When someone is characterized as “not being able to connect the dots” it’s usually intended in the pejorative sense (i.e., as an insult). Someone who can’t connect the dots lacks critical thinking skills, deductive reasoning, or general intelligence.
I know I’ve criticized some owners and managers as not being able to connect the dots before, and no doubt will again in the future. But that’s probably not an entirely accurate assessment…
Owners and managers are often too good at connecting the dots… because whatever they do they end up with the same picture. Which, of course, is the point of having the dots in the first place.
The larger challenge is knowing when to ignore the dots… understanding that the dots are actually a constraint on your thinking and a constraint on your business.
For example, as the low-pricers began to proliferate owners and managers couldn’t ignore them and retaliated by lowering their prices to stay competitive. Similarly, when Curves was in its ascendency many owners and managers couldn’t ignore them and put in women’s only areas. Neither strategy being particularly successful in the final analysis.
Connecting the dots is why there is so little innovation in our industry and why the general public thinks of health clubs as all being the same…
…might be a good idea to start ignoring the dots or at least connecting them in a different way than everyone else.
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