It is amusing how some things can be right under your nose for so long, then the oddest little things brings them all to light.
Case in point: Ben Zander apparently shares the motto of the 3 Drunken Celts, albeit phrased a tad differently: “Don’t take yourself so goddamned seriously.” (The 3DC motto being “Never forget the funny“, I am sure you can see the similarities here.)
Of course the real funny for me in all this is the path I took to find this out: I began reading Seth Godin’s “Linchpin” as a recommendation from a colleague and collaborator in the social media spaces (my former boss, Kelly Smith). Kelly had read the book previously and found it had some key insights for us in how we may improve our collective efforts…. as well as our own individual paths.
While reading, I came to page 50 of “Linchpin” and was amused to find reference to one of my best friends employers, Ben Zander. It seems Seth is quite the fan of Ben (and Roz) Zander, as I came to find on page 59…. and even more so as I spoke to my friend about the discovery as I figured she’d be amused. And rightly so, it turns out Ben and Seth are quite good friends.
Bemused even more, I relate the story to Kelly, who of course reminds me that she is also a huge fan of Ben’s, and had even referenced him a few times in some older blog posts after he had spoken at the Rational Developer’s Conference back in 2006 (sadly two yeas before I joined Rational). During our chat, she pointed me to the following minimalist blog posting:
Remember Rule 6
And so the loop was closed for me, and the funny not forgotten.
Truly, what a small world this is; and able to deliver such a serendipitous message right when I needed it (As a tangent, perfectly in keeping with our organization’s KCS ideals of knowledge ‘just-in-time’!). Sometimes it is surprising what a struggle it can be to not take myself so “goddamned seriously”. Thank you Ben, and the 3DC for being this constant reminder!
