Download Strughold was one among many scientists secretly

Strughold was one among many scientists secretly spirited
out of Nazi Germany to the States after the Second World
War as part of “Operation Paperclip” to help America
compete in the Space Race.
Planets and porridge
Among Strughold’s many significant contributions to
astrobiology were his ideas about how to measure a planet’s
suitability to sustain human life, which later came to be
christened after the famous Goldilocks and the Three Bears
nursery story. The Goldilocks Principle is that a planet must
be neither too close nor too far away from a star, but “just
right”, in order to support life. If you were to find yourself on
a planet at either of the extremities even “Beam me up,
Scotty” on speed dial wouldn’t help.
What was just right for astrobiology has turned out to be
just right for other activities too, because the Goldilocks
Principle is sometimes used to describe certain, sectorspecific, circumstances. It’s invoked in medicine to measure
the performance of drugs, and in economics and monetary
policy a Goldilocks economy is one that sustains both
moderate growth and low inflation.
But the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears could, and
should, have a much bigger impact on the world of business
than just the description of phenomena. In fact, by taking
the story to heart in our adult, professional, lives as much as
some of us did in our childhoods, we could put more things
into perspective and into proportion.
Big isn’t necessarily better
In business, big is always thought of as inevitably better.
The bigger the deal the better. The bigger the profit the
better. Also, it seems, the bigger the debt the better. In the
marketing and communications sector we’ve even coined the
phrase “The Big Idea” to describe what’s really valuable
about our communications recommendations.
The power of “big”, whether in the guise of the Big Idea or
some other neologism, works like a Big Black Hole at the
heart of business. It sucks everything and everyone towards
it, so that resistance is futile. That’s why challenging bigness
casts anyone who does so in the role of mealy-mouthed
advocate of weedy, small ideas. Small ideas simply don’t
sound as good, or as big.
Doing business the Goldilocks way
Of course, Goldilocks wasn’t a fan of small either (in the
form of chairs) but she did show us the just right way
forward. Let’s follow her lead and start doing just right by
our businesses.
As business owners let’s articulate just right objectives and
excise that terrible Big Hairy Audacious Goals nomenclature
from the consultants’ recommendations. Let’s push further
for the just right strategy and avoid being bedazzled by one
that is “full of sound and fury, signifying nothing”.
Let’s look askance at big innovations and prioritise just right
initiatives grounded in consumer need not manufacturer
capability. And, in marketing and advertising, instead of
being beguiled by the Big Idea, let’s start developing, and
choosing, Just Right Ideas. These would be more
appropriate for brands and more relevant to their audiences
than the big, or the small, varieties.
We all know what Goldilocks would think about that.