Infinite Possibilities

"The future belongs to those who see possibilities before they become obvious," says John Sculley, American businessman, best known for his positions as President of PepsiCo and Apple Computers. At times it is difficult to see opportunities right in front of eyes. In this "information-age" our minds are bombarded from every direction with facts, figures, and opinions. Environment and past experience also "color" our perception of things that may be accomplished and block creative or "out-of-the-box" thinking. All of these factors can stymie anyone from seeing what is possible for them to achieve.

Irish playwright, George Bernard Shaw summed it up thusly, "You see things as they are and ask, 'Why' I dream things as they never were and ask,' Why not." Our focus may be diverted from the endless possibilities we can accomplish when our center of attention is consistently on the past. We first must dream, and then make them come true with untiring work and perseverance.

For example, in a special address to Congress on May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy outlined four goals for the United States space program, in our "race" with the Soviet Union for space supremacy. The first goal, was a dream of something that almost seemed impossible, "...I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to Earth." In 1961 a man on the moon and return to earth was something out of a science fiction book or movie script. It was a real dream.

July 20, 1969, the first words utter by a man on the moon, "That's one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind," voiced Neil Armstrong, as lunar dust kicked up from his first footprints. The dream of a President and a Nation became a reality at very moment. Untold numbers of people worked on the project, looking for answers to the goal before they became obvious.

In sales, sales management, and marketing, infinite possibilities exist that are not presently obvious. For those willing to see or dream the impossible, then find a way to make them come true, the future, and unbelievable success, will follow. A case in point, the biggest auction site in the world, eBay, started sometime before 1994 with the first sale, a laser pointer, for $14.83 and today eBay has millions of user and tens of millions of hits. Web pages and social networking are additional illustrations of new ways to market and sale products and services.

The future can be compared to a clean blank piece of paper. Will you be the one to take your company's sales growth to the moon or develop a marketing campaign that will be out of this world? If not you, someone will fill that blank space with new fresh innovative ideas that will do both, take sales to the moon and develop and implement marketing campaign that is out of this world. It may not be obvious, but the possibilities are infinite for YOU!