Let’s end the week with a Foodie Friday Fun look at miraculin.
(Photo credit: Jonathan Harford)
I know – you haven’t really thought about it in a while, but as food topics go it’s very interesting. Miraculin is the stuff found in an African berry that serves to change completely the taste of foods you ingest after eating the berry. The berry is known as a miracle berry and was discovered almost 300 years ago by a guy exploring the wilds of Africa. It seems that there was a terrible famine and yet one tribe out of the thirty the explorer met were well-fed. Apparently they would eat this berry and were then able to eat stuff that under normal circumstances was unpalatable. In short, it makes bad tasting food taste good.
The berries work by masking some of the taste receptors on your tongue, primarily the ones that read “sour”. Things that are sour taste sweet. That’s the business point today.
I’ve known a number of managers who seem to eat miracle berries right before they read their financial reports or analytics. There is never anything wrong – nothing tastes sour – at least not internally. Oh sure – the market may be bad (good time to steal share!) so growth is limited or the new product we launched isn’t really being trashed on social media – it’s just a few vocal haters. This is the business miracle berry at work.
I’m as big an optimist as there is. However, there is a difference between being optimistic and lying to yourself. It’s one thing to put a good face on the numbers; it’s another to overlook the realities those numbers express. If you can’t understand what the data is telling you then you need to do one of two things – find someone who does and is unafraid to tell you or get into a business where you can make sense of what’s going on. Reading the numbers whilst under the effects of the business miracle berry is not an option.
While miracle berries helped the African tribe avoid famine and stay healthy, the business equivalent of eating miracle berries can get you very sick and maybe even kill your business. How are your taste buds as we end the week?
Consult Keith 