Lennart : Yeah, I like the model too. I've been trying to punch holes in it but, so far, maybe short of an epiphany, it seems pretty solid. But about what Ernie just said ( grumble, grumble ), as good friends as we are, we sometimes also are good opponents. Actually it seems to me that while you can have a movement without much of a philosophy, with a well conceived philosophy the movement has a much better chance of serious ( real world ) success. But creating a really good philosophy isn't easy. For me it has been ridiculously difficult. Because my objective is comprehensiveness. More limited objectives and the "problem" would be far more manageable. But "city desk" thinking bores me enormously as much as someone's gotta do it. And if it takes extra time to work out fundamental issues and take nothing at all for granted, if being a contrarian means being misunderstood 3/4ths of the time, I can't see any other MO that makes really good sense over any kind of long haul. Otherwise it is all too easy to become, in some fashion, one more hack, cranking out predictable stuff. Which is why, for instance, I value comments by, say, George Will or Charles Krauthammer or ( on his good days ) Tom Friedman, waaaaaaaaaay more than Rush Limbaugh or his many clones. For contrarianism to work, it needs a philosophy which is both conceptually driven and pragmatic. But, for sure, all there is to show for a lot of effort so far are several major incomplete projects which, if only I could ever get some of them done, might make a real difference. Also, if a philosophy is fundamental in character, questioning all assumptions to arrive at something really new, it is anything but easy to lead others to see the light. I take refuge in what Buckminster Fuller once said, words to this effect : When I was 35 they said my ideas were 100 years ahead of the curve and they ignored me. When I was 45 they said my ideas were 50 years ahead. At 55 they said the gap was 25 years. At 65 it was down to 10 years. Now everyone says that I am modern and current and relevant, and success has become a curse. I'm right on track :-) Billy message dated 6/13/2011 [email protected] writes:
Hi Ernie, Succinctly put. I like it! // Lennart On Mon, Jun 13, 2011 at 11:42 AM, Dr. Ernie Prabhakar <[email protected]_ (mailto:[email protected]) > wrote: Among other things, I think this explains why Billy often finds my approach frustrating: he'd like to build a movement, whereas I'm busy building a philosophy. -- Ernie P. _Organization vs. movement vs. philosophy_ (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/typepad/sethsmainblog/~3/l5rqUISdggo/organization-vs-movement-vs-philosophy.h tml) via _Seth's Blog_ (http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/) by Seth Godin on 6/13/11 An organization uses structure and resources and power to make things happen. Organizations hire people, issue policies, buy things, erect buildings, earn market share and get things done. Your company is probably an organization. A movement has an emotional heart. A movement might use an organization, but it can replace systems and people if they disappear. Movements are more likely to cause widespread change, and they require leaders, not managers. The internet, it turns out, is a movement, and every time someone tries to own it, they fail. A philosophy can survive things that might wipe out a movement and that would decimate an organization. A philosophy can skip a generation or two. It is often interpreted, and is more likely to break into autonomous groups, to morph and split and then reunite. Industrialism was a philosophy. The trouble kicks in when you think you have one and you actually have the other. -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: _http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism_ (http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism) Radical Centrism website and blog: _http://RadicalCentrism.org_ (http://radicalcentrism.org/) -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org
