Invisible Disadvantage

Back in 1776, the same year the United States declared its indendence, a citizen of the country from which the U.S. declared its indepence, economist Adam Smith, introduced the concept of the "invisible hand" of the market place. Smith was a stong believer in unrestricted free trade between nations. His perspective was that the marketplace itself would determine prices and establish its own rules of equity regarding the exchange of goods and services between international trading partners. This came to be known as the theory of absolute advantage. To this day, there are many that remain strong supporters of Smith's view.

As part of this vision, Smith and other economists observed that there are countries that are particularly good at producing a particular thing, thus giving them an advantage over ones that have no specific speciality. Perhaps an example would be the country of Switzerland and its ability to produce watches. The Swiss are international leaders in this regard, thus giving them a bit of an advantage over nations in need of watches or without a particular advantage or speciality of their own. When it comes to communication, it seems there are individuals who bring with them a certain advantage over others as well.

This could include folks with lots of money who can afford to launch expensive advertising or public relations campaigns. Perhaps the nature of their positions gives them a much ore visible bully pulpit than others. Or they may have a recognized and strong level of expertise in a subject that generates strong interest in what they have to say on a given subject. Whatever the reason, when it comes to communicating, they have an advantage. This points to a fundamental challenge when it comes to communicating effectively. Not all participants are equal despite the dynamic of equitable interaction. This might be referred to as communication's invisible disadvantage.