Funny story.
I see my brother-in-law roughly twice a year, in short duration.
I’ve been a bit annoyed with him. The source of this annoyance was that he would not respond to me on Facebook. WTH? It seemed too petty to call out. Also, for the record, his updates were clearly a bit, well, weird. But I chalked this up to “Julian being Julian.”
(Coming from a proud line of creative weirdos, I didn’t do much investigating.)
This came to a head recently when my sister claimed he didn’t even have a Facebook account. Bullshit! Everyone on the damn planet is on Facebook! I’m connected to him on Facebook! No, no, she insisted. He is not on Facebook. He’s a Twitter whore, she said (her actual words, his actual profile).
Liar! I steamed.
Last week my “friend” Julian Thomson posted a status update I couldn’t chalk up to creative jest, or a desire to be single. Finally! I’m going to screenshot him like Nessie raising his head from the water and show my sister his ridiculous, alter-ego updates.
Except…
My sister was right. Her husband is not on Facebook. I sent a friend request to some random dude in the UK who shares the same name.
Five!Years!Ago!
Who the *hell* is this Julian Thomson?
I felt like a total moron.
How could this happen, right? I’m on Facebook on a regular basis, in part to update the George Bowers Grocery business page.
In my defense, here’s a snapshot of his profile pics over the years. Since my Julian is a musician in several bands, and he has a younger brother, none of these photos seemed strange. Also, my Julian, from Argentina, went to school in the U.K. So the Brit footballer updates seemed legit, as did the mention of clubs and bands I don’t know (since my Julian Thomson lives in another city!). I did get angry about mention of other women who are not my sister, though, ha!
the *other Julian’s* profile pics seemed legit
But, who is this other Julian Thomson, and why did he accept my friend request and allow me to pester him all this time? Answers when I get them.
So, let’s look at the OBVIOUS business lessons in all of this.
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What conclusions are so OBVIOUS that you no longer question them?
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What “supporting evidence” are you using, and have you looked at it carefully—really carefully?
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What assumptions are you making about your business—or the people around it and involved in it—that might be entirely false?
I can think of two BIG, “plainly obvious reasons” independent business owners point to, especially when they are annoyed, frustrated, or just angry. These two reasons are not what they seem. Do you have any guesses what they might be? Post them in the comments.
I will share my thoughts on the “obvious” assumptions in the next update! Right now, I’m heading out the door for a day in Richmond doing some “R&D” (research and drinking) at a craft beer event for vendors. Yep: living the dream.
See you next time!
