Alan Weiss’s Monday Morning Memo® – 10/12/2020
Happy Columbus Day!
Whoops? Am I crazy? Have I been hiding under a rock? Will everyone unsubscribe?
A scant year ago I drove my buddy and local media star anchor in the back of my Rolls in the Columbus Day Parade along Atwells Avenue in Providence. Huge crowds turned out, food was served all over, all the police brass and politicians were present.
I’m sure we’d be doing it again this past weekend if not for the pandemic restrictions. But, in the meantime, the very progressive and largely clueless mayor of Providence has had the Columbus statue removed.
Columbus was not a racist, nor did he ever own slaves (nor set foot on North America proper, he went to the Caribbean). He did not advocate nor commit genocide, though men he left there after he returned home tried to do so (and were rightly slaughtered by the native people). But there was no massive killing by Europeans as there was to be later in Central and South America. The spread of deadly diseases pre-dated European arrivals on those shores (as determined by examination of pre-Columbian tombs).
Slavery had long been practiced by indigenous peoples (Caribs and Canibs). European intervention stopped human sacrifice and cannibalism. (We visited sites in Mexico where Aztec priests would remove the beating hearts of living victims and toss them as sacrifice to the gods. The walls are still stained red centuries later.)
People knew the world was round at the time of Columbus. He wanted to raise money through a search for Asian trade to fund an effort to free Jerusalem from the Muslims. His techniques in conquering winds and currents for sailing were used for hundreds of years after his death, and his Atlantic crossing route is still used today.
We are throwing rocks today at Jefferson, Grant, Columbus, and others in a fit of “presentism” and “cancel culture,” and scouring old yearbooks to find some spoken gaffe or inappropriate behavior to use to force apologies in a Star Chamber reminiscent of McCarthyism at high tide.
Maybe we should use all of our passion and high moral dudgeon to do the hard work: create better and equal schools, provide quality healthcare available to all, create equal opportunity and level playing fields in employment, and take care of all the less fortunate amongst us. That’s the navigation, the daring, the boldness we need today.
Sadly, I see no contemporary Columbus to lead us across that ocean.
(Suggested reading: Charles C. Mann’s two books, 1491 and 1493.)
We will not improve our present by trying to erase our past, but we will ruin our future.
—Alan Weiss
MacKay CEO Forums: My long-time client and colleague, Nancy MacKay, is seeking additional chairs for her vast network which provides virtual meetings for business owners and executives. The chairs, while continuing to run their own businesses, also facilitate these meetings periodically, and gain exposure to potential clients by also addressing the groups and becoming known within the network. Here’s a video conversation with me and Nancy with more information: https://vimeo.com/451547172/b19e467e3e. You can reach Nancy for further discussions here: [email protected]. Just mention that I sent you to receive a quick response.
Million Dollar Consulting® College Goes Virtual: Join me for the first-ever virtual college over three mornings in October (afternoons in Europe). We’ll have group exercises, role plays, case studies, and great interaction. To launch this new approach, I’ve reduced the fee by 50%, and you can also attend the next “live” college for free if you choose! It’s time to move the 14-year event into the new age, and I’m offering these incentives to help do so. I can only accept a limited number of people. Use this October opportunity to help launch you into the emerging economy with new energy and new techniques: https://alanweiss.com/growth-experiences/2020-million-dollar-consulting-college/. If not now, when?
Group Coaching: My prior “crisis coaching” was so popular that I’m launching a group coaching experience in November. A small group will meet at the same time on the same day for 60 days for an hour, with half the meeting focusing on my business environment analysis and half of the participants’ personal issues. Email coaching is included during the 60 days. https://alanweiss.com/growth-experiences/personal-power-and-success/ I’m now forming a second group, the first is filled.
Sentient Strategy: We’ve certified 35 people in Sentient Strategy, an ideal methodology to remotely create a one-year strategy in just two mornings. Four sessions have already been sold to various size businesses. The next session is Oct. 19-20, two mornings on Zoom. https://alanweiss.com/growth-experiences/sentient-strategy/ Write me to apply for the training at [email protected].
Building Dynamic Communities: October 22-23, western US time-friendly, https://alanweiss.com/growth-experiences/creating-dynamic-communities/ The people who had formal or informal communities of clients and prospects have done the best during the pandemic. It’s an ideal time to put yours in place or improve on the one you have. I’ll take you through the 14 steps required in just two remote half-days. Over two dozen people have been through the program thus far.
Robert James
Well argued. I’m ready to cancel the cancel culture. When its proponents went after Walt Whitman and Walt Disney, I said, “Enough.”