BrainTrust Query: Can ‘The Secret’ Help your Business?

By Ian Percy, President, The Ian Percy Corp.

If you’re asking “What secret?” you’ve been away on a safari far too long. The book is outselling Harry Potter. Oprah is absolutely fawning over both the book and the DVD and Larry King has had the ‘stars’ of the movie on repeatedly. On the other hand I’ve received about a dozen blogs in the last few weeks brutally denouncing the premise of The Secret as absolute drivel. To be honest “drivel” wasn’t the word; they used a more agricultural term.

The fundamental concept is that we attract what we have in our lives through what we think and feel. It’s called The Law of Attraction. If you’re ‘dumb, sick and broke’, you attracted that condition because you think ‘dumb, sick and broke.’Likewise if your life is overflowing with abundance and joy, you attracted that abundance and joy again because of the thoughts you constantly entertain.

Since everything around you began as thought, as an idea–including your business, it’s pretty hard to argue against that foundational premise of The Secret. Your level of business success matches the level of thinking in your mind and the minds of your employees. If you want to change your results; change how people think. Of course that’s not so easy to do.

Your future is literally waiting for your instructions and you give those instructions by how you think. I’ve seen retailers interviewed about business on television and they go on about how tough it is, how people aren’t buying and other tales of woe. They create the very circumstances they fear! Viewers won’t go to that store for sure because clearly the guy’s a pathetic loser and his products probably suck too. Up to this point I think the movie is right on the money.

One shortcoming of The Secret, however, is its failure to clarify that you can’t realize your dreams just by going ‘ohmmm’ and sitting on your butt. When the universe brings circumstances to you in line with your thoughts you’ve got to take action! If you don’t, the universe stops bringing opportunities to you. Success isn’t just about dreaming big; it’s about doing big.

Finally–and this is the most important point of all–is the fact that while you always reap what you sow–sometimes you reap what you didn’t sow. The fact is other people can sow weeds in your garden.

Critics of The Secret always bring up the holocaust example or that of a baby born with HIV AIDS. The purpose of these difficult examples is to show that we do not always create our own circumstances as The Secret implies. This is where it falls sadly short of being truly helpful in lifting people out of negative circumstances.

Those who died in that tragic way did not manifest their death by how they thought. But others had evil thoughts resulting in that tragedy. A baby born with HIV AIDS did NOT manifest that condition–her mother or father or goodness knows who else did. In both examples innocent people had to reap what they didn’t sow. Unfortunately The Secret (and the gurus who keep being interview on Oprah, etc.) says absolutely nothing about this.

Here’s the thing–we each individually do need to look at how we use the power of our minds and thoughts to create and attract the world we long for. And when we see signals in that direction, we’ve got to act on them. “I” am responsible. True personally; true in business. The Secret will teach you that.

Here’s the other thing–as Martin Luther King said “We’re all tied in a single garment of destiny” and we’ve got to recognize that no decision we make is an isolated decision. We constantly influence the experience of others for good or ill. All of the wounds we’re experiencing as human society from debilitating bureaucracy to global warming to oil dependency to corporate fraud are self-inflicted wounds that the collective “we” is responsible for. Being human is an inter-dependent condition. The Secret doesn’t teach you that.

Discussion Questions: Do you think a business would do itself a favor by learning from quantum thinkers and movies/books like “The Secret” or are such things just a bunch of new-age ramblings meant to prey on the helpless? (In discussion please be clear about whether or not you’ve actually read the book/seen the movie or if you are simply reacting to this post. Both perspectives are welcomed.)

BrainTrust

Discussion Questions

Poll

20 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Jerry Gelsomino
Jerry Gelsomino
17 years ago

Like many of the other commentators, I wonder what’s so new about “The Secret”? I didn’t hear about this book/movie until it came up here. Outselling Harry Potter, the ultimate PMA character? We’ve all heard it before. The real secret might be how people and organizations keep a positive attitude when times are tough and people turn against you? How do you keep your resolve to do good when you are caught doing wrong, get publicly punished for your actions (prison, lawsuit, etc.), and still turn this around to a media spectacle? Sound familiar?

Carol Spieckerman
Carol Spieckerman
17 years ago

Have seen the movie, read the book (don’t have the T-shirt…yet–ha!).

As is usually the case, the backlash on “The Secret” is more simplistic than the concept itself. “The Secret” is not about thinking positively and waiting for something good to happen (otherwise known as “hope”), it is about making specific emotionally and mentally-engaged plans and putting them into motion by moving toward them in thought and action (doing something!) It is not a passive process.

The Secret’s biggest strength is just the way Oprah described it; it doesn’t claim to provide completely new information; however, it somehow manages to articulate ideas that just plain work. The Secret’s principles are absolutely relevant to retail. Retailer and vendor success used to be all about quick reaction. Quick reaction to competitive situations, changes in consumer preferences, etc. The retailers and vendors that still run their businesses this way (and there are many) are heading for extinction. The Secret’s concept of looking many steps ahead toward future results, without getting derailed by temporary set-backs, is a proactive model for success.

Retro retailers and vendors also tend to think in terms of scarcity; that if a competitor gets more business, they by default will have less and there is nothing that can be done about it. The Secret re-introduces the concept of endless abundance; that there’s plenty of everything to go around. Whether you believe that or not, how different would retail be if everyone playing truly believed in abundance?

Bernie Slome
Bernie Slome
17 years ago

My head is in the sand. I have neither read, seen or heard about “The Secret.” But having read the discussion and subsequent comments, I agree with the comments from Susan, Bernice and Joe. This is nothing new.

Success breeds success. There is no such thing as luck, rather it is picking the right opportunity and making it happen. For the most part we have choices…it is what we do with the choices that makes the difference.

Bernice Hurst
Bernice Hurst
17 years ago

Haven’t been there, haven’t seen it, haven’t even heard of it. “new-age ramblings,” absolutely though not necessarily “meant to prey on the helpless.” There’s no reason not to think positively and try to be the master of one’s own ship but that is no guarantee of safe harbour no matter how strong your beliefs or prayers.

Susan Rider
Susan Rider
17 years ago

Whether you believe in “The Secret” or not, the fundamental philosophy remains the same–a positive, can do attitude breeds success. If you have a positive, can do attitude and others in the company have a positive, can do attitude you will be a success, because you are dedicated and believe in what you are doing. You create PASSION and companies with the same purpose and passion are successful. Success breeds success.

Paula Rosenblum
Paula Rosenblum
17 years ago

I’ve seen most of “The Secret” and also read and heard must of the seminal works on Law of Attraction (Abraham-Hicks most recently and others dating back for generations), so I think I can speak on the subject.

OF COURSE business can make use of the tenets discussed in “The Secret.” And OF COURSE one needs an action plan as well. Action is part of attracting what you want. We’ve all known perennial victims who spend their lives wondering “What happened?” And we’ve all known retailers who did the same. We watched supermarkets cower as Wal-Mart invaded their turf, and watched the demise of regional mass merchants in the same way. They felt their destiny was pre-ordained.

So what’s changed? Why are there suddenly other successful retailers? How did the mid-market get so hot? And why do we find ourselves entering the post-Channel Master age? Because other retailers saw an opportunity. They saw and envisioned a way they could get the consumer engaged, interested, and they also saw they could gain a serious share of that consumer’s wallet. And they acted in practical and pragmatic ways to make it happen.

I spent a long time in India back in the day, and I saw a people who presumed their karma dictated their future. They were powerless. Today’s India is different, and today’s retailers are different. Instead of seeing themselves as victims of fate, they seem themselves as the architects of their success and prosperity.

How cool is that? It’s not really a secret, is it?

Joe Delaney
Joe Delaney
17 years ago

Is that another wave of nostalgia I am feeling or another bout of nausea? Correct me if I am wrong, but is not “The Secret” a rehash of everyone’s favorite 1980’s hit “The Self Fulfilling Prophecy”? Perhaps Aesop wrote a more entertaining version of this in 600BC.

There are always some that will take it to heart and perhaps be better for it. But, overall, I doubt it will have much affect.

David A. Fields
David A. Fields
17 years ago

I’ve seen the movie and I lean toward the side which says it is cotton candy for the chronically naïve. However, as to the question of whether retailers’ thinking can affect their results, recent discoveries in neuroscience suggest: Yes.

Studies show that most people literally feel the emotions of others with whom they are engaged in conversation due to the presence of “mirror neurons” in the brain. Other studies show that by changing your thinking pattern you can physically change your brain–i.e., hardwiring isn’t as rigid as we once thought.

Therefore, if we were able to get the associates out on the floor to practice thinking with a positive, engaging, sales-friendly outlook it would become self-perpetuating (change in physical brain) and would induce similar, sales-friendly feelings in shoppers.

Ryan Mathews
Ryan Mathews
17 years ago

I think and feel like a literate and logical person with a deep background in real philosophy. The best way to make money on “The Secret” is to sell it.

Roger Selbert, Ph.D.
Roger Selbert, Ph.D.
17 years ago

Yes, I’ve seen the movie. Although “The Secret” is a bit of a tautology (a proposition or statement that only confirms itself), it doesn’t hurt to have a positive attitude. There might be something to the “aura” or “energy” we create around ourselves; even if it doesn’t affect events, it certainly can affect the way we feel, and how we react and deal with them.

So I will put in a word for the defenders of “The Secret,” and against the people who so violently attack it, because it doesn’t really say “wishing will make it so.” The idea is that positive thoughts will become actions, and that you will be open to success (since apparently a lot of people have trouble believing they deserve it).

Mark Lilien
Mark Lilien
17 years ago

Inspiration can be gained by an infinite variety of ways. For some, it’s a book. For others, it’s a charismatic leader. For many, it’s religion. And one person’s inspiration can easily be another person’s shoulder shrug. Furthermore, regardless of one’s inspiration, some events will be random, both good and bad. Can “The Secret” help retailers? Sure, it can help some. Is it the key for everyone? There is no single key for everyone.

Bob Houk
Bob Houk
17 years ago

Of course a positive attitude is generally helpful. Beyond that, this thing is just silly. It’s a shame that some people fall for this kind of stuff, but it’s nothing new (Norman Vincent Peale, among others, sold the same idea).

I salute the producers of the book and movie for their success in selling it again–they are ongoing proof that Barnum was right.

No–there’s no management application, beyond my first sentence.

Don Delzell
Don Delzell
17 years ago

For a very long time, disciplines like medicine and business have attempted to view people as single functional cyphers, focusing only on the body (medicine) or performance (business). Today’s medical community acknowledges and is learning to embrace the mind-body-spirit triumvirate, supported by solid science which indicates better results with a comprehensive approach. Today’s business community is beginning to acknowledge that there is more to business than facts, strategies, performance and results. The wave of interest in Servant Leadership is an example. HR professionals have known for a very long time that the single most powerful motivator isn’t money, status or prestige in the work place. It’s an almost impossible to reach sense of contributing to a greater purpose. Studies have shown that businesses which have such a mission outperform those who don’t. Period.

To dismiss the underlying belief system inherent in “The Secret” is myopic. If people are embracing this, and retail is made up of people (doing things in the business and buying things from the business), then understanding how people are changing is critical. Isn’t it? Remember all the stuff about Gen X, Gen Y and Gen XY? Was that new age mumbo jumbo?

There are two ways, at least, that I can see incorporating the Law of Attraction (and yes, I can speak on this having read the book, seen the movie, and attended church regularly where one of the “stars” of movie speaks)…understanding exactly what it is your consumer is trying to “attract” and aligning yourself with that (isn’t this consistent with aspirational marketing?)…and developing internally the vision and mission necessary to become and environment which attracts the people and energy you need to be successful.

Good businesses already do this. When hiring, excellent businesses envision the whole individual. They don’t just make lists of knowledge, skills and talents. Really good executive recruiting is completely the art of applying the Law of Attraction. If as a business, you keep hiring the “wrong” people, or have excessive turnover, then why not look at what you are “attracting”?

Race Cowgill
Race Cowgill
17 years ago

Here we go again. I believe that the problem with a discussion like this is that what we are talking about is what each of us fundamentally believes in. For those who truly believe in the philosophical underpinnings described in “The Secret,” the film and book are utterly valuable and useful, including for running a business of any kind. For those who do not, they are “drivel.”

I am sorry that we do not yet seem to understand that each of us can believe in fundamentally different philosophical ideas about how the Universe works, and that each of us will live a life that confirms what we believe in. I have not found any two people ever who believed exactly the same thing about how the Universe works, and yet I have found thousands of people who have, and seem ready, to die for their beliefs–apparently, we each believe something a little different and we each believe to the death that our beliefs are true.

I hope we can come to have more respectful and productive discussions of topics like this. Just because we get lots of discussion of a topic doesn’t necessarily mean that the discussion is useful or respectful, or that we are learning anything. Please, let us find a way to all be more thoughtful when we discuss topics like this.

Nikki Baird
Nikki Baird
17 years ago

I, too, apparently live in a cultural hole because I haven’t heard of the book or the movie. But I have heard the Pike Place Fish people speak, and this sounds an awful lot like their message. You can’t get to a positive future if you can’t visualize that future happening. If you have visualized it, then you recognize the opportunities that will get you there and will be prepared to take them when they come. Sure, that’s easier said than done, especially when you are in the middle of setbacks, but you know, it doesn’t cost you anything (except maybe the price of the book or movie I guess) to do it, so what’s the harm in trying it?

Steve Weiss
Steve Weiss
17 years ago

Happy thoughts are better than sad thoughts? Cool. Can’t wait to try that out!

M. Jericho Banks PhD
M. Jericho Banks PhD
17 years ago

“The Power Of Positive Thinking,” “The da Vinci Code,” “23,” “Think And Grow Rich,” and the list of mysterious, magical secrets extends. Now we have “The Secret,” accompanied by Ian Percy’s personal philosophy (which disagrees with “TS”). But no thanks, Ian, unless you’re prepared to investigate my personal philosophy in return. All of these philosophies have to do with men being controlling and godlike–the exact idea the serpent sold to Eve.

Race Cowgill is absolutely on target when he writes, “Just because we get lots of discussion of a topic doesn’t necessarily mean that the discussion is useful or respectful, or that we are learning anything.” Very cool, Race.

Deborah Gray-Young
Deborah Gray-Young
17 years ago

There is so much more to “The Secret” than is presented in the commercially appealing DVD and book as a few of you have no doubt discovered.

As a spiritual education teacher, the secret behind The Secret has its origins in the philosophy of idealism – the Plato school, which simply stated says all ideas begin in the mind. As for whether we draw our experiences to us, you don’t have to take anybody’s word for it. Simply examine the conditions of your life and situations in which you find yourself and you will also find that they reflect your intentions exactly. It is the underpinning of “do unto others….,” because your intentions for others will always come back to you. Always!

Anna Murray
Anna Murray
17 years ago

At the risk of being branded a new-age wacko, I have an admission: I was introduced to the Law of Attraction five years ago by a consultant who helps business people use it to improve their businesses (and lives). The results have been utterly amazing. I have a few observations…

1. The Secret video and book package the Law of Attraction very well for those who may have never heard about the concept. It’s simple and attractive, great production values–just like it needs to be. Think of it as an intro course, or infomercial about a much larger topic.

2. The Law of Attraction–if you study and practice it–is much more complex than the video suggests. It has many more levels, steps, exercises, concepts than simply “ask and you shall receive.” A small example: The very first step to achieving what you want–let’s say in sales–is to be very CLEAR about what you want. “I want five new customers this quarter.” But, let’s say you have a blockage in your organization. This produces conflict and lack of clarity. Getting an organization into a state of balance out of which a clear vision can emerge, is often the toughest step.

3. I’m a cynic too. I didn’t believe any of this until someone I trusted showed me their results and referred me to their consultant. I don’t like when powerful ideas are reduced to pop-culture phenomena. That said, I think the vitriol unloosed against The Secret is nauseating. We live in a relentlessly negative culture. It’s almost hip to predict gloom and doom and not believe anything. To the snarky, nasty critics of The Secret I am confident they will attract to themselves more of what they are putting out.

Odonna Mathews
Odonna Mathews
16 years ago

There have been so many interesting thoughts expressed already here. There is no escape that being positive is essential to success, in our professional and private lives. And taking action to get where you want is essential for any retailer today.