Disciplines take Longer to Compound than Neglect

The reason we say that branding is a continual effort is because the law of optimization reminds us that we have to continually refine and optimize to rejuvenate, in order to keep up with natural decline. Think of exercise. Have you noticed that disciplines take far longer to compound than neglect requires to erode them? Don’t misinterpret this. We are glass-half-full optimists, but we’re always mindful of competitive forces, commoditization and the law of familiarity. You might have heard the joke about the parkour enthusiast jumping from building to building and feeling energized, and on one jump missing the landing and falling. According to the story, someone on the fifth floor heard him yell, “So far so good!” If we allow ourselves to take things for granted, we can engineer our own collision course with obsolescence.