Reality Doesn’t Always Byte
After hiring a few “experts” to come offer a bit of their insight into the patchy areas of the Burns fam backyard, complete with an Agricultural Extension employee who’s required to allocate a certain amount of time per month answering questions from crazy Brookings County residents like me, I finally came to the realization that the grass is indeed greener on the other side.
Between the wonderfully acidic “nature calls” donations from our dog Lily and the “better than the best sports dome” tree canopy, our backyard is looking worthy of a Scott’s (or any other major lawn company willing to give ‘er a whirl!) Extreme Lawn Makeover! We have patches of dead “Lily” grass here, plenty of just plain barren soil over there and heck, why not, throw in a few thousand worm-sponsored lumps from edge to edge and all over.
It’s been four Springs now since we called this our home and, well, reality finally settled in I guess. Last season, when the Extension guy came out to survey the damage, he assured me (and made me climb up on a ladder to see what he was talking about) that the grass wasn’t any greener in my neighbor’s yard. He said, “Take in an aerial view of both your lawn and your neighbors and you’ll see it’s not any better.” Well, I did that, and while he had me somewhat convinced last season, this season, after yet another lawn expert journeyed through our landscape and offered his own insight, a couple things finally lawned, er, I mean dawned on me. The first being that “you know what, good ol’ Mr. Plumhart’s (aka “the other side”) lawn is indeed greener than mine”. Second being “you know what, that’s ok with me”. Heck, after all, we have a playful, loving pet that just so happens has to relieve herself to prevent from exploding. And the shelter (as in from sun and strangers) we receive from the mature trees is definitely one of the highlights of our home!
So the reality is, I guess, that ya can’t have your cake and eat it too. Sure our lawn is patchy. In some areas just plain dirt. But my wife and I agreed we’re happy with that. And guess what? The second we committed to accepting that reality, we were inspired to think about ways to build on it. One idea was to lay some flagstone pavers down where grass has never grown and just accept the rest of the patches as part of the perfectly imperfect backyard that’s all a part of what makes our house a “home”.
Once again, I’ve most likely managed to get a few folks wondering what the heckola any of this landscape-based philosophizing has to do with customized flash drives. I hope so anyway. Then I know I’ve done my job, which by the way I think is to get a few people every now and then to understand that life is a metaphor - always offering insight into whatever you choose to occupy it with. In this case, as we know, it’s custom flash drives. And my backyard has everything to do with that. Some folks come to us thinking their patches and imperfections surrounding brand or campaigns or communication objectives can be cleared up with a few hundred flash drives, helping green up their bottom line.
Truth is, while custom flash drives are indeed a swell solution, sometimes we’re actually the experts who are 100% comfortable letting clients know when they would be better suited just accepting the reality of the situation. Even going so far as to talk them out of trying to fight such complex communication issues with “yes oh so flashy” but “oh so impossible to solve the unsolvable” flash drives. Sometimes it’s best to accept the reality and be comfortable with the fact that while your competition’s grass is greener, the characteristics often times rejected and many times overlooked in your own backyard are who you really are.
And once you can identify and embrace those unique qualities, then you can begin to think about ways to build on them – like using flagstone pavers where only dirt grows! In your case, maybe it’s not trying to make a “only Fortune 1000 companies with multi-million dollar budgets can achieve this” splash with your promotions? Or maybe it’s using custom flash drives to communicate the comfortable truth about the imperfectly perfect characteristics of your organization. Whatever you decide, and the decision is indeed yours, we’re here to listen and help. And oh, if you’re in the neighborhood and want to chat, chances are you’ll find me hangin’ out in the backyard.