Organized Chaos
The Sunday before last, there was a one-hour tribute on 60 Minutes to the recently deceased Don Hewitt. Don created and was the inspiration behind one of TV’s longest running shows: 60 Minutes. While I don’t usually watch shows that pat themselves on the back, this one caught my eye. Unfortunately I didn’t get to watch the entire show.
There were several points made about Don during the tribute:
- He didn’t like to do segments on issues; he preferred stories on people dealing with issues.
- He liked the idea of allocating 15 minutes or more to a story.
- He didn’t like focus groups and meetings; enjoyed an atmosphere of organized chaos; didn’t surround himself with yes-men.
- He enjoyed occasionally going out with the reporters, producers, and camera crews.
But I also got the impression that he was unquestionably the boss.
March 31st, 2010 at 10:09 am
On a recent trip to Colombia (South America), I spent several days in the company of Paolo Lugari, legendary inspiration behind the successful eco-development at Gaviotas. Among other things, Paolo is an impassioned crusader against centralized planning, a bit of an anarchist.
He emphasized that he felt that the moment that Gaviotas needed a Master Plan was the moment the community would die. One visitor to Colombia stated: “It became clear to us that most of the successes at Gaviotas were not a result of brilliant planning but of a trial and error process, replete with wrong turns and detours.”
Paolo emphasized that everyone is different. (One size doesn’t fit all.) This philosophy resulted in Gaviotas having few laws; but it did have laws against violence.