How
Difficult It Is To Get Off the Dime!
The Legacy
of a Think Tank
JAMES
R. FISHER, JR., Ph.D.
©
August 30, 2017
Too many people I've worked for were vulnerable to Lord Acton's admonition of which I'm sure you're familiar, and of a similar mind to that of you, but too often they are in the wings and not on the stage. I would like to see your passion in a 30-year-old who could give a good goddamn about his career but was reckless enough to want to make a difference.
*Dr. Fisher’s response to a concerned reader in his nineties.
THE FRUSTRATION OF BEING TOO LONG IN THE TOOTH
The response to a reader is actually a response to two readers, two brilliant men, who write regularly in reaction to missives of the Peripatetic Philosopher, generously sharing their own salient thoughts relative to them. It is the function of a “Think Tank,” that has materialized over the years from posted missives on the blog of www.fisherofideas.com.
A “Think Tank” in the broadest sense performs research and advocacy on topics concerning social policy, political strategy, economics, the military, technology and culture. In a more specific sense, ordinary souls have views on such issues and that is the function of the Peripatetic Philosopher.
Whereas “Think Tanks” in the broader sense push for reshaping policy, mobilizing experts and pushing for innovative change through networking and nurturing, the Peripatetic Philosopher has not such a grand agenda, hoping instead to get ordinary citizens thinking about common issues that affect their lives, sharing their thoughts and concerns with others of a similar mind. In that sense, the Peripatetic Philosopher is a provocateur of thought.
On two occasions I have been personally invited to join fledgling “Think Tanks” that had more an academic sense of such an endeavor.
In the late 1990s, a retired US National Guard general, who had participated in the Bosnian War (1992 – 1996) as a member of the NATO contingent, during the Clinton Administration, called upon me at my home in Tampa, Florida to join “his team” of writers, academics and ex-military leaders in a new “Think Tank” network.
For a time, I heard from academics, who wanted all my published books and articles, of course gratis, while offering none of their own. This was before the Internet and there was no easy way of checking these academicians out. I sent the books and seldom if ever heard from them again. Apparently, they thought because I was critical of the complex organization and management in these works that I was also anti-business and pro-academia, which was not true at all. I was neither pro nor anti anything while being equally critical of the complex organization be it academia, industry or business. This “Think Tank” idea died a quiet death in inconspicuous anonymity.
Early in this century, another fledgling group out of Naples, Florida involving the ex-president of my own university, a man I deeply respect, invited me to join a group of businessmen at that location to be a member of a “Think Tank” to be called “The Naples Institute.”
The interest of these people was genuine, the devotion authentic, and for a time spirited with palpable energy. Not being from Naples, which is south of Tampa, I never attended any of the Naples Institute’s weekly meetings.
Interestingly enough, none of the members of this fledgling group, to my knowledge, beyond my former president were either published authors or academicians. They were successful businessmen within the $million dollar circle, where at least one had created a national franchise, and where all, now that they had made it, wanted to contribute their thinking to the national dialogue as possible change agents. The Naples Institute, too, died a quiet death without ever getting off the ground.
THINK TANKS & MY TAKE ON THEM
Perhaps as long as man has existed, there has been the rudiments of a “think tank” in the society of man, a place where interested people could share their ideas, concerns and possible solutions to problems common to the community-at-large. So, the idea has legitimacy.
I must confess, when I was in industry as a young man and making – at the time – a considerable amount of money as a corporate executive, I envisioned forming an intellectual group, not necessarily a “Think Tank,” but a soiree where people of a certain persuasion would come together in my home to discuss ideas.
That became an abortive idea once I left the corporation at a young age – in my mid-thirties – to attempt to make sense of my life as to the meaning of what I had experienced working and living on four continents. I had a passion to find out why I was so troubled.
A two-year sabbatical from any gainful employment followed during which time I wrote and published one book, which became a national bestseller, and the most successful book I would ever write, while reading hundreds of books, looking for answers only to generate more questions. Somewhat in desperation, instead of returning to work, I went back to school to earn a Ph.D., then drifted back again into corporate life by necessity as I had to make a living.
Academia was seen up close and personal as a mature graduate student where I was more the age of my professors than my fellow students. The paradox was that I approached this intellectual life with romantic zest however found missing in the faculty and student body where professors lived in the cocoon of their special training and students appeared only interested in earning credentials as quickly and painlessly as possible to get on with their lives.
It dawned on me that formal education had devolved in my absence to the factory mentality of industry, where process is incidental and the product critical.
Professors talked of “contact hours,” enrollment turnover, and graduation rates while students talked about how much they would likely make in their next job upon graduation. No one talked about the quality of education or what had been learned. This was the factory mentality that I was hoping to escape. Granted, I was in my thirties and battle tested with my idealized bubble pricked in South Africa’s apartheid.
Another irony was that this poor boy had always made money and enjoyed promotion although that was never his focus. He was interested in making a difference while never feeling he had. As a consequence, his attention was on the journey, not on ends. Social scientists would say he was driven by terminal rather than instrumental values in a society that no longer believed in such values, as everyone appeared to be in a mad rush to get somewhere, often that somewhere being somewhere else that differed with where they were.
Evidence of this conundrum is apparent in my writing. For the past more than a quarter century, I have been writing essentially every day, getting my ideas out of life experiences, but also from experiences of others with whom I am in contact, marveling at how many confirm the joy and sorrow in a life worth living.
Now, in my eighties, seemingly attracting many others of a similar leaning, I wonder if there are any people in their thirties who feel as I felt a half century ago, and I answer, “You betcha!”
Unfortunately, I see this thirty-something very gifted crowd having their passions redirected in Faustian pursuits on cable television. Here the mania is to create and promote your brand in a desperate attempt to remain relevant and in tune with the times. This is without nuance or subtlety as nature, radical and otherwise, is playing on another network. Alas, there are too many Jesse Watters and not enough Juan Williams in the firmament.
MY “THINK TANK” OF ENGAGED PEOPLE
Recently, I told my BB that the “Think Tank” I’ve always wanted to have has actually evolved quite naturally with salient contributors to my blog on www.fisherofideas.com and from my e-mail list. These are representative respondents:
A poet from Jacksonville, Florida who demonstrates humor and insight in her poetry and who also grew up in Clinton, Iowa.
An ex-US Army Colonel from Tampa, Florida who is active in a number of community activities including the local library applying his administrative talents to community issues. He has made it his business to act as an educator leading a group in The Great Books Reading Program. In his own right, he has meaningful and provocative views that he shares freely in reaction to the Peripatetic Philosopher's missives.
A former artist and high school teacher came to the United States as a young man from Germany and now lives in Tampa. He has a most incisive mind and ubiquitous curiosity which has often come to grace these pages with his insights and concerns.
A writer, mother, gardener, chronicler and community leader comes from my home town of Clinton, Iowa. She demonstrates a love of people and nature, books and ideas, and has a candid point of view. She has shown courage first hand triumphing over an illness without complaint while maintaining an intelligent and empathetic understanding of people who sometimes see life differently than she does, including this writer.
Another Clintonian, who is a former security officer for the Sisters of St. Francis, has made it her business to help anyone in distress, and has a compelling record of turning the lives of many people around. She grew up in my Clinton neighborhood, although much younger, and was important when “In the Shadow of the Courthouse” came out, which was a book about that neighborhood.
Yet, another Clintonian, who is active in the Clinton County Historical Society and a high school classmate, has been instrumental in promoting my works to Clintonians from the days of “In the Shadow of the Courthouse” to “Zimba, the Domesticated Lion.”
An academic and former NASA scientist, who has enumerable careers serving the special needs of American servicemen across the globe, sending them tens of thousands of care packages, has started up universities, been a consultant, counselor, professor, community organizer, and instrumental in seeing that people back home know of my writings.
A Chicago, Illinois former human resources executive has a perceptive point of view with a strong loyalty and understanding of his own roots and those of others in his diverse community. He shares his views honestly and openly which often differ with my own, but does so politely and respectfully, teaching me new tolerance in the process.
A Detroit, Michigan UAW leader, and colleague of W. Edwards Deming of Quality Control and Statistical Control fame, has traveled the globe for the UAW promoting the Deming method. He keeps colleagues still employed and those retired informed of the latest development relating to labor/management issues. No one knows the Internet concerning union/management or the publication of papers and books covering this genre better than he does.
A New Yorker and now a Florida resident, holder of more than 100 patents, and author of several culturally defining books, has perhaps the most original mind that I have ever encountered. All his books I’ve read more than once. It amazes me how current they are although written more than a score of years ago. He is currently publishing his research and assessments on amazon.com in the Kindle Library. These new books relate to the nature of work, workers and productivity.
An immigrant from Holland knew the full blunt of Nazi Germany in WWII. He became a Canadian citizen and an educator in chemistry, as well as having had a career in technical publications. Now, at an advanced age, he is advising the Canadian Senate on fiscal and policy matters. I cherish each and every one of his comments as they are pure gold.
Another Canadian who has been reading my blog for years, introduced himself to me, and has since been my computer sage carrying me through the thorny world of my ignorance and showing me the way to surface my ideas. His comments are always incisive and generous. We have never met but I often think of him like a son.
If you have ever visited my website (www.fisherofideas.com), and you liked what you see, it is because of one individual who was tireless in creating it from practically nothing. He seldom comments on what I have written, but I will always be indebted to him for this gift as it now enjoys a vibrant international audience.
A multi-dimensional publisher and author of international bestsellers is a devout Mormon as well as an entertainer in dance and singing, as well as a key note speaker and consultant of the first rank on the international stage. Some years ago, as an entrepreneur, he launched a series of monthly periodicals on personal, sales and marketing, and leadership issues relating to executive excellence. Anyone who is anybody in the corporate world has graced his pages. He was one of the first publishers to give me exposure, and has been especially encouraging to me as an independent thinker and writer.
An Alaskan author, and the best writer in American prose that I know, personally, is an advocate of didacdics encouraging people without formal educations to accept life as their university. He has a passion and an honesty that is unimpeachable. For that disposition, I admire him greatly. No writer of ideas has more engaged passion than this man.
A man with academic credentials, who chose to apply his expertise to corporate education, is the creator of the Management Development Center for Honeywell, Inc. He has risen to the first ranks among business journalists being a contributing editor to several national magazines, as well as an author in his own right. He has been quietly supportive of me from a distance for many years while sometimes finding me unnecessary provocative.
A particular professor at the University of South Florida was able to corral some sense into me making it clear that I had to behave if I wanted to attain my degree and credentials. Were it not for his efforts it is doubtful that I would be writing these words, as he has been of that importance to me in my life. For the past forty seven years he has been my constant friend, while writing some inspiring novels in his own right, which now grace amazon.com’s Kindle Library.
This engineer once invited me to Chicago to address his AQP chapter of Quality Control. He has remained in the trenches as an engineering manager, and demonstrates the patience required with atavistic management practices. He has also been my inspiration to write books keying on self-confidence as a guide to organizational success. While knowledge power has shifted to professionals, management with its anachronistic position power remains reluctant to read the handwriting on the wall. When I write these books, I think of him and what he has to deal with on a daily basis to be productive.
The valedictorian of my high school class and my roommate at the University of Iowa became a successful medical doctor having his own clinic while being a major contributor to our Alma Mater. He has also been a constant friend and talked me into attending our 50th High School Class Reunion and giving the commencement address, not having previously attended any other class reunions.
Another Clinton high school classmate, who left a promising executive career with a giant oil company to run the family business in his hometown was complicit with our high school valedictorian to induce me to attend this class reunion, reminding me that the Washington Post journalist and member of the Meet the Press television panel was Marquis Childs, who grew up in Clinton, and gave the commencement address at our high school graduation. “Since you are the only author in our class,” he reasoned, “it falls to you to speak at our 50th Class Reunion.” I could not but oblige.
A former vice president of Honeywell International, Ltd., and colleague of mine when I was with that firm in Europe, a native German and resident of Germany who was put in a German uniform in the dark days of WWII, survived that and rose to eminence in Honeywell displaying not only cogent skills but also a blistering sense of humor. He has maintained that refreshing aspect to this day despite the trepidation and devastation that he had to endure early in his life.
A friend who is now a consultant but was an executive with Honeywell Avionics when I worked there, displays the most acerbic wit in his prose of any writer I’ve ever known personally. I’ve encouraged him to write over the years, and suspect he will one day. If he does, the reader will be stimulated, entertained, challenged and hungry for more of the same confection. His essays to me are keepers, I kid you not!
This Missourian is now a community action executive in Tampa meeting the needs of the disadvantaged and the neglected. He once had a teacher in his Missouri high school who was a member of the “Courthouse Tigers” of my youth, and a teammate of mine in high school sports. This very engaged professional also once trained a U.S. Olympic weightlifter, demonstrating early on his ability to get the best out of others. He is a discerning friend with powerful insights into his work and life which he has shared with the Peripatetic Philosopher.
THAT SAID, WHAT IS MISSING?
My sense to have a viable “Think Tank” requires an initial endowment – if we are talking about a conventional group, and not my Internet (e-mail) “think tank” – of some $5 million.
I say that because the group needs editors, copy editors, publicists, literary agents, administrators, researchers, collators, catalogers, visual and computer consultants, and at least one publishing house along with television outlets, and need I add, cogent contributors willing to associate their names and works with the think tank.
A recently fired prolific author of cable news with a following of millions avoided all this turning out instant bestsellers with a built in purchasing audience.
A book about President Dwight David Eisenhower’s final address to the US Congress was written by a talented and respected journalist with a similar brand and exposure. It, too, was an instant bestseller with a television documentary to boost sales, which I read and found to have a very thin premise. My wonder is if any major publishing house would have touched it were such a book written by yours truly.
This is not a trend; this is glutted reality.
My hope is that young people reading this will get some idea of how to get beyond television cable hype and find their own equivalent of a personal “Think Tank.”
Finally, this was the referenced Lord John-Dalberg Acton’s (1804-1902) admonition:
*Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. History is not a burden on the memory but an illumination of the soul. The issue which has swept down the centuries and which will have to be fought sooner or later is the people versus the banks. The danger is not that a particular class is unfit to govern. Every class is unfit to govern. Learn as much by writing as by reading. Liberty is not a means to a higher political end. It is itself the highest political end. Everything secret degenerates, even the administration of justice; nothing is safe that does not show how it can bear discussion and publicity. The most certain test by which we judge whether a country is really free is the amount of security enjoyed by minorities. Liberty is not the power of doing what we like, but the right to do what we ought. And remember, where you have a concentration of power in a few hands, all too frequently men with the mentality of gangsters get control. History has proven that.
Too often, those who climb to power and authority fall prey to Lord Acton’s dictum while those who occupy “Think Tanks” seldom have that temptation as they ruminate in earnest to generate mainly symbolic influence. Even when that influence becomes real, they remain far removed from its employment, which is something of a blessing.