“It is better to be a flamboyant failure than…” (Great Work quote)
“It is better to be a flamboyant failure
than any kind of benign success”
~ Malcolm McLaren
Malcolm McLaren, founder of the Sex Pistols, died last week.
I can’t say I ever really got into the music of the Sex Pistols. The whole punk thing was a bit … scary for me at first.
And later I remember seeing Mohawked kids hanging out at Harvard Square when I lived in Boston, and thought that somehow it all felt a bit tame, a game of convention rather than rebellion.
But these days, when I’m railing a little against “business as usual” in our organizations, the whole punk thing is making more sense to me.
Here’s McLaren again
“I always said punk was an attitude. It was never about having a Mohican haircut or wearing a ripped T-shirt. It was all about destruction, and the creative potential within that … Turn left if you’re supposed to turn right; go through any door that you’re not supposed to enter. It’s the only way to fight your way through to any kind of authentic world in a world beset by fakery.”
Today I’m looking for a “do not enter” sign.
How about you?
- Is it time to go punk?
- “We must believe that we are gifted for something, and…” (Great Work quote)
- “For fast-acting relief try slowing down” (Great Work quote)
- “Example is not the main thing in influencing others…” (Great Work quote)
- “Patience is also a form of action” (Great Work quote)
Nice dangerous one – and GOOD MORNING to you too!
My first sales manager taught me to enter any manufacturing or warehousing or similar business through the back door. Through that door were the people who do the hard work AND used our products. I could get half the info I needed from them while they led me to their manager for an instant face-to-face appointment.
At one company I tried talking to this guy who (unknown to me) did not work there. He asked, “Can’t you get arrested for walking in the back door like that?”
Hasn’t happened yet, but I’ll let you know if it does.