“The Perfect Product”

by Dr. Larry Morris

A dog food company once came up with what they felt was the perfect product: the dog food that had all of the nutritional ingredients, the right color, the right smell, the right taste—all scientifically determined and verified. The company created the perfect packaging for their product. Then they embarked on a massive advertising and marketing campaign, using TV, radio, newspapers and magazines to promote this revolutionary product. Yet after three months, sales were almost nil. The head of the company called all of his executives to an emergency meeting. "What's wrong?" he asked. "We have the best nutrition, the best packaging, the best marketing—yet no one is buying our product." After much hemming and hawing, a junior executive finally said, "The dogs don't like it." Sometimes, no matter how hard we try, if something in our lives isn't working, it just isn't working and we may need to try something new.