One cannot agree with what one does not understand

By John Frost
Goodratings Strategic Service

The great ones make it look so easy.

While watching the recent Masters tournament my wife turned to me and said, "he looks like you." She was trying to give my golf game some much needed inspiration by pointing out the resemblance between Adam Scott's golf swing and mine.

I occasionally hear someone say, "Let's just sound like them", referencing some notably successful station like Z88.3, KLTY or a Fish or two.

If we only play their music, copy their liners, and make our bumper sticker the same shape, Presto!, success will be ours!

The problem with the good ones is they make it look so easy. Whether it's swinging the golf club like Adam Scott or playing the guitar like Eric Clapton their skill appears effortless. One of my favorite actors, Jimmy Stewart, never looked as though he was acting, whether in his comedic role as Elwood P. Dowd in "Harvey", or the wheelchair bound photographer in Alfred Hitchcock's "Rear Window". Movie reel footage of one of Babe Ruth's 714 home runs looks as effortless as our chubby uncle chasing the kids around the back yard.

We desire the instant success of others without really understanding the years of tedious practice that goes into achieving that success.

We tend to view as simple that which we do not yet understand.

"What is familiar to us gives us the illusion of understanding it. It's the forest, the trees, and all that. The more you know, the less you do," sportswriter Will Leitch.

The things we understand are the things we tend to perceive as important. "Let's just sound like them" is the echo of not understanding.

Transforming a radio station into a market leader is hard work. In fact, if the work isn't hard you're probably not doing the right things.

Everything is hard before it is easy.