People generally have good reasons for doing the things they do.
At least, they have reasons that make sense to them.
And that’s the great caveat, isn’t it?
People do things that make sense…to themselves.
A simple concept with far reaching implications.
If people do things that make sense to themselves, then the next natural question is, why does it make sense to them?
Whether we’re aware of it or not, you and I serve a pantheon of masters. For each silo, or aspect, of our lives there’s a boss we’ve chosen to let dictate the rules by which we play.
The “boss” is anyone or anything that we want to please. The “rules” are the things that please the boss.
When someone, or a business, does something that doesn’t make sense to you, that means you probably don’t know who their boss is. You don’t know the rules by which they’re playing.
Figure out who the boss is and you’ll know the rules. Know the rules and you’ll better understand why they play the game the way they do.
Understanding their why doesn’t mean you have to agree with their reasoning. But it does mean you’ll be in a better position to buy, sell, negotiate, persuade, convince, or meet them in the middle.
– Zac Smith, VC
