7 Things About Magic That You Should Have Learned In Business School – #2

#2 – Mystery is valuable.

Just having the secret doesn't mean you can do the magic, but you can't create the experience of magic without a secret. — Just having the secret doesn’t mean you can do the magic, but you can’t create the experience of magic without a secret.

It’s one of the primary rules of magic: don’t reveal the secret of the illusion.

If you tell the audience your secrets, then the wonderful moment you created for them only seconds ago will lose a lot of its impact. Mystery, in the context of magic, is not about lying or deception. Magic is not about “fooling people.” The whole point is to create an experience that doesn’t seem possible. That unexpected mystery is a captivating element that engages interest and it should not be squandered. Mystery is too valuable to be squandered.

In business, if you create an experience in working with you and in experiencing your product or service that surpasses expectations of what people generally consider possible, then you will have created a rare and beautiful mystery. Don’t spoil it by letting the process become the narrative.

Keep your secrets secret, and let your customer focus on what you made them feel, not how you made them feel it.

What about you?

Certainly the secret formula to Coca-Cola is a classic example of a valuable business mystery. Can you think of any others? What about your own business – without exposing it, do you have a secret that helps you preserve some mystery for your audience? Let me hear from you in the comments!