The weather is cold. The sky is sapphire. The sunrise is brilliant. From my vantage point on this little island in the middle of the Bay, the great ships of maritime commerce move slowly about in every direction.
Being ten minutes late, I'm the last to arrive at the home of today's host and facilitator, the attorney/politician. The door is answered by the elderly Asian woman. With a respectful bow and a bright smile, she indicates I should follow her up the grand staircase. The entire ground floor and broad staircase remain as they were a month ago: devoid of furniture and the like. When we reach the second floor things change. On thick Persian rugs, we move silently past remarkable antique, Western European furniture and stunning Expressionist Art into a spacious, high-tech conference room/office. That's when I begin to feel as though I'm in a Bond film. There, standing in the sun that pours through a skylight. sipping their coffee, is the Tiger Team waiting for my arrival. I called ahead, of course. With a quick exchange of greetings, the host suggests we begin at once, given that we will be ending precisely at our usual time. As we take our seats, fresh coffee and croissants are made ave available.
The attorney/politician requests the floor. He dramatically leans forward in his chair. "I have a personal question. I'm a little embarrassed. How do you all get up early and ready to go each and every morning? I've failed at it miserably all my life. Lately I can't even come up with a good reason why to get up at all." We discuss access to alarm clocks, both high and low tech, and the importance of placement of the devices in the room. But it's the businessman who offers, "Well, I just have two dogs, and they have always set my days in motion bright and early." The entire Tiger Team looks at one another. It's the corporate VP who shouts out, "Get a dog!" The attorney grins like a kid getting his first puppy, "I've always wanted a dog." The entire process took less than five minutes and it's changing his life. That's why Success Teams work. The chance of paradigm-shift is always in the wings.
The publisher is on the edge of her chair. "Imagine this," she says. " A girl of thirteen sits on the floor in the corner of her bedroom, amid all the clutter, to begin her homework. She opens an electronic book. Her fingers move across the bottom and the pages turn and she begins to read. She does not know all of the words, but with a light touch of the screen she sees the definition and, if she so desires, hears the correct pronunciation. She reads on and when she gets tired, the book will help her sound out the words or even read the whole story to her - or tell it to her with moving pictures. I didn't discover this new world, but that's where I'm headed: online publishing."
The Tiger Team is rockin'. Next week, two of our members will be absent. And so there will be a field trip - our first. The corporate VP and I are taking the attorney out to find a dog. He hasn't signed off on this idea yet. But he will, don't you agree? Martinis at the Top of the Mark might be an inducement if one is required.
No comments:
Post a Comment