Re-Post (2/2/12): If You Were Thinking You Wouldn't Have Thought That

One of the best lines from the Sandlot movie comes from none other than Michael "Squints" Palledorous.  As "Smalls" attempts to explain why he thought it would be ok to steal his baseball back from the man-eating dog, Squints utters those famous words: "If you were thinking, you wouldn't have thought that." Sounded funny in the movie, but all too often I feel like those words should be used on people in real life.  Just imagine the difference if someone had used that line in the following scenarios:

Someone at Jelly Belly:  "I think we should make a jelly bean that tastes like popcorn."  If you were thinking, you wouldn't have thought that. (see Kids Are Smarter Than Product Managers in my prior blog)


Folks in Bountiful:  "I think we should speed down a hill in the snow and see if we can make it one piece."  If you were thinking, you wouldn't have thought that. (see Bumper Cars by Tyson Bills)

Someone at McDonalds:  "I think we should use the #McDStories hashtag to build some positive mojo on Twitter."  If you were thinking, you wouldn't have thought that.  (see #McFail - Hashtag to Bashtag by Mike Penrod)

And these are just top-of-mind examples.  The possibilities are endless: Hitler attempting to take over the world; Chevy selling a car named Nova in a place where Nova means "no go"; Bill Clinton lying under oath - and the list goes on.  Next time, think it through folks.