I have a ManCave. Yep, I do.
It has cool signage like “Eat Bacon”, “Hydrate with Beer” and has an awesome neon clock. It also has a classic table hockey game, a framed Jaws movie poster, a nice TV and of course, the DVD Tommy Boy (the Holy Schnieke edition).
But what I love most about the ManCave is the TV remote control. It’s so… simple.
I don’t have a sound system like surround sound or a sound bar in the man cave. I have just the TV/ Cable and as such, just the one remote.
What a joy to sit back thinking of bacon and barley and when I want to turn the volume up or down—I just use the remote. The one remote. The simple lonely silver remote that turns on the TV, the cable, changes the stations and controls the volume.
Remote controls are by their origin, the birthplace of simple 40 years ago but as you all know, they have become anything but that (don’t tell me about the “universal remotes” out there—I’ve tried those—they don’t do it all no matter what you say).
Upstairs it takes no less than 4 remotes (TV/Cable, Sound, DVD & the TV Standard (to change Input)) to manage wasting hours and hours of your life you will never get back (upstairs is where stuff like “Bridezillas” and “Sex in the City” reruns play).
Last night in the ManCave during the Red Sox game (Go Sox!) I turned to my wife (she is permitted into the Cave with advance notice) during a commercial break and said “Don’t you love that you only have to use one remote to do everything here?” She about jumped off the couch and said “Like you would not believe!” She continued with “It’s so simple..I love simple..”
And that’s the lesson today. In an effort to simplify we often create confusion, frustration and stress. It’s great to have social media sites simple to use to keep us connected but to have like 11 of them where you need a bloody presence to get through your work or personal life day is maddening. It’s great to have smart phones glued to your hands but the chargers, the connections, the storage, the email boxes and the updates are maddening. It’s great to have a quadrillion websites with information, education and tutorials, testimonials, ratings, opinions and pontifications but figuring out which of these quadrillion you can trust is maddening.
Every one of us I suspect longs for something simple that just plain “works” today. Something you can find, something you can trust, something that is simple to use and something that doesn’t make you feel like there are 7 more things just like you I have to go check out or “I’m not doing it right”.
If you can do for a business or consumer what my remote control in the ManCave does – you’ve got a winner.
Till next time,
Grow The Business.
Mark
Mark McCarthy's Blog 