Making It Look Easy is Not Easy
A magician explained to me the value proposition of education.
When you first see an illusion you are entertained and intrigued. Misdirection or slight of hand fascinate individuals in the beginning.
The same is true about amazing food, 50-yard field goals and doing your taxes.
Watching someone perform the unthinkable has a high value.
Until that task becomes routine.
Automated.
Efficient.
Prebuilt.
Artificial.
We eventually believe we’ve been tricked into overvaluing the product because of the ease in which the task is performed in front of us.
However, inviting you to learn the illusion for yourself adds a new layer of appreciation. Pushing down on a pedal to make a car propel forward is simple math until your car doesn’t go forward.
You look under that hood and realize the value of the magicians that help your vehicle move. The gas station, the tire repair shop, the sales person, the factory, the designer, the engineer.
Magicians.
Try being a nurse or a teacher or a welder or a plumber for a day and you will again marvel at those illusions you thought to be routine.
Once you know how much knowledge, skill, talent and practice it takes to artfully execute the illusion the value returns or surpasses it’s original position. Once you respect the craft you refuse to devalue the work because you internally understand the work.
If you’ve worked in a restaurant your default is tipping well as opposed to someone needing to earn their tip.
Supply and demand at the pinnacle of efficiency lack the soul of the artisan weaving a basket, building a shoe or making breakfast.
Before you complain about the product or service, watch how it’s done. Then see how it’s done well.
Appreciation and empathy create value. Tricks are for kids.
Good things.
