I’m currently reading a terrific book called Great by Choice by Jim Collins and Morten T. Hansen (shouts to Connor Smith for letting me borrow his copy.) I’m far from finished, but I feel Shane Smith John Pepe Sarah Jilao Chase Padgett Arnie Ellis Liz Langley Christian Drake Tom Murphy and Carl Woods IIl in particular would enjoy. In any case, I want to coin two phrases inspired by the text within: Phrase 1) “Eating dolphin” (“Learning to eat dolphin”, “How does dolphin taste?”, et cetera) -- At one point, GBC focuses on the contrast between the expeditions of Roald Amundsen and Ronald Falcon Scott, who were racing each other to plant the first flag on the South Pole. Long story short, Amundsen’s team won by 34 days and made it out alive while Scott and staff died slow, horrible, frozen deaths. But what’s interesting is how the two contrasted in preparation: Amundsen was aggressive in his precautions, whereas Scott seemed to expect things to magically go his way. Months in advance, Amundsen lived up north with the Inuit to see how they thrived in harsh conditions; taught himself how to dogsled and wore loose-fitting clothing so the sweat that comes with carrying around equipment wouldn’t freeze to skin. Scott used horses figuring they would cover more ground. But if one dog dies, you can feed it to the others. There’s no grass to feed horses in Antarctica. His crew also wore thick gear that kept them warm, but ultimately slowed them down in the long run. For everything Scott brought, Amundsen brought in surplus -- to wit, one thermometer to Amundsen’s four-- ANTICIPATING that such devices would break down in unexplored, likely harsh, environments. (Keep in mind, this was 1911-12, before radio, Internet, et cetera. It would be months before the bodies of Scott’s men were even found. The progress of both teams was documented solely by journal entries.) But Amundsen’s most curious quirk pre-expedition was to ask people where he might acquire some dolphin meat. For you see, as a captain ANTICIPATING the statistical INEVITABILITY of catastrophe (you can’t predict blizzards, earthquakes, or waddling stampedes of blood-thirsty penguins,) he concluded at some point, he was GOING to shipwreck, period. And so, he wanted to test IN ADVANCE if dolphin was edible without the consequence of poisoning* before the big game. Think boy and girl scouts learning which berries are deadly, contestants on Survivor forced to eat island rats, or even slaves eating chitlins -- the idea of making do with the best resources you have available. Hence, if you learn to eat dolphin before you go on a cruise, you won’t hafta worry about burgers in the kitchen lasting you for X number of days when the ship crashes ashore. Eating Dolphin is a lesson in adaptability. Money’s not coming in fast? You better learn to eat dolphin. Don’t know how dolphin tastes? Boy, you betta learn to eat dolphin now while the fridge is stocked with good stuff. Because a shipwreck is coming. Not “If.” But WHEN. Phrase 2) “Keep it Goldilocks” -- Essentially, “Don’t over do it”; “Keep things JUST RIGHT.” GBC discusses The 20-Mile March philosophy: The best way to travel from Cali to Maine on foot is a regimen of 20 miles a day, regardless of climate or conditions. No more, no less. Again, no one can predict weather or natural disasters, but catering to your environment only makes you a slave to it. Say you reach The Rockies and hit an ice storm. You’re cold, decide to walk just a mile a day before setting up camp to stay warm until the winds settle. You’re behind, but by the time you reach the fields of Kansas, you feel so alive thanks to the sunshine that you decide to go 50 miles in one day. Big mistake: By the time you reach the floods of The Mississippi, you’re too tired from overextending yourself. Keep it Goldilocks. 20 miles a day, regardless of weather or environment. Not 21. Not 19. We all know someone at the office who goes, “Hey guys, I know we got 10 minutes left on the clock, but lemme bang out this one thing. It’ll only take me an extra 5 minutes.” No. Keep it Goldilocks. Take care of it tomorrow. Worry about quota over capability. I’ve heard similar philosophy on casino blackjack: Go in with a set amount you want to make (say, $700), and as soon as you make it, walk away from the table. The other players will look at you like you’re crazy for walking out once you’re on a hot streak, but anything more is greed, and the universe always punishes hubris by taking away all your chips. Keep it Goldilocks also applies to poets at open mics: Even if it’s well-written, no one’s going to remember your name if your deliver four lines off a napkin and walk offstage. Likewise, ramble on for 5 to 10 minutes, and people tune out. It’s overkill. You’ve overstayed your welcome. James Brown did four songs at The T.A.M.I. Show. Otis Redding did 5 songs at Monterey. Comedians talk about doing a “Tight 10 [minute set].” The best sets I’ve ever done were three slam poems long. I prefer text messages to phone calls because it forces people to Keep it Goldilocks. A 5 hour Springsteen concert is nice and all, but no way is every single person going to stay for the whole thing. Never mind that folks have kids, jobs, and school in the morning, the human attention span simply doesn’t have the tolerance. Whatever you do, Keep it Goldilocks and get to the point. *Conversely, it isn’t. Whale and dolphin meat is rife with hazardous amounts of mercury. But maybe the expression still applies? Maybe you can build immunity via a slow ingestion process of small doses over time? I dunno. Whatever. I still like the expression.
Posted on: Sat, 08 Mar 2014 20:38:37 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015