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Nonsense
side-tracks
you from your work,
tricks you into wrong decisions and trips you short of your goals.

Nonsense
stops you from

being successful.
 

October 2007

Worm's-eye, not bird's-eye

Have you been practicing to see nonsense? I sure hope so because every bit of nonsense that you uncover makes life easier for the rest of us. You did not know that? Come on! Why do you think I’ve been sharing my nonsense-spotting tricks with you? Simple self-interest. The more nonsense that is uncovered, the less remains.

(OK, OK. That’s not quite true. Nonsense has a horrible ability to morph into new nonsense. Like the ’flu virus. That’s the bad news. The good news is that it gives me a steady supply of fresh material for Book 2. And 3.)

Nevertheless, this month I want to give you another tip. (Still too busy to read, but want to know how I first learned this lesson in the African Bush? Stick with me, you're almost there.)

Right, here’s that tip: Don’t look for nonsense out in the distance over there somewhere. Look for it right under your nose.

Let me give you a real-life nonsense example. The suffering car companies and their striking workers have been in the news lately, so let’s use one of the Big Three to demonstrate my point. (A bit of accuracy nonsense: the story is about a subsidiary of one of the old big-three car companies.)

The subsidiary had embarked on a ‘total quality program’ (remember those?) and had already spent millions of dollars on trying to get results of quality to stick. Even the CEO was heard to use the Q-word in his monologues. However, there was one bit of nonsense that the ‘quality conscious’ CEO had missed right under his nose: Daily he walked passed their premium model on display to all visitors who entered the foyer at their head office. And daily he did nothing about the layer of dust clearly visible on their prized ‘quality’ product.

Here’s how I learned to look for nonsense right under my nose and not ‘out there’. Remember my true tale about being chased by a lioness? (See the photo in the July 2007 newsletter). Well, as I was retreating rapidly in reverse (Hey, you never turn your back on a lioness. If you do, you’ll miss seeing an awesome site that few people ever see: the graceful leap as she goes for your throat. It’s the same reason why you should never turn your back on nonsense.).

Where was I? Oh yes, as I was retreating rapidly in reverse I heard one of my fellow retreaters shout, “Where is she? I can’t see her! Where is she?” The fumbling fool was trying to peer through his binoculars while shuffling backwards through the thorny African bushes! If he had dropped his binoculars he would have seen her right there, almost under his nose. And if he had shuffled a little slower he could have patted the big cat on her head. If he had managed to get his hand passed her teeth, that is.

There you have it. You don’t need binoculars or any other special equipment to see nonsense over there. Nonsense is actually right here, in front of you.

Until next month, y’all try not to trip over it, you hear?
 

Welcome to our side of the nonsense divide.