Ol Righttt?
In November of 1972 Adriano Celentano and his wife Claudia Mori released a song called Prisencolinensinainciusol. It’s was a song released in Italy for an Italian market, but it was meant to sound American. It wasn’t just the music that sounded American, but the words sound English to the Italian listener too. To an American, however, the most understandable phrase is “Ol Right“.
It was an entire song of gibberish – it meant nothing. It was one of the top 2 of Celentano’s hits in his prodigious career (over 40 years in music and a list as long as your arm of albums released).
I never heard the song until an NPR interview with Celentano last November commemorating the 40th anniversary of the song. In the interview, he noted he was making a statement about the Italian music scene. Many artists were using English in their songs to simply sound American.
You don’t always have to make sense.
I recently happened to come across the above YouTube video again. As I watched, I thought about how meaningless the words were, yet how influential the song was to the audience.
Your dream, goal or decision won’t always make sense to those around you. Sometimes you have to just move forward knowing you are making the best decision for yourself, your business, your family. You do it because it’s right. It’s not about it making sense or being understandable. It’s about being right.
You have to be right.
Obviously you can’t consistently create products or decisions that make no sense, but that should be a secondary question. The primary question should be…
Is this right?
Once you answer that question, then move on make sense out of your decision. Here are 3 ways I make sure I’m right in the product and decisions I roll out.
1. I listen to myself.
Over the last couple of years, this is an important lesson I’ve learned (and re-learned). I need to stop, reflect and make sure I understand how I feel about a decision or product.
Again, I don’t need to even make sense to myself, but I need to feel right about it.
2. I listen to others.
After I know how I feel about a decision or product (even if I realize I’m still processing my thoughts) I want to get the advice of others. What do they think? How do they feel? Is it right to them?
If nothing else, this feedback gives me an idea of opposition I might face.
3. I move forward.
Depending on the situation, I might take a few other steps. I might wait a few days or hours. I might do some more research. However, I can’t allow myself to be stuck there.
I must make a decision and move forward. If I make a mistake, I admit it. If I need to adjust, I change direction or slow down. If I’m wrong, I apologize.
I can’t be stuck waiting to make sure I make sense to everyone. I need to make sure I feel it’s right.
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