A week ago, I watched 60 minutes followed by The Grammy’s. What a great night of TV! Steve Croft’s rare interview of Cold Play and Paltrow’s main-man, Chris Martin, shared a beautiful metaphor for our times. And, then, the Grammy’s stunningly fantastic line-up of collaborations delivered another metaphor for winning in this era.

Martin spoke of what it is like to perform in massive arenas, amplifiers and speakers blaring behind them, before thousands of fans screaming in front of them, peering out into blinding spotlights. He feels the beat of the drums and hears his own voice coming back into his ear-piece, but the only thing he can really see out there is the light coming from the exit doors dotting the perimeter of each level in the room. When asked how he can tell whether the crowd is enjoying their music amidst this chaos, he said that if he can see silhouettes in the doorways, it means people are bored and going to get refreshments. If the doorways are clear, they are pleasing the crowd; delivering what the market wants.

Simple enough. If Timothy Geithner and Barack Obama could only identify where the doorways are….they might be able to better gauge the response to their performance. For now, perhaps the drop in the DOW means that people are headed to the refreshment stands.

Simple enough. In two-sided markets, in emerging payments arenas, if only those on the stage could figure out how to bring the patrons into their seats. For now, there may be too many pyrotechnics in the performance hall to even see the doorways. But, maybe there is a clue in the hall-shaking Cold Play repertoire. People flock to and jump up on their seats for the familiar, the well-known. Sure, they expect a concert riff on top of their favorite tunes. They paid huge bucks for the killer app combination of the familiar with exciting improvisations in real-time. Those who observe buying patterns and play to those recurring needs will see clear doorways when the smoke clears.

Then on to the Grammy’s. Chris Martin, again, but out of the shadows appears JayZ in collaboration, then Justin Timberlake and Reverend All Green with Keith Urban and John Legend; BB King with John Mayer, Buddy Guy and Urban; Paul McCartney and Radiohead, Miley Cyrus and Taylor Swift, and finally, Stevie Wonder and the Jonas Brothers.

Simple enough. Tried and true, old and new. Immense talent in both the past and the present. Established products blending with emerging products to deliver the killer app. The result, the best Grammy show in years.

Simple enough. Cards and mobile phones. Data and analytics. Legacy systems and clouds.

Partner the old and new together on the stage, deliver payments innovations that perform and be confident the audience will be in their seats when the air clears.

Simple enough.