Don’t let the king doze off....

Amadeus is a masterpiece movie based on the story of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart which went on to bag eight Oscars. In this movie, Saliery is the court composer of Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II. Mozart arrives at Vienna and Saliery got to observe the unbelievable talent of young Mozart which was almost like ‘god expressing himself’ through Mozart.

Saliery being an outstanding musician himself realised the true potential of Mozart. But he could not accept the fact that God chose an irreverent and lewd kid to deliver such heavenly music.

Mozart was on the go. He was bringing out master pieces one after the other and compared to the genius that he was, the other musicians of the time including Saliery looked pale and mediocre. Many could not stand this ignominy and were filled with jealousy. They were looking for ways to arrest the meteoric ascent of Mozart.

Mozart was once performing his latest compositions to an audience which included the king. It was a brilliant piece. Although the king always believed that he was a connoisseur of music and he was a mentor of music and musicians, he had no natural taste or ability to recognize novel innovations.

As the performance proceeded, the king nodded, sort of fell asleep. You should have seen the face of the fellow musicians. They mood changed from melancholy to ecstasy.

Why? The King was nodding off!

This means that there is no royal endorsement for the new masterpiece. The whisper campaign was on, in full swing. That was the beginning of the end for Mozart...

The moral of the story; don’t let the king fall asleep.

Why? If you are not yet a celebrity, you need endorsement because many people follow only what has been endorsed by the ‘knowledgeable’

I read about an experiment by Washington Post as a as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people. They got Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world to play incognito some of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars at a metro station at Washington DC. In the few hours he played, nobody really bothered and he managed a collection of $ 32. Two days before his performance in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theatre in Boston and the seats averaged $100! (Watch the video)



The recognition, support and resource allocations are only for what the big boss appears to be interested in.

This happens to in both government and in corporate. The short cut to please the big man is what you learn in your nursery class

“Yes Sir, Yes Sir, Three Bags Full."

With such sycophancy among the courtesans you sure can't let the king doze off.

That was a cynical way of looking at the real world. There is no point in being cynical. The practical question is how do we use this phenomenon to work for you?

Get you Packaging and Endorsement right!

Then the next big challenge is to get the right endorsement from relevant people. Let them buy in your ideas and endorse it. For that you have to make it relevant for them. (For a survival kit, take a look at “Hitchhiker’s guide to corporate galaxy Part 1
and Part 2)

If you think that mere brilliance of your idea or product will get due acceptance, you are wrong.

The world we live in is a world of exploding options. So you need smart strategies to catch and retain attention. (Don’t forget that the underlying idea/ product will have to be good to avoid it turning out to be fad)

C’est la Vie!!