Title:
Exclamation point consciously placed on this important
announcement
A Tragic
Loss... or A Golden Opportunity ?
IMHO, this event, "Elvis leaving the building,"
should be considered A HUGE
OPPORTUNITY...
Not knowing the
particulars, I hesitate to make any suggestions. But the fact is that
the Heart and Soul of the iNation NEEDS TO BE REPLACED
IMMEDIATELY. It would take IBM a while to do this anyway, so
iCitizens should recommend two people for IBM to choose
from. You will see, after a month or two, EXACTLY where the
iCitizens stand in this iNation.
This would server several purposes,
besides seeing if the iCitizens actually have any role to play in the
iNation.
-
Might rally the "troops" around Elvis'
departure
-
Might rally the AAG around this
event
-
Might stir up some real activity in
the iNation
-
Might see how wise the Freedom Council
is
-
Will definitely show how wise IBM
is
The emphasis on all the above is on
"might" but I think you WILL see a lot about how wise IBM is,
in the way they handle this situation.
While you don't want to normally
go off half-cocked, at the same time, you don't want to wait until all the
facts are in before you act, regarding why Mr. Haines ("Evis"...;-) left
the building ... You'll likely never hear ALL those facts,
anyway...
So I make the following
suggestion:
The Freedom
Council should propose TWO people to take Mr. Haines place as the Heart and Soul
of the iNation...! Let IBM pick the one they like
best... as they should have a 50% say in the iNation, too.
I take
my name out of the hat, TO MAKE IT CLEAR I'M NOT MAKING THIS SUGGESTION FOR
ANY ALTERIOR MOTIVES. I've been completely honest with myself, I've
looked into my motivations, and I'm making this suggestion with a clear
conscience. But I take my name out of the running TO AVOID EVEN THE
APPEARANCE of any self-aggrandizement.
The natural tendency would be
for the Freedom Council to nominate two of their own, but this will almost
certainly bring MANY unfortunate consequences. They should select two
people from outside the Council, for the same reason I took my name out of the
running.
EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THE
iCitizens of the iSeries Nation (tm) SHOULD START TO RALLY
IMMEDIATELY BEHIND THE SELECTIONS OF THE FREEDOM
COUNCIL (if any). This will give the Freedom Council the
confidence to make this decision, and they will consequently do a better job of
it.
Since I'm proposing the idea, I will suggest two
people.
BUT:
I PLEDGE MY
ALLEGIANCE TO THE iSERIES NATION (tm) AND IMPLICITLY BACK
ANY AND ALL DECISIONS OF THE FREEDOM COUNCIL.
I recommend
anyone reading this do the same. The less time thinking about it, the less
time talking about it, the greater the likelihood something good will come out
of all this.
I recommend Alan Jay Zwiren for
the job of Heart and Soul of the iNation. We've never
met, and never corresponded. If you've seen a few of my posts, my
reasons should be clear. It would be tricky for Mr. Zwiren to be
acceptable to IBM, because he works for Software Group (which essentially a
totally separate company from the Server Group). Mr. Palmisano might have
to approve Mr. Zwiren, him being over both "companies" or Groups, in his
position as COO.
I recommend one other
person, but she has to volunteer herself. I know
her, so I can't volunteer her the way I "volunteered" Mr. Zwiren, who can
more easily dismiss the notion.
The iSeries Nation is supposed to be
IBM -AND- the iSeries Community 50/50,
according to my understanding of the one conversation I had with Mr.
Haines. I think we owe it to him, to find out if this is, in fact, the
case. I think implementing my suggestion is the best way to do this, and
will possibly help bring Mr Haines' dream to
fruition.
I don't have any special insights to say this
WILL benefit the iNation
Any fool could see that this
MIGHT benefit the iNation.
The wise will see this as a time
to stop talking, and starting taking control of their destiny (just as Mr.
Zwiren suggested, just about a year ago).
IMHO, the way to do this is quite simple,
actually: EVERY iCitizen should back the Freedom Council
NOW, before they've selected their candidates. And EVERY
iCitizen should try to get two new people to join the iNATION and they
should do this SOON. Then EVERY iCitizen should send to
IBM, ideally at the same moment, the same declaration of their Allegiance to the
choices of the Freedom Council, IF ANY. (If this happened, this could
make the news ! So hopefully at least a few of the activists in
the iNation will be willing to back this declaration up with some constructive
action.)
Note to the
Freedom Council: I propose this in public, rather than to you as
individuals, consciously. Mr. Haines and I have somewhat of a
bond... We did a "Vulcan mind-meld" in one brief passing of ships, quicker
than anything I've ever seen before, in my experience anyway. The natural
tendency would be to try to think "What would Mr. Haines want, in this
situation". These ideas presented here DID NOT COME FROM THAT
PERSPECTIVE. And I believe that would not be the best way to approach
this situation, at all. It is much better approached from the point of
view: How can I help Mr. Haines' dream become a reality?
What can I do to help?
The bond Mr. Haines and I share is that I
proposed the concept of the iNation to Mr. Zeitler, President of Server Group,
three months before he got the idea himself. But I'm not big enough a fool
to claim I speak a wisdom that I know Mr. Haines would agree with, and in fact,
I write this knowing that he might be dead-set against these ideas. Makes
no difference to me, because I believe them to be right.
You all need to do the same, do what you believe to be
right... I hope you take this recommendation, and if you do what
you believe is right, and you all agree on these
issues unanimously, IT WILL BE RIGHT, though ALL
decisions, necessarily, give both good and bad results... My heart goes
out to you all... Good luck...! I back whatever decisions you come
to, implicitly, because I have faith in Mr. Haines judgement. I
believe he picked you as leaders of the iNation, based on your ability to
listen, ask questions, comment, and then act. You may find
that IBM has the wisdom to accept both of your recommendations for the Heart and
Soul of the iNation. They might also have the wisdom to add one person of
their choosing, and form a troika of leaders which will almost certainly be able
to turn Mr. Haines dream into a reality.
Again, I make these recommendations with a clear conscience, because
I have no interest in leading the iNation myself... I'd
prefer to be coding programs, maybe Open Source programs, perhaps to help the
iNation in that way.
Note to David: if this is worthy, you can consider this my
submission as an IMHO column...Feel free to correct any typos, please don't let
John Carr do it...ROFLMAO... :-)
-----Original
Message-----
From: owner-midrange-l@midrange.com
[
mailto:owner-midrange-l@midrange.com]On
Behalf Of Chuck Lewis
Sent: Wednesday, July 18, 2001 4:13 PM
To:
MIDRANGE-L@midrange.com
Subject: Re: Evis Has Left the
Building
Yep and aren't we BUMMED (and
STUNNED...)
Chuck
jpcarr@tredegar.com wrote:
>
Again
>
> Evis has left the building.
>
> That about
says it
>
> John Carr
>
midrange.com
