2005 - 09-15-05

Once, a long time ago, I was with my father
in a rather un-seaworthy boat attempting to navigate a
particularly dangerous part of the ocean. I was very scared.
The boat was in serious danger of
capsizing. Then I remembered something my father taught
me years earlier. He taught me if you are in a boat traveling
across dangerous waters, give the controls of
that boat to the person onboard who is the most skilled at
operating a boat under dangerous conditions. That means you
should NOT necessarily give the controls to the owner of the
boat... or... to the person who has the highest "rank" on
board... or... to the person who has been operating
boats for the longest period of time. You should give the
controls to the person who is BEST at navigating
that boat through dangerous water.

To state the obvious, it
shouldn't matter if the person is Black or White, Catholic
or Protestant, a midget or 7 feet tall, Republican or
Democrat, or what the person believes or thinks about
anything. It shouldn't matter if you love or hate the
person. And it shouldn't even if the person is in favor of an idea that disgusts you.

All that should matter is, you give the
controls of the boat to the person onboard who is
the most likely person to get you back to port safely.

So, rather than let my pride go
before a fall...

I Gave The Controls Of That Boat

In Those Dangerous Waters

To My Father!

What if you knew of a copywriter who almost
always wrote hugely successful direct mail pieces, space ads
and/or websites for his clients? Would you care if that
copywriter was Black or White, Catholic or Protestant, a
midget or 7 feet tall, Republican or Democrat? Or what his
or her religious beliefs were?

I think you wouldn't care about any of that.
I think you would hire the person who was most likely to
write a piece of copy for you which would make you the most money.

I think the same thing is true with about anything else of
importance which needs to get done. If you were suffering
from a potentially deadly disease, would you care about the
skin color or religious beliefs of the doctor who was
treating you? I think not. I think if you are sane, you
would want the doctor who is most likely to make you well
again.