It’s tempting to go to an extreme. Unreasonable design standards, quality or hospitality are an effective way to gain share, delight customers and spread the word. To be unreasonable in service of your customers is a practice and a commitment.
Along the way, though, reality sets in. The boss has multiple priorities. The uncompromising edges of unreasonable are truly expensive. They take time and effort and money… and they’re unreasonable.
And so, we pull back a bit. We go much of the way, but not quite to ridiculous.
The thing is, rational, compromised unreason has a name: it’s called normal.
If you want the benefits that come from being unreasonable on behalf of your customers, you’re going to have to pay the price as well.
Unreasonable works precisely because most people aren’t driven to go all the way there.