As i commented previously, there are in reality no absolutes, no entirely black and white situations. Take the work we do: even in a really crappy concept or execution, there is always a redeeming quality, even if it's ever so slight. Likewise, the greatest, award-winningest idea can be improved somehow. It too is never the absolute best. (Practically speaking, we might spend another 40 hours to improve an idea, but one must always weigh the ROI of such an endeavour... will any client ever pay us to spend 500 hours to reach 99.99% perfection, when we can spend 50 hours to reach 99%? Absolute perfection is an ideal, not practical reality.) As you allude to in your post, absolutes are for the ethics and morality and philosophy classes. In our world, the only absolutes are the opinions of those who have the final say.

Right and wrong, black and white... it seems everything is a matter of choice. It is true, and probably too easy, but it still applies to branding. Mac or PC? Breitling or Cartier ? Ferrari or Porsche ?, Beattles or Rolling Stones... I am definitively Mac, Breitling and Ferrari My choices have been made. But does it really matters? Are my choices a reflection of an extreme option? Do my choices stereotype or put in a specific league? This in turn raises an argument on point of views and perspective. Is the famous glass still half empty or half full (by now one would have assumed that it has been fully drunk!...)? Does it really matter, regardless of the way you look at it? It is still half!! Being on one side of the river matters. It is like being right or wrong. You make a choice and you stick to it. However, when it comes to qualifying that choice, does the same logic apply? For example, presenting our ideas or concepts to clients. Do we have the best concepts ? Or are they qualified as 'winning concept' when they are selected by our clients ? In such a cases, we would probably talk about relatives. But I guess even then, the debate will turn to relatives or absolutes ? Finally, maybe absolutes exist only because they coexist in a relative word...

Think about Terry's point -- look at the same history written by winners and loosers of the same conflict -- what do you think? As for music I'm still a Doors fan but the point is interesting -- you make a choice -- and you stick with it -- until you change yoru mind......I just heard Lester speak at a conference and his point always is -- who is going to make eternal choices for toothpaste?

You're right on, David. Without getting overly political here because I don't quite think this is the forum, listen to the history of the Arab/Israeli conflict from both sides and you'll think you're hearing about two completely separate set of events. We all make end up making judgments about a variety of issues or (in the case of marketing,) purchases, but those judgments and decisions are subject to a long list of factors that can even shift from day to day, or hour to hour. Truth is a moving target.

Its not a statement of politics or sides -- I agree with you -- so how does this impact our business challenge if everything is a moving target?

There are absolutes. The problem with this world is that we fail to realize this. There is a right and wrong answer to every question. Many, if not all, cannot (or will not) dig deep enough to find the true answer. They are swayed by the factors around them whether physical, environmental, social, political, spiritual, etc. Many choose the answer that best fits them. I am not perfect by any means and I make bad choices, but deep down I know what is right and what is wrong. Some have made the wrong choices for so long that they have forgotten the right one.

I have to disagree. I think there are clear right and wrong answers for some things (Is it okay to let an 4 year old drive your car? No), but for other things, answers are definitely gray. For example, this weekend, I was asked what my top five favorite movies were. My answer to that question will be different every time you ask, and depends on my mood, what I've seen recently, and how well my memory is working at any given time. It's a rather mundane example, but the right/wrong element extends to things as profound as religion and cultural values. If everything had a clear right and wrong answer, we wouldn't have such entrenched debates over things like abortion, gay marriage and capitol punishment. After all, people on either side of those arguments think that they are truly right - and given each person is different, and everyone has reasons for their own covictions, they all are.

First of all, I have to disagree on the either/or-thing. There is always an either/or in life. Either it is black or it is not black (which doesn't mean automatically it has to be white!). But I think, I understand, what you mean. I'm also not sure, if we "need" both - either and or -, but we have them anyway. They are, so to speak. Even though mostly they came as either-or-or-or-or... But back to the challenge and Nacy Willards quote: Speaking of questions, this one came up in my mind: If questions really are more important than answers "sometimes", what happens the rest of the time, when it's not "sometime"? This insight seems to me as high as "Sometimes it rains, you know." Nancy surely had better ones. Of course and apparently it is not wrong. For me, personally, it's worse, meaningless, so to speak. But that's just how it effects me. On the other hand, I fully agree with you, that there are no absolutes. Even this conclusion isn't. If anybody out there can proof me wrong, I would be delighted. C'mon, proof me ;-) Just a little thought, DJ's comment brought me to. Could it be, that every decision I make, everything I do, is right and wrong as well? I mean, if it is right for me, does that mean, this has to be right for everyone else? Will it remain right, the rest of my life? Or at least the rest of today? Hard to decide...

Wrong is defined as that which is not right. So for the universe of answers to a particular question there is only one answer which is right, the remaining answers being wrong. (Ties are possible for the right answer.) To be able to define an answer as wrong or right, we need to define a goal. For example, suppose the question is, "On which three of our clients should we invest much more that we are currently investing?" Suppose furthermore that our goal is to maximize profit in the next ten years. Imagine that you can create parallel universes - one for each possible answer. Ten years from now, by looking into these parallel universes, you can measure the profit earned by each of these answers. One answer will have yielded the highest profit. That is the right answer to that question, given that goal. Just because we can't predict the future doesn't mean that no right and wrong exist. They do; and different people can identify right and wrong answers with varying degrees of accuracy.

Hmmm, a very good thought. I wonder, what happens, if our management realizes, the top three on the list are clients we do not have at the moment? :-)