My friend PJ is wonderful. I learn many things from him. If I listened more and spoke less, I’d learn more. One of the things he has said a few times is a Kannada saying: Shanka dinda bandre ne teertha. It means: water from the shankha (conch), is holy water. Else it’s just regular water.

Let me explain it with examples.

My son’s knees hurt. I taught him some stretching exercises that I learnt from my physio. He doesn’t take the advice. We go to the physio himself and he teaches him the same exercises. And now my son takes the exercises more seriously. Exercise taught by father : regular water. Same exercise taught by physio : holy water.

Bandi is a neighbor. Her husband is a trainer at a gym. Bandi undergoes surgery. Husband tries to get her to do some exercises soon after surgery. Bandi thinks husband is crazy. Doctor gets her to do some exercise, Bandi does it. Exercise suggested by doctor is holy water. Exercise suggested by husband is regular water.

I tell my wife to work on her personal branding seriously. She doesn’t. I am sure if she found a mentor or paid a career coach and that person told her to work on personal branding she will do it. Branding suggestions by husband: regular water. Same suggestions by coach: holy water.

My neighbor Aditya tries to teach his kids financial literacy. They don’t listen. I teach them some, they listen. For a change I am the conch and words from my mouth are the holy water.

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In 2007, Washington Post did a experiment. They got Joshua Bell, a world famous violinist to perform at a busy train station. Hardly anybody paid attention. Hardly. To listen to the same Joshua Bell at Carnegie Hall, you’d have to pay a few hundred dollars, if you are lucky to get tickets that is.

You can see the video here:

Joshua Bell at train station is regular water. Joshua Bell at Carnegie Hall is holy water.

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In India, there are palaces and temples that are many centuries old. These are many times older than some western countries. Yet, we would happily pay a lot to visit those countries and not visit what is right here. You know, same pattern: regular water, holy water.

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We humans perceive value based on the context, appearance, presentation, tidiness etc. A wealth manager cannot look poor, a hair oil salesman cannot be bald, a fitness coach needs to look…you know fit. Else the sales pitch is going to be lost.

I first appreciated this when I read Alchemy by Rory Sutherland. It’s a fun book filled with priceless nuggets on human psychology. After reading his book, I changed the font size in my Gmail to large. Large indicates confidence and also trust that I am not hiding anything. Small print is synonymous with hidden clauses and does not inspire trust. The response rate to my emails improved. (If I had spent on having my own domain name email, it would have signaled even more trust and confidence.)

The human mind does not run on logic any more than a horse runs on petrol.

-Rory Sutherland

I think I am going to re-read Rory Sutherland’s book. I suggest you do too.

-Cheers

PS: Did you see, how I subtly inserted an authority figure called Rory Sutherland? After quoting Rory, my blog has transformed into holy water. I bet most people haven’t even heard of Rory Sutherland but it doesn’t matter…it sounds authentic :). But there is a Rory Sutherland and he has wonderful things to say.