Pricing Success  It was a very small shop - a narrow door, and a display window even narrower. It could have once been an alley or a breezeway between two buildings. From across the street there was nothing special about a gray building on a gray block in a gray city on a gray day. The glass in the display window didn’t even have enough energy to return a reflection.

However, ten steps from the shop, a light appeared in the back of the window, like the glow left in a room just after the lights go out. Five steps closer and the flicker became a candle. Standing in front of the window revealed not one, but a dozen or so waxed cylinders of different lengths and thicknesses at the back of the display area.

The light from the candles was interrupted by fluttering objects suspended from the ceiling of the display area, moving both independently and in concert, responding to invisible breezes. Looking closer, it became obvious that each object was a meticulously crafted origami creature. Bear, bird, swan, snake, elephant - each was identifiable and more. The carefully folded paper icons not only resembled the particular animal but captured the quality and character of each, with a whimsical charm reminiscent of early Disney animation.

One blink outside the door, the next blink inside facing a fragile-looking Asian man sitting by himself with his hands folded across a well-worn worktable.

When asked the price for one of his magical creations, he said, without looking up or changing his expression “One thousand U.S. dollars, please.”

After a studied moment and a re-examination of what could only be ordinary bond paper and two feet of butcher string, the question was asked, “Why so much?” Each form was lovely, special and deserving of praise and purchase. But indeed, why so much? One blink behind the worktable, the next standing in an open doorway at the back of the shop, the Asian elder beckoned.

Behind him was a backyard as wide as the shop but easily 100 feet deep. The yard at first appeared to be covered with uneven mounds of snow from the porch steps to the back gate.

Looking closer, it was not snow but hundreds upon thousands of folded pieces of white paper. Many resembled those in the display window, others were strangely deformed, still others just crumbled balls of disappointment.

He began to speak with a voice filled with energy, shaped by a pride born of personal satisfaction and with such clarity and economy of language that everything he said must be true.

“You are not buying a paper crane, but the results of years spent learning how to create perfection with a single sheet of paper.” He went on to explain that once the route to perfection was identified the journey could be repeated. While the products made at the end of each journey may be different, the processes for reaching success are quite similar.

How many times has business focused on the value of the product and not the process that created the product? Ideas and imagination are not in short supply. The ability to identify and implement those ideas that have the best chance to serve an audience is critical and requires individuals who have been on this journey before.

The value of products changes over time with shifting markets, customer preferences and manufacturing parameters. The creative process is unpredictable, so many business people are afraid of it. They rationalize and commoditize its value to business success. The results are organizations that start to fail at the very moment they are the most successful because they are unwilling to consider what could be the next big thing.

Expertise and experience has a value far beyond the final manifestation of any product. The process creates products, not the other way around. When businesses, governments, social and educational institutions begin to recognize, value and nurture creativity and imagination as a critical ingredient of growth and success, they will be rewarded for innovation and invention, rather than for what they can duplicate.

The Package  The difference between a package and a present is how it's prepared and delivered. Communication follows the same rules. If a container plastered with unnecessary labels and tied by conflicting agendas is rewrapped with care and consideration, ambivalence changes to excitement. When information is prepared, packaged and presented to its audience in ways that promote understanding and participation, a message is communicated and a connection is made.

The Present  The following examples illustrate the Essex Two packaging process and the value of that process to our clients. Visit our web site www.sx2.com/process.html for more details on how our process works.

Spiegel www.sx2.com/spiegel1.html

Marmon Group www.sx2.com/ARmarmon1.html

Urban Shopping Centers www.sx2.com/ARurban1.html

Worth your time:  The Nine Nations of North America by Joel Garreau is one of the most insightful books ever written about the USA. Learn what really constitutes North America, politically, sociologically and economically. Is your company considering transferring you to Seattle? Read about Ecotopia. Do you fear that new position in Kansas City? Peruse the section on the Breadbasket.