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Media Perspectives - Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Respecting the Rodney Principle
? by Jaffer Ali
"A girl phoned me the other day and said... Come on over,
there's nobody home. I went over. Nobody was home."
--Rodney Dangerfield
One of my favorite comedians of all time is the late great
Rodney Dangerfield. The utter simplicity of his comedy has
created a rich legacy. His punchy lines always make me
laugh as if hearing them for the first time.
If you're wondering what Rodney Dangerfield has to do with
business, stay tuned.
"I could tell my parents hated me. My bath toys were a
toaster and a radio."
Take another look at both of the jokes above. Now, try to
improve them. How? First, try adding something to make
them better. Bet you can't do it, can you?
Now try something even harder than adding to them. Try
taking something away. Simplify the jokes; make them more
verbally economical. Dollars to navy beans you can't do
that either.
"I come from a stupid family. During the Civil War, my
great uncle fought for the west."
A great business model is like a Rodney Dangerfield joke,
and requires neither addition nor subtraction. Great
business models ? like Rodney Dangerfield jokes ? possess
a holistic beauty and elegance, described by Nobel Prize-
winning physicist Murray Gellman as essential to any
fundamental understanding of the correct order of things.
Moving from comedy to business ? and in today's world this
may be a distinction without a difference ? it's time to
coin a new term: The Rodney Principle. Simply defined, The
Rodney Principle describes a business model that can't be
simplified any further and to which any attempt to add
complexity creates more problems than it solves.
"My father carries around the picture of the kid who came
with his wallet."
The Rodney Principle explains complex thoughts in simple
terms. To be sure, we face a world of increasing
complexities. Unfortunately, our solutions to increased
complexity almost always increase complexity even more.
Complexity simply begets complexity.
In the great age of titanic, complex systems, additional
complexity only makes existing problems worse, and creates
new problems at a pace and scale that no one can possibly
anticipate. Eventually, complex systems ? like far-flung
empires ? always collapse from the cumulative weight of
their own complexity.
This is why The Rodney Principle should be taught at every
MBA program from Harvard to Stanford. Classroom attendance
and attention would surely pick up! Imagine if every class
began with a quote from our erstwhile sage:
"I met the Surgeon General. He offered me a cigarette!"
A typical business model seeks to identify and address real
or perceived needs. The essence of The Rodney Principle
compels us to take a red pencil to any and every business
model we envision or examine. Rodney Dangerfield used his
economy of words to bring joy and laughter, and in them
we discover and re-discover our most fundamental human
conditions. When we apply The Rodney Principle to our
business models, we seek their essential DNA first. We
seek the beauty, elegance and economy of simple things...
"My uncle's dying wish was to have me sit in his lap...
he was in the electric chair!"
Of course not everybody can embrace The Rodney Principle.
This is especially true of many in the online digital
space. Trapped as they are in an existential cave, all
they can see are the dark and illusory shadows of
complexity. They're too busy translating The Little
Prince into The Castle to make room for the beauty,
elegance and sheer simplicity of...
"My mother got morning sickness after I was born."
Or...
"If it wasn't for pick-pockets, I'd have no sex life at
all."
Conversely, many of our new business models are like bad
jokes. And just as bad jokes fade away, so do bad business
models. Remember Broadcast.com? Infoseek? March First?
But a great joke is forever. So when you conceptualize
your next business model, or even just tweak your present
one, apply The Rodney Principle to help you step out of
the cave and into the light. At minimum, it will put a
smile in your heart.
"With my wife I don't get no respect. I made a toast on
her birthday to 'the best woman a man ever had.' The
waiter joined me."
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Jaffer Ali is the CEO of the Vidsense Video Snack Network,
where The Rodney Principle has been in full force from its
inception. To reach Jaffer, email him at j.ali@vidsense.com
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