Transcription
Signor E. Segre
Via G.Pacini 72
20131 Milano
ITALIA
A man is flying in a hot air balloon and realizes he is lost. He reduces height and spots a man down below. He lowers the balloon further an shouts: "Excuse me, can you tell me where I am? The man below says: " Yes, in a hot air balloon, hovering 30 feet above this field."
"You must work in information technology," says the balloonist. "Yes I do", replies the man. "How did you know?" "Well," says the balloonist, "everything you have told me is technically correct, but it's no bloody use to anyone." The man below says: "You must work in business." "Yes, I do", replies the balloonist, "but how did you know?" 'Well," says the man, "you don't know where the hell you are or where the hell you are going to, but you expect me to be able to help.
You're in the same position you were before we met, but now it is my fault."
Amsterdam, 15 th December 1998
Dear Enrico,
The above joke was published in a Dutch newspaper. The newspaper informed their readers that they had lifted the story from the Internet.
To me it was "old news", because I heard the same joke about 10 years ago, but the balloonist was not a businessman but a banker, because he had the characteristics of a banker.
He had no sense of direction and he was a person who did not have both feet on the ground.
This deepening is the metaphor for the increased complexity in the American surrounding world that management finds difficult to deal with and is often not equipped to deal with the complexities of the continuously changing environment.
A quote of John Maynard Keynes, which he observed in 1936 struck me: "The ideas of economists are more powerful than is commonly understood. Indeed the world is ruled by little else. Practical men, who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influences, are usually the slaves of some defunct economist."End of quote.
In today's world it is still a truism. But it is not only the ideas of economists that are powerful, but also those of the high priests of information technology, who enslave the decision makers in the business world because they do not have the brains to understand what is going on. For example, Volkswagen and Procter and Gamble lost enormous amounts of money on financial derivatives because their managers did not understand the dangers.
Recently, Barclays Bank suffered huge losses and is about to be taken over. The investment bank Baring Brothers was taken down by a dealer, Nick Lesson.
I recently read that the beginning of information technology is letter writing. Then you got the invention of PRINTING and after that the great leap forward: the computer. In this letter to you, as you have noticed, I apply the oldest and the newest, most modern form of IT
So far it has only been an introduction; the real letter starts here.
Thank you for your seasonal greetings! Your observation is correct. I write less than I would like. Living in Amsterdam, it's easy to get distracted by so many distractions. Living in the city, it turns out we have more friends than we thought. Those who live in the countryside want to come visit us, have a drink, go to the toilet, etc. I'm not complaining, but explaining why I write less than usual. Plus, we spent a lot more time with our parents. As they get older, they need a lot more of our time.For example, Vera's mother loses her memories. We noticed it while she is still alive. My parents are quite fit for their age (81 and 83), but last August my mother was diagnosed with a malignant tumor. It was surgically removed and she has recovered.
And of course we go to operas, concerts, museums, etc. more often. It is the first time we live in the city and everything is within walking distance.
We are all in good shape. Floris works as a tax lawyer at the accounting firm Moret, Ernst & Young. He now has two years of work experience. He says the workload is enormous. It is no exception that he works until 11 p.m. three evenings a week. “Crazy,” in my opinion.
Reinoud successfully completed his International Management training at a private institution. However, he expressed his desire to graduate from a university. So he enrolled at the University of Rotterdam.
Today, December 15, the temperature is an astonishing 11 degrees Celsius above zero and it is raining. We long for clear and sunny weather; So Italy.
We decided to stay home at the end of the year. No winter sport and no Curaçou this time.
We sincerely hope that you and Maria are in good health and will remain so in 1999. Merry Christmas "pour toute la famille" from Vera and Adriaan
