In Incremental Change/Feedback LO12363 Ben Compton wrote:
> ... I'd like to understand why people felt that it was:
>
> A) Shallow for me to quote Tom Peters
I was reminded of a trend that I have seen elsewhere. For whatever reason
we have a deep need for heroes. We find someone who is exceptional, or
perhaps just a little different. We raise them up and place them on a
pedestal. Then we proceed to examine every aspect of their lives past,
present, and potentially future for some crack in their facade. Once we
find it we proceed to chip away at it until the person is totaly
destroyed. The biggest problem with this is that the facade we are
seeking to destroy is one which WE created, not the person who must suffer
our attention.
A philosopher once said (I apologize for not remembering the name just
now):
"Once you label me, you negate me."
Tom Peters was a novelty ... a breath of fresh air on the management
scene. His widely acclaimed book(s) drew him attention and wealth. Once
he became accepted, he became a fad. The counter-whatever element of our
society (a little of which resides in each of us) decided that Tom was
passe' and not worth the reading. Furthermore, anyone who was so
uncultured (read: uncool) that they would refer to his writings in any
positive way in public (such as quoting him) was obviously not a
sophisticated person of the world.
Sadly, the same thing happened to Ed Deming, is happening to Scott Adams
and Dilbert, and will happen to Peter senge at some point in the future.
It just seems to be a part of our social fabric at this time.
That doesn'e mean that those who still refer to, read, and quote people
like Deming and Tom Peters are out of touch. It just means that they can
still speak their own mind and can still see the relevant messages in
those bodies of work.
Shallow? I don't think so. I have my difficulties with Mr. Peters but
they have to do more with writing style than with content. I still love
to watch him speak. I just can't remember any good quotes when I need to.
Keep it up, Ben.
--Clyde Howell orgpsych@csra.net
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>