Replying to LO24076 --
Jamal obviously put a lot of effort into summarizing the event.
I was in the room as the program was being telecast. There was certainly
a lot of good information shared that day. But one thing sticks in my
mind and probably always will:
During the panel discussion which featured Tom Peters, Stephen Covey, Ken
Blanchard, and Meg Wheatley, the following viewer-submitted question was
asked of Tom: "Can you apply Meg Wheatley's ideas in a Tom Peters' world?"
This single question, in my opinion, was the most profound and important
of the entire event.
Meg talks about ethics, simplicity, getting back to good old-fashioned
values sort of stuff. Meanwhile, my friend Tom Peters is bouncing up and
down on his soapbox, shouting the importance of breaking all the rules,
forgetting the past, and searching for WOW! no matter what the cost. This
is precisely what I focus on in my work and in my recently drafted book.
There is such a thing as ethically and reasonably forgetting the past and
looking to the future. Tom and Meg are not, as some viewers might have
perceived them, diametrically opposed in their thoughts. Tom appeared to
be caught a bit off guard by the question. Frankly, I wanted to jump up
out of my chair and go find out who sent the question in so I could thank
them personally.
Of course, it was also notable that Steve Case and Ted Turner were seated
adjacent to one another during a panel on the program, and a few weeks
later the AOL/Time-Warner merger was sprung on us all. None of us in
Dallas/Arlington on the day of the broadcast had any inkling that such a
deal would be coming down. And we still don't know whether it was already
in the works or not as of November 17th. My Wyncom friends have searched
in vain for an answer to that one. But here is one thing I can tell you
all with absolute certainty: order the videotape of the Fortune panel
(with Branson, Case, and Turner) from Wyncom. Turner stole the show and
had everyone in stitches. You'll love it!
Dan Gunter
dangunter@mindspring.com
--Dan Gunter <dangunter@mindspring.com>
Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>
"Learning-org" and the format of our message identifiers (LO1234, etc.) are trademarks of Richard Karash.