Value of Observation
This is one of the faculties which we use continuously, but have given very little thought to its conscious improvement. Every judgment rendered in business life is largely dependent for accuracy upon this faculty.
You may intend investing money in a piece of real estate. You go out to look at it. What you see on this trip of inspection is a large factor in your decision. Your ability to observe all existing conditions will go a long way towards determining whether or not your judgment in buying this property is correct. If the surrounding land is higher, and you do not observe this fact, you will probably discover, when winter comes, that you have purchased a mud hole.
Two men go to inspect a piece of mining property. Mr. A decides to invest, while Mr. B decides not to. In talking over the situation later on A inquires of B why he did not invest, and finds that B saw many things about the location of the property which he did not see at all.
In every decision of life we depend largely upon our observation; upon the things we see. A keen observation is of great help to the salesman in finding a point of contact with the prospective buyer. When he enters the man's office his eyes are keen and alert. He sees the golf bag or tennis racquet in the corner, or a book on the man's desk, the title of which he can read at a glance. These things reveal to him the things in which this man is interested.
If all faces look alike to you you will of course call them all by the same name. Your friends are all different in their appearance. It is your observation which detects this difference. You may have thought that Mr. Jones and Mr. Smith look very much alike, but when you see the two side by side you are surprised that you ever thought they resembled each other. Such cases are not at all rare, and show that the observation has not been as keen and accurate as it should have been.