IF-Blog has a new author. It is an old friend of mine, Willi Streit (Li). We met again recently after many years. I will soon introduce him in the IF blog. Willy intends to publish around once a week in the IF blog. Here is his first article:
It is the dream of every journalist to get an interview with Bill Gates.
Most journalists would be willing to sacrifice quite something for it: maybe even leave the wife, neglect the children und fly to Seattle as a stowaway. Konstantin K. did not have to do any of these things. Being a reporter for one of Europe’s top news magazines, the appointment with the guru of the “Brave New World” was easy to get. After all, a new Microsoft product was soon to be introduced to the European market. That is usually a time when the PR brigades of the mega-conglomerate are generous with appointments.
As usual, the delegation is met in the headquarters building at MS by employees of the press office, where they are mentally and emotionally prepared for meeting “Himself”. Incidentally, the appointment had been scheduled to begin more than an hour earlier, but so far, there was no “go” from the main office. Eventually, Konstantin had to follow the call of nature due to all that American Coffee.
He apologizes and politely asks for the “bathroom”. After “hiking” around the corner of the corridor, he accidentally opens the wrong door. Inside sits B.G., holding his head in his hands and totally exhausted. He laments:
“What are you doing to me? That will be my 15th interview today!”
Konstantin closes the door, sneaks back into the room where his peers are waiting. He never told anybody of this. Maybe the adventure was reflected later in his article “atmospheric events”.
Management by exhaustion?
Today, Bill Gates is no longer actively involved in the business. All we can do is wonder what this treadmill at the top of a world conglomerate cost him. The small story of our journalist does not leave us unmoved. It is left to every one of us to learn from it.
What kind of impression will this story make on the managing director of a German company, or on the people working in human resources?
Maybe each of you will use it according to your own desire. It will certainly never be useless.
Along with the discussion, telling stories is archetypically one of the basic forms of communication. It is all about “understanding each other”. Sustainability in communication will still be beneficial many weeks later.
While a list, an agenda, a down-to-earth report, and a boring PowerPoint presentation have a half-value period of a few seconds, stories continue to live on forever. In their own, subtle way, they have influenced us for thousands of years.
Li
(Translated by EG)
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