Always Ask for Your Money
I visited a resort with my family in a quiet village far away from the hustle and bustle of Lagos metropolis where we called home. It was Christmas and the resort was agog with activities accompanied by the music of commerce, that caused us all to dance the give and take. There were a host of events, shows and side attractions lined up for our enjoyment —some of which were a talent show featuring an ‘African’ Michael Jackson, a trio of acrobatic dancers, and a one-man balancing act who did a bit of magic.
As we watched each show, immersing ourselves into into the experience each performer offered, I observed something.
During each performance, any member of the crowd who was excited by the performance came out into the amphitheater to plaster money on the performer’s face(s). I noticed that despite each of the three performers bringing a lot of energy and creativity to their performances — one act, the one-man balancing, act earned about 3000% more than the highest earner of the other two performers. To put it in context, let’s assume the African Michael Jackson earned $100 and the trio of dancers earned $400, our top earner took home $12,000. It was the same stage, and the same crowd, with the same amount of money to spend — so what did the top earner do differently?
