I was reading the Oct. 11 WSJ today... a review of the book Catastrophe 1914: Europe Goes to War, and it noted that at least one respected historian attributes the cause of that war to, the leaders of 1914 pursu(ing) a policy of brinksmanship without calculating its possible ruinous effects. Hmm. Really? Leaders DO that? Huh. Why does that ring a bell? It also noted that hubris... led generals to ignore changes in technology and embrace almost suicidal tactics. Massed charges into German artillery and machine gun fire, for instance, cost two French corps 60,000 casualties in an August encounter along the Sambre River. Well, sure, because new technology is always better and only laggards ever ignore THAT! Well, no, because lots of new ideas werent worth the effort to think up and prove it in short order once put into action. This error would have more to do with thinking, We will send hundreds of thousands of men across No Mans Land; surely the enemy cant shoot them all! Except... yes, they could... mostly one-at-a-time, but very quickly. So that has a more appropriate parallel to those who insist that if we can now reach millions of prospects with less effort than ever before, we can surely win with overwhelming force. They cant ALL ignore us. Well, if youre one of hundreds of thousands of communicators putting up generic descriptions of offerings that each express only and exactly what youd expect them to say, they can most certainly all fly off into the ether and never leave a mark on the other side. Unlikely as it may appear, and despite our hubris, we surely can fail to interest thousands upon thousands of people. One at a time, and very quickly.
Posted on: Thu, 24 Oct 2013 04:36:30 +0000
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