This is one of the faculties which we use continuously, but have given
very little thought to its conscious improvement. Every judgment
rendered in business life is largely dependent for accuracy upon this
faculty.
You may intend investing money in a piece of real estate. You go out to
look at it. What you see on this trip of inspection is a large factor
in your decision. Your ability to observe all existing conditions will
go a long way towards determining whether or not your judgment in
buying this property is correct. If the surrounding land is higher, and
you do not observe this fact, you will probably discover, when winter
comes, that you have purchased a mud hole.
Two men go to inspect a piece of mining property. Mr. A decides to
invest, while Mr. B decides not to. In talking over the situation later
on A inquires of B why he did not invest, and finds that B saw many
things about the location of the property which he did not see at all.
In every decision of life we depend largely upon our observation; upon
the things we see. A keen observation is of great help to the salesman
in finding a point of contact with the prospective buyer. When he
enters the man's office his eyes are keen and alert. He sees the golf
bag or tennis racquet in the corner, or a book on the man's desk, the
title of which he can read at a glance. These things reveal to him the
things in which this man is interested.
If all faces look alike to you you will of course call them all by the
same name. Your friends are all different in their appearance. It is
your observation which detects this difference. You may have thought
that Mr. Jones and Mr. Smith look very much alike, but when you see
the two side by side you are surprised that you ever thought they
resembled each other. Such cases are not at all rare, and show that the
observation has not been as keen and accurate as it should have been.