The Power of Emotion 17 Chapter 1 The Power of Emotion What Emotional Triggers Are and Why They Matter If Only! How many times, when strug- gling to solve a complex business problem, have you thought how much simpler your life would be if --Dale Carnegie only everything was a matter of black and white? If there were no gray areas? If we lived in a world of absolutes, free of "ifs," "ands," or "buts," where customers said what they meant and meant what they said? If a direct question always led to the one right solution? But the business world we actually inhabit is nothing like that. It's complicated, nuanced, and frequently perplexing. Yet despite mounting evidence to the con- trary, many of us steadfastly cling to the belief that complex issues can be solved only if they can be measured. In our search for the truth, we gravitate toward statistically verifiable answers. Such an- swers give us a sense of security, because they are concrete, unam- biguous, and absolute. If only statistically verifiable answers were always the right answers. If only they led to the one right solution. If only! When dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but creatures of emotion. 17