LET’S EXPLORE
SOME CHALLENGES & LIFE LESSONS
FROM THE SPACE AGE
 |
The Space Shuttle Columbia takes off for the first time April 12, 1981 |
- The topic is raising a ruckus on the Presidential campaign trail.
- The now-90-years-old John Glenn, one of the original “We Seven” US astronauts and the first US citizen to circle the earth, is newsworthy again.
- Star Trek’s Captain James T. Kirk is selling out his limited-run one-man Broadway show. (I mean, of course, William Shatner, the guy who played him on TV and in the movies.)
I like the concept of
space exploration. I’d argue that, net, it’s paid back what’s been invested
in it many times over and that a diminished interest in it diminishes all
mankind.
But, as noble as that claim is meant to sound, we’re not
going to get into that here and now.
Instead, let me take this opportunity to boldly go where TGIM
has not gone before and share a mini- brain dump of some “spacey” stuff I’ve
gathered over the years. As a child of the Sputnik era, I’d like to think it may
be of interest and applicable to the kind of self-improvement information and
inspiration we routinely post.
****
Let’s start with a classic from respected broadcast
correspondent Charles Osgood. He’s said:
“As an example of how top management can set an agenda,
business school professors sometimes point to John F. Kennedy’s call in the
early 1960s that America should put a man on the Moon by the end of the decade.
“There were lots of problems that would have to be solved –
technical, political, and money problems – but Kennedy didn’t try to solve them
all in advance. All he did was set a
definite timetable. He left it to others
to work out how it was going to be done.”
And it was done. Neil Armstrong took his “giant leap for
mankind” before the decade was over.
TGIM Takeaway: No matter what your interest or industry, give
people the leadership they need to get started – a goal and a timetable – and
you have a good chance of obtaining the objective. Like reaching the Moon, tell
them what they’re aiming for and when it’s to be done. Then let them do it.
****
“What can we gain by
sailing to the moon if we are not able to cross the abyss that separates us
from ourselves?” Thomas Merton
(1915-1968) posed that challenge in his 1960 book, The Wisdom of the Desert.
The plaque marking the spot on the moon where the
historic
landing took place reads:
Here men from the planet Earth
first set foot on the moon
July 1969 A.D.
We came in peace for all mankind.
TGIM Challenge: By Merton’s standard is the historic claim True
or False? If False, why? And what can you and I do about it in the 21st
Century?
***
“There shall be no end to our striving. Man must go on,
conquest beyond conquest. And when he has conquered all the deeps of space and
all the ends of time, still he will be just beginning.” H. G. Wells (1866–1946)
said that.
“We never stop investigating. We are never satisfied that we
know enough to get by. Every question we answer leads to another question. This
has become the greatest survival trick of our species.” British zoologist,
ethnologist and anthropologist Desmond Morris concludes that.
TGIM Challenge: Is it Darwinian predestination to never cease
from exploring? Will we fulfill T. S. Eliot’s (1888-1965) oft-cited poetic observation:
“We shall not cease from exploration.
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.”
***
“Space – the final frontier.” Star Trek (the TV series)
creator Gene Roddenberry (1921-1991) is credited with that observation.
“Inner space is the real frontier.” Gloria Steinem made a case for that “spatial”
thinking.
TGIM Challenge: Are “final” and “real” independent? Does
achieving a frontier equal conquest?
****
On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the
first manned landing on the Moon, columnist William Safire, who was a
speechwriter for President Richard Nixon at the time, told of how he had
drafted a speech for the president should the Moon walking Apollo astronauts be
unable to return to earth.
Writing in his column in the New York Times, Safire said Nixon’s
speech was to open, “Fate has ordained that the men who went to the Moon to
explore in peace will stay to rest in peace.”
Fortunately, the speech was not needed.
But being told about its creation is a good reminder for
leaders about the importance of contingency planning.
TGIM Takeaway: It also reminds us that good leaders take a
little more than their share of blame and a little less than their share of
credit.
****
“I suppose the one quality in an astronaut more powerful
than any other is curiosity. They have
to get someplace nobody’s ever been.” John Glenn said that.
***
Life
Lesson from Superman
 |
Christopher Reeve speaking at MIT about stem-cell research |
‘We
found nothing is impossible.’
“That should be our motto.”
Christopher Reeve (1952-2004) said that.
***
TGIM Action Idea: Accept the challenge of the possible
impossibility this week. Shoot for the moon. That way, even if you miss, you’ll
end up among the stars.
Geoff Steck
Chief Catalyst
Alexander Publishing & Marketing
Chief Catalyst
Alexander Publishing & Marketing
P.S. And the Last Word goes to Ralph Waldo Emerson:
“When it is dark enough you can see
stars.”
P.P.S. Speaking
of “space” … only a dozen or so seats are still available for –
Speak Like A Pro!
Thursday, March 15, 2012
at The Sheraton Hotel & Conference
Center
Eatontown, NJ
You must ACT NOW …
The event will be a
SELL OUT …
When you hear about
how much you missed, you will regret not having been there, live and in person.
Click through IMMEDIATELY
-- www.EricTaylorSpeaker.com
-- to get all of the details and register NOW.
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