In today’s post we discuss the dressgate scandal that divided a nation and became a social media phenomenon. We explain why it is important to consider other viewpoints when making business decisions.
Unless you have been living under a rock lately, you have probably heard about the famous dress that sparked fierce debates about its color and broke the Internet a week ago. A badly lit photograph of a $77 off-the-rack dress, designed by British retailer Roman Originals was posted on Tumblr on Wednesday February 25, 2015 by 21-year-old Scottish folk singer Caitlin McNeill. She was arguing with her friend over whether the dress was gold and white or blue and black. The debate intensified when more and more people got involved, including celebrities such as Kim Kardashian and Taylor Swift. Everyone was divided into the white-and-gold camp or the blue-and-black camp and fierce exchanges ensued between friends, partners and even strangers. Buzzfeed’s deputy news director, Jon Passatino tweeted that the dress broke the site’s traffic records with more than 670,000 people viewing the post simultaneously at one point and garnering 16 million hits in six hours. The debate ended abruptly when it was revealed by English model Laura Coleman, who claims she was the first person to wear the dress, that it was most decidedly blue and black. Interestingly, the incident has proven to be great advertising for the small British fashion company that designed the dress as its sales have soared 347%.
While I do not normally get embroiled in these types of debates, I found myself arguing with my wife about the color of the dress over lunch one day. I saw it as white and gold while my wife saw it as blue and black. When I found out the true color of the dress, I considered getting my eyes tested but I knew that I was not alone in my opinion. Some people are adding the dress to the long list of famous optical illusions. Take for example the famous YouTube video of the train that seems to be moving forward but if you stare at it long enough then you will see it moving in both directions. Another example is the spinning dancer who in a spinning silhouette appears to be circling in a clockwise motion. However if you concentrate for long enough the woman will start spinning the other way. The fact is that looks can be deceiving.
What the dress color debate has shown is that it is sometimes difficult to trust our own instincts. Nobody likes to be proven wrong and it is hard to know whom to trust when making important decisions. However if you evaluate the current state of your insurance agency you might find that it could benefit from a different viewpoint. In many cases, businesses opt for an outsider’s opinion as they can provide you with a fresh approach on how to run your business and give you advice on how to improve it. If you wish to greatly increase the value of your business then you can avail of our valuation service. We have helped many insurance agencies to realize their full potential.
