Here kid, read this...

'Here kid, listen to this...'

Ben Glass, the composer Philip Glass's father, owned a record shop. Some records did not sell. Ben broke up some of these records; this enabled him to claim money back from the manufacturers. 

But some records he took home so he and his son could listen to them; he wanted to find out why they did not sell.

He and his son found out why: the recordings were of 'serious' classical chamber music and music written by 'difficult' 20th century composers (e.g., Shostakovitch, Bartok and Schoenberg, etc.) 

But no one had told the young Philip Glass that the music was either serious or difficult. He listened to it with innocent ears - and he loved it. In fact, so did his dad!

The rest, as they say, is history.

When something is not selling, be it a record or some other product, or a service, or an idea or solution, it is all too tempting to discard or junk it and immediately start looking for ways to cut our losses. 

Often, however, we can profit from exploring why something is not selling. Is it being offered to the wrong people at the wrong time in the wrong place? If we were to take it home, share it and think about it, rather than throw it out, hide it or dismiss it, would its true value begin to become apparent? If we asked someone with innocent, naïve eyes to look at it would they quickly discern its true worth? More than that, would they want to buy it and encourage others to do likewise.

There is value in taking non-sellers home with us and asking:

Here kid, what do you think of this?