By Pascal Dennis
Powerful piece by Caitlin Flanagan in the Atlantic this month.
"Jackie and the Girls" - about JFK's bizarre & uncontrollable womanizing.
Visual thinking and the power of images are central themes in this blog.
Caitlin's piece reinforces them.
Despite overwhelming evidence that JFK was a creep, the iconic John-Jackie-and-the-kids photos, hooks us every time.
"John-John has found a new an adorable new hiding spot. His devoted father, the most powerful man in the world, is clapping his hands with delight..."
So JFK continues to get a free ride, as it were, while contemporaries like LBJ and Nixon are judged harshly.
Their resentment is understandable, no?
Any learning points, besides "images are powerful"?
Let's see:
Life's not fair.
Be careful to be born rich...
Any others?
What would Socrates have thought?
Best,
Pascal
Showing posts with label Socrates. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Socrates. Show all posts
Monday, August 20, 2012
Monday, July 2, 2012
Life Lessons - What is a Good Life?
By Pascal Dennis
Plato, Socrates and Aristotle asked this question 2,500 years ago.
Both eastern and western philosophy is largely the search for an answer.
Clayton Christensen, author of The Innovator's Dilemma, Harvard professor, and classic hyper-achiever is raising the same question.
A significant conversion -- master of the universe to philosopher.
In a recent Business Week interview, Dr. Christensen remarks that he was struck by how badly the lives of his fellow hyper-achievers had turned out.
Messy divorces, estranged kids, and even, in some cases, fraud and imprisonment.
Can Lean principles help to answer this most important question?
I believe it can.
In my view, Lean thinking is anchored in standards -- images of how things should be.
Values are standards. Integrity entails adherence to one's personal standards.
Those of you kind enough to read my books will notice an emphasis on the Cardinal Virtues.
Prudence, Temperance, Courage and Justice, are, of course, standards of behavior.
Low-down, miserable, tricky, treacherous beings such as us have a hard time living up to them.
But we have to try, and in doing so we partially succeed -- and that makes all difference.
In fact, if I had to hazard an answer to the above question, I'd say living a good life entails having good values, and trying to live up to them.
All for now,
Plato, Socrates and Aristotle asked this question 2,500 years ago.
Both eastern and western philosophy is largely the search for an answer.
Clayton Christensen, author of The Innovator's Dilemma, Harvard professor, and classic hyper-achiever is raising the same question.
A significant conversion -- master of the universe to philosopher.
In a recent Business Week interview, Dr. Christensen remarks that he was struck by how badly the lives of his fellow hyper-achievers had turned out.
Messy divorces, estranged kids, and even, in some cases, fraud and imprisonment.
Can Lean principles help to answer this most important question?
I believe it can.
In my view, Lean thinking is anchored in standards -- images of how things should be.
Values are standards. Integrity entails adherence to one's personal standards.
Those of you kind enough to read my books will notice an emphasis on the Cardinal Virtues.
Prudence, Temperance, Courage and Justice, are, of course, standards of behavior.
Low-down, miserable, tricky, treacherous beings such as us have a hard time living up to them.
But we have to try, and in doing so we partially succeed -- and that makes all difference.
In fact, if I had to hazard an answer to the above question, I'd say living a good life entails having good values, and trying to live up to them.
All for now,
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)