I took this picture of the USS intrepid aircraft carrier as it seemed fitting this week amidst the chaos of the US credit rating fiasco. (The ship is just above the girl's head).
I use that word to describe what took place in the news as we set sail from New York Harbor on a cruise ship, looking back at the financial capital of the United States, and the glory of a once great aircraft carrier whose decks now contain a historical record of past "can do" attitude (as well as a period of comfort and complacency, as depicted by the concord in the foreground to the left where the concord aircraft sits).
Aboard our cruise ship one evening, the movie “Pearle Harbor” played.
What struck me was one particular scene where, in a room filled with negativity and pessimism about defeat, a crippled President Eisenhower rose from his wheel chair to tell his chiefs of staff, “don’t tell me what can’t be done!”
In my consulting work I often find organizations full of people who are more than happy to give you reasons why things cannot be done, but if you look back through history you will find more than enough evidence to support a "can do" approach.
Sometimes you need brute force, sometimes innovative ideas, and still other times you simply need a combined will to do what it takes to succeed.
