll see how they'll observe as well. most will wait to see what kind of ride that solo guy out there is having (read: does he look like he's having fun). and as a few more people paddle out to where that one solo dawn patroller is, he's made the decision a lot easier for the rest of us to jump right in. just like after the 3rd guy jumped-in to dance along, more people followed. however, more people in that one dense spot, you're gonna have to fight over those waves. i've never understood why my buddy likes to surf where the crowds are. sure, he may pick off a few waves, but it's a paddle battle most of the time. especially here in dense SoCal surf breaks. myself, i hate surfing around crowds. i'd rather go to where there's smaller, crappier waves, but fewer people around. my idea of fun surf doesn't have to be huge, epic waves. as long as i'm still able to enjoy a few waves, i'm all good. sorry i digress to surfing (have it on my mind since we're going on a surf trip this weekend.)
as ad people, i think it's our job to always seek out and look for those individuals who has the vision and can inspire an idea or a movement. we can either look for that dude that is able to spot out early where the best waves are gonna be and eventually others will be there w/him, or we go to where fewer people are (like myself) and hang with them. ya know, kinda like fish where the fish are and all that. all of this takes a lot of observation, sharing, bookmarking and observing some more. we should bring our client's along in seeing the potential in these "visionary" individuals who can see what others have not. if brought-in early, enough we can be part of a really big thing. even if it's paddle-battle among a bunch of other surfers ;)
2 comments:
Well said. And applies so well to surfing indeed.
I would MUCH rather go where there are less crowds. Like, well Tofino.
But even within that surfosphere, I usually pick a beach that has less people but maybe mushier waves. Not a big deal to me.
Even then, it's funny how when you get a good wave sometimes, you'll have 3-5 people join you just based on that one wave ;)
the herd likes to go where the fun is. i saw this tshirt once: "the best surfer out in the water is the one that's having the most fun."
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