How it Began
“The End of Story mark ‘–30–’ has been traditionally used by journalists to indicate the end of a story. It is commonly found at the end of a press release. ‘-30-’ may have originated when stories were written in longhand; X marked the end of a sentence; XX the end of a paragraph; and XXX meant the end of a story. (The Roman numerals XXX equate to 30.)” —From Wikipedia
Like so many things, it began with Aristotle.
The Good, the Beautiful and the True.
It was 1984, San Francisco. Sitting at the dining room table, I was watching the fog engulf the bridge while wondering how to help people become more at ease & articulate as they conducted their business.
My colleagues wrestled with Speech Arts (Forensics) during their daily challenge to combine truth with goodness, then to make it worthwhile and beautiful for the client/listener. As you know, it’s not that easy…
The daily reality was that people got stuck in their heads, fighting with their content. Or they got too concerned about their appearance. The first two hurdles, Ideas and Instruments, almost always defeated them. In the quest for an ideal outcome: (good for you, for me, good for all) never even got to the table. A lot of presentations were smart and looked OK, but they seemed sort of hollow… There was no working composition model that included mind, body and spirit.
People were so worried about looking good or sounding good, that they never got to the point of doing or being good. Yet all three components are required in order to balance Aristotle’s “Three-Legged Stool.”
The old philosophers — both East and West — noticed the consilience of art, philosophy, science, music and mathematics. But the question of How to Model a Process for creating, forging and polishing speeches, presentations, letters, meetings and conferences hadn’t been solved. The challenge was to create a process that was Fast, Easy and Simple. Then, to make it something anyone could do, repeatedly, while still leaving room for individuality and creativity. It had to work, while becoming invisible…
That solution found expression in the combination of Purpose (Spirit), Process (Mind) and Package (Body). The creation of “Ready, Set, Go!®” – an organizational process – became a compact way of covering all viewpoints, arriving at an outcome that pleased speaker, listener and constituents; then packaged all of it in a way that was distinct and unique.
Reaching for the heights for a company name, I tried Pinnacle. Promontory. Apogee. Then discarded them… Everyone wants to be the biggest and the best. Hmm… What about giving expression to solving Aristotle’s Classical problem: unifying the Good, the Beautiful and the True?
Wait, unifying… Fusion!
The Fusion Group. That’s it! Bringing together Mind, Body & Spirit.
I went down to Washington, and walked the stacks in the Bureau of Patents and Trademarks. Spent some hours riffling through the “Fs” in the Card File of Trademarks and Names. Nope. No conflicts. Nobody had sought that name before. The Fusion Group — an original! Still sounded good. So, I filled out the application by hand with the help of the Lady at the Desk and went all in. Some months later, a heavy envelope arrived containing a certificate with a red ribbon and a gold seal to confirm the trademark.
Just about thirty-five years ago…
It couldn’t have happened without all of you!
Thanks for being with us all this time on our shared adventure!
-30-
That’s the end of the beginning story, but we’re just getting started.
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