You Can't Polish A Sneaker

My apologies to those who cherish their sneakers, but my point is that even if you polish a hollow shell, it’s still nothing but a hollow shell. When I was growing up, we used white Kiwi polish to make our sneakers look new, but no matter how hard we tried, an ugly sneaker remained an ugly sneaker. 

Now when I see a briefing that’s heavy on style but short on substance or focus, I say, “You’re not going to be able to polish that sneaker.” It’s a polite way of saying you haven’t started out with anything meaningful. 

Trying to polish a sneaker can actually be dangerous because it may inadvertently convince others that the sneaker has a value that it doesn’t really possess. This can lead organizations down unproductive dead ends.