It’s written on the wind.  It’s everywhere I go …

From Love is all around me.

And so are placebos.  (This is my second of two posts on placebos.)

Dan Ariely bemoans the uncovering of Airborne as a placebo when it comes to countering the potential illnesses following flying (the company has had to change it’s advertising): ‘Oh why, why did they do this to me.  Why did they take my wonderful placebo away.’  The placebo had worked for him and he was investigating placebos!

In the Wizard of Oz, the wizard promises a heart, a brain, and courage to the travelling companions of Dorothy.  He’s offering a sugar pill and they swallow it, and discover they have the things they seek all the time.  Charlatan or placebo-wise devotee?

(Interesting again are nocebos, which may even cover the good effects of a real drug – the doctor who tells of all the side effects can lead to a patient experiencing less benefit.)

We all get caught out.  I don’t like car showrooms – stressful places.  Two recent experiences.  I needed to visit a Mercedes garage – a problem with my ten year old Smart car! – and I was seated by the receptionist in a very comfortable waiting area better than many cafes, brought a drink and biscuit, given internet access, then led to a table by my suited service advisor – all very relaxing.  Compare this with the industrial experience of a large chain of garages where sales desks are lined up in functional rows and there’s a coffee machine you can help yourself from.  The first is telling me a story, the second is not.  Is there that much difference between what I may or may not be paying for.  Probably not.  The first is a placebo experience and it worked for me.

It’s okay to create a story for what you do as long as what you are creating and providing and contributing is real.  As Seth Godin* reminds us, it’s not good enough to get just one of these right: the great art which never benefits anyone, or the great story without substance.  When we have the two together, then we’re zooming.**

(*This is a link to an excellent little ebook to stretch thinking on placebos.)
(**Zooming is a phrase from Seth Godin I’ve loved ever since I came across it several years ago; it means taking the amazing stuff you do further.)