Lipstick On A Bathroom Mirror, Financier J.P. Morgan's Priceless Ming Vases, And Pop Star Ed Sheeran Gets Sued: How Following A Common Cliche Can Help Everyone Convince Anyone Of Anything
3-Word Quote: “Vision Is Vital”
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1.
The middle school had a problem.
And it was happening in the girls' bathroom.
Now, this problem wasn't dangerous - it didn't involve drugs or smoking in the restroom.
And it didn't involve bullying or any other major issue some schools face.
But it happened daily, and the school administrators couldn't stop it.
During the year, many girls had begun experimenting with make-up.
Lipstick, in particular, according to an advertising executive who shared the story of the school girls.
According to the story, many girls would venture into the restroom and try new brands and shades of lipstick.
But this wasn't the problem.
After putting on their lipstick in the bathroom, some of the girls began to kiss the bathroom mirror, leaving imprints of their coated lips on the glass.
They thought it was fun.
It wasn't a significant problem, but multiple lip prints began dotting the mirror daily.
And so, each day, the custodian would have to spend extra time scrubbing the mirror to remove the prints.
Administrators made announcements requesting an end to the behavior.
Teachers asked the girls to stop kissing the mirror in an effort to eliminate the lip prints.
Signs were posted reminding the girls this was against school rules.
As you might expect, these requests were not successful.
The red lip prints continued to appear on the mirror.
But after weeks of this, all the lip prints disappeared overnight.
2.
J. P. Morgan was a financier and a true titan, one of the wealthiest men in the early 1900s.
He was called "America's greatest banker."
He was the driving force behind many corporations, including US Steel, General Electric, and International Harvester.
Morgan also 'held controlling interest' in Western Union, Aetna, and dozens of railroads.
His banking interests and investments made J.P. Morgan one of the wealthiest men in the world.
But Morgan had many interests beyond business.
He was involved in philanthropy. He had one of the largest gem collections in the world. He loved photography, and he was a yachtsman and a sailor.
And he had a passion for collecting art.
He had so much art that he loaned many pieces to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where he was a founding trustee and served as board president.
Morgan also demanded excellence from those he worked with.
Once, when expanding his art collection, a man named Joseph Duveen was called to Morgan's estate.
Duveen was the most significant art dealer at the time.
But when Duveen excitedly arrived at Morgan's mansion, he was not greeted warmly by Morgan.
No pleasantries were exchanged.
Instead, Morgan barked out a single order to Duveen.
3.
There are 100,000 new songs uploaded onto Spotify every single day.
100,000 songs.
That is a massive amount of new music.
And while all those songs are unique, a few sound similar to each other.
Because of this, more musical artists are being sued for copyright infringements - lawsuits claiming parts of existing songs were copied in creating a new song.
These lawsuits are more common than one might expect.
The cases are often brought against well-known artists - and are usually settled.
If you did a thirty-second online search, you'd discover:
*Led Zeppelin settled six cases.
*Madonna settled two plagiarism disputes.
*Bruno Mars settled four disputes.
*Mariah Carey settled three cases.
*The Rolling Stones also settled three cases.
Most cases are settled quietly; often, you don't hear about these cases in the news.
But a copyright case was filed last year against mega-selling pop artist Ed Sheeran.
If you listened to any pop radio in the last decade, you've heard plenty of Ed Sheeran tracks, fourteen of those songs becoming number-one hits.
Sheeran was accused of copying parts of Marvin Gaye's classic Let's Get It On and using them in Thinking Out Loud, Sheeran's Grammy-winning ballad.
Sheeran was accused of using chords in his song that were nearly identical to Let’s Get It On.
But this case wasn't settled quietly like some other cases. It went to trial, and Sheeran took the stand in federal court in Manhattan.
Many experts weren't sure what the outcome would be.
In court, Sheeran claimed he wrote his song quickly and with a co-writer in February 2014.
Sheeran also claimed that the chord progression he was accused of copying is prevalent throughout pop music, even used in songs before Marvin Gaye's recording.
Sheeran said these particular chords are like 'building blocks and fair game for any musician.'
The trial was watched closely by both lawyers and musicians.
Ed Sheeran taking the stand was crucial to the case.
But the turning point in the case, many believed, was when he pulled an object from behind the witness stand.
The Takeaway:
So what does a middle school with a lipstick problem, J.P. Morgan's art dealer, and Ed Sheeran being sued all have in common?
All three are examples of a common cliche many people forget when trying to convince anyone of anything - mainly, that seeing is believing.
In short, words always prime people to think. But, if the words are combined with action - by demonstrating something - then people’s behavior often changes.
The middle school girls who were having fun leaving lipstick prints on the mirror had been asked to stop.
The teachers warned them.
The principal talked to them.
Others had discussed how much extra work it added to the custodian's jobs.
The words didn't work.
So, one day, the principal brought some of the girls he suspected of kissing the mirror into the restroom.
The principal also brought the custodian into the restroom.
The principal reminded the girls how much extra work the custodian had to do daily to get the lipstick off the mirror.
The girls didn't respond.
But the principal continued talking and told the custodian, "Please show the girls how much work it takes."
The custodian grabbed the mop and dipped the mophead into the toilet.
She then removed the mop from the toilet and began to swab the mirror back and forth with the mop.
The mop was dunked into the toilet again and again the custodian wiped down the mirror with the mop - and the toilet water.
The girls looked on in shock.
The school never had any more issues with lipstick on the mirror again.
Seeing is believing.
But seeing also often changes behavior. It's the additive that some must have before a change is made.
***
So when Joseph Duveen called on J.P. Morgan to discuss art, Duveen's reputation preceded him.
Duveen was one of the world's greatest art dealers of the time.
J.P. Morgan didn't care.
When Duveen arrived, Morgan did not greet Duveen with kind introductions.
He looked at Duveen and pointed to five large, priceless Ming vases on the floor.
All five vases looked identical.
But Morgan explained to Duveen that of the five vases on the marble floor, only three were sixteenth-century Ming vases and, therefore, priceless.
Two of the vases were fake but had cost Morgan a fortune to produce.
Morgan ordered Duveen to take some time and carefully examine all five vases.
Once done, Morgan demanded that Duveen point to the two forgeries.
Duveen leaned on his 'pearl-handled cane' but did not respond with an answer.
The art dealer took but a few seconds to analyze the vases.
He then took his cane and, without a word, 'smashed two of them to smithereens.'
Duveen didn't have to tell Morgan which vases were frauds - he showed him.
From that moment on, Joseph Duveen handled all of Morgan's extensive art collections.
***
And what of Ed Sheeran and his lawsuit?
The case was critically crucial to Sheeran. He wanted to prove he did not steal any part of another song.
He wanted to defend himself - and his creativity.
The case seemed to be deadlocked until Sheeran took the stand.
On the witness stand, Sheeran explained how he created songs.
He told about how quickly he worked.
He described how he could write multiple songs in a day on some days.
He explained how many songs often share similar chords and similar chord progressions.
But it wasn't until he pulled out something from behind the witness stand that many people think turned the case in his favor.
From behind the stand, he pulled out his guitar.
And he performed.
Not a concert. Not complete songs.
But he sang several lines from Thinking Out Loud - his Grammy-winning song that was accused of using part of Gaye's song.
And he played several chords to show how and where his song differed musically from Gaye's.
He demonstrated. He showed.
The jury listened. They watched.
And after watching, the jury was convinced - Sheeran was found not guilty.
The principal, the art dealer, and the pop star all knew what had to be done.
When people don't believe our words, we must convince them with action.
It's ancient advice; it's a common cliche - but seeing truly is believing.
But we often forget those words - perhaps if we had someone to show us, we'd remember to enact the advice.
Sometimes, we need to stop telling people how great a cook we are. And instead, we need to get in the kitchen and make them a killer meal.
3 things before you go:
watch: an interview with Ed Sheeran where he shows what he played the jury during his trial
watch more: while we are on the subject of Ed Sheeran - great clip about how one of his songs (Shape of You) came together; love behind the scenes on how art gets created; especially enjoyed that one of the cocreatorrs said Sheeran has a short attention span and that he brings in Legos for Sheeran to play with during writing sessions
Listen: Bleachers (Modern Girl) current single that reminds me of Elvis Costello, Bruce Springsteen, and David Bowie (and maybe a little Lou Reed attitude) all combined into one great song; sounds like 80s new wave; always love a song with a good horn section
Thanks for reading. See you in 10 days.
-Jeff