A man goes into a store to buy some razor blades. They're locked up. He tries to get in, but it's like robbing Fort Knox. No one is around to help. He tries harder, which sets off alarms that lead to him being assaulted by the staff. Blow darts, punches to the stomach, and so forth. Then the tag line: "It's like they don't want you to buy razor blades."

So when someone came along and offered a different way to buy razor blades, it struck a chord. According to the Wall Street Journal, web sales of razor blades through such companies as Dollar Shave Club. They've gone from no slice of the market to nearly ten percent, with little sign of slowing down.

So how did a company like Dollar Shave Club storm onto the scene and take such a big bite out of a company like Gillette that has been in existence since 1901? That's easy. Gillette and its distributors looked at things from the inside—from their perspective—not the consumer's. They made the experience of buying blades negative for shoppers. So when someone came along and listened to the consumer and then thought like a buyer, not a seller, they got a lot of buyers flocking to their side. You can only imagine the Dollar Shave Club people thinking, "Okay, people hate the way razors are sold, but stores don't want them stolen … let's just rethink how to get them in people's hands!" And they did.

Possible Preaching Angles: (1) Church; Outreach—As James Emery White argues, "Too many churches look at things from the inside." But as Christians we can take the time to look at things from the perspective of those who don't know Christ. As a result, people won't come to our churches and say, "It's almost as if they don't want you to accept Christ." (2) Listening; Communication; Conflict; Marriage—How often do we take time to look at issues, events, conflicts from the other person's perspective?