An Excess of Taste
“Less is More!”
-Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
German Architect, Artist, Bauhaus Designer
(1886 – 1969)
“Ability should not become Compulsion!”
-Robert Howard Thomas
American Philosopher, Author
(1932 – )
Before the meeting begins, let’s take stock of your hot presentation:
It’s painstakingly organized, sub-structured into 14 chapters.
It has 213 tastefully designed PowerPoint screens…
(Not all text, no! There are graphs as well!)
There’s a killer opening, with a prop and an envelope at everyone’s place to assemble as a group puzzle.
You’ve got your best suit cued up for the occasion… brand new – never worn. New shoes even, and you’re launching the new, very sexy scent. Killer Tie!
The room will be darkened slightly, the better to see the big screen with the coolest new micro projector.
Handouts are stacked and ready in a file for distribution at key moments.
You’ve got this down! The story is memorized, down to the jokes.
You’ve timed it down to the second, and if the questions go as planned, you should be outta there in time for lunch!
Does this thing rock!? Is it not greatness personified?!
Then comes the moment. The team arrives in ones and twos.
You notice the lights are not dimming as planned. Walking over to the wall, you slip on your perfect new soles.
Righting the ship, you sail carefully back to center stage and get everyone’s attention. Intending to show a little style, you attempt a hand-in-the-jacket-pocket a la Kennedy.
Attempt… Ah, but the new suit’s pockets are still sewn shut.
Oh well, on with the show. But the sole and the suit have gotten under your skin and you muff just a little and have to stop and re-run it correctly.
Three mis-cues in the first 45 seconds.
You decide under pressure to improvise a little and get to the meat! Unfortunately, there’s a critical transition involved in the puzzle handout, which you’ve opted to bypass, so people are confused, and you notice a few of them start consulting their iPads…
Can you spell D-I-S-A-S-T-E-R?
What’s the lesson?
In a world where anything (and EVERYTHING) is possible, there’s a powerful urge – almost a compulsion – to attempt it all. Because you can, perhaps you must!
We’d suggest that just because you have the ability to do something; there’s no reason that you should feel compelled to do it all – especially not in a single presentation.
Of course you’ve got taste – “perhaps in excess…”
Back to the presentation…
Bravely moving ahead, you cue the new projector only to discover that in the time since people entered, the energy saver mode kicked in and turned off the light – it’ll just take a minute to warm up again… Tick, Tock…
Ability. Compulsion… Hmmm.
Applications:
1. Personally: Recognize that modern culture provides us with endless opportunities to indulge our desires for clothing, technology, design, personal discovery, travel and career challenge. But while the choices are stunning, they seem somehow, not to simplify our lives; but to add to the endless complexity. The mere fact that you CAN acquire the watch collection of a Rajah, the Wine Cellar of a Sheik, and the Design Library of Mies; doesn’t mean that you should, or must. Choose Less and Have More.
2. At Home: The children seem to carry a larger burden today, requiring a chock full iPhone, iPad and personal secretary (read “Mom”) to manage their increasingly heavy personal schedules and obligations. “Play” has become more directed, choreographed and tense than throwing a ball around in the street. Is this an improvement – or simply an increase in compulsive acquisition? Consider a long slow, electronics free afternoon at the beach. Oh and don’t forget Mom.
3. At the Office. Over there in the corner, behind the broken electronic whiteboard… That’s an easel. Though the paper pad hanging there has been languishing, pull it out of retirement. Get two (Only Two. Only Two.) new markers, and hand letter a four word subject statement. Then put your three item agenda underneath. That’s it. Pull off your tie. Take off the jacket. Invite people to put the phones in the bowl outside the door.
Walk them through the interactive discussion, marking off each item as finished, writing in a key point as you go along. When the talk dies down, letter in the Main Idea, and take a breath of fresh air. You’re done! Tear off the sheet; leave it with your associate for notes and distribution. Ahh! Pick up your jacket, and walk out of the room. You’re Free!
Papa Mies may have been right.
You’re able to model the creation of the universe in the conference room.
But isn’t that just a little excessive?
Dessert:
Watch James Purefoy in “Beau Brummel: This Charming Man” (Pt.1) on YouTube explaining to the Prince of Wales that there’s Taste, and then Taste in Excess…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QunT9eL-3Q&feature=youtube_gdata_player
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