On Principalities

by Mike on 8/26/2007

Nice to have a couple of comments to spurn me on to write a bit – thanks, Mom, and a big thanks to Jason and Karen for being wonderful hosts in Germany. We had a terrific visit while we were there.

Off to the doctor tomorrow to see if I actually did anything beyond badly bruising my right foot coming down the stairs. See, normally, you walk on the soles of your feet. As I got to the bottom of the stairs, however, my right foot – throwing off the shackles of this narrow-minded view – decided to curl under me and try this upside-down. I put all my weight somehow on the *top* of my right foot, yielding a shout from me and a few snaps/pops from my foot. Whether that was simply joints popping or worse, I don’t know. At the moment, I’m going with badly bruised, although it’s felt progressively worse through the evening. Off to the doctor tomorrow, then – watch this space.

I’ve recently started reading Machiavelli’s The Prince lately. (Sidenote – there’s nothing quite like mulling over maintaining control of a conquered state with CMT’s Trick My Truck in the background. Try it sometime.) It’s still pretty early going, as it’s not exactly a quick read, but there’s a lot of good stuff in there so far. I expected based on reputation to read more about abject punishment of the masses, but it’s not that – although he does objectify the common population, he focuses more on manipulation rather than destruction. It’s like early spin doctoring. Which means there is a lot we can pull out from his text and apply to modern corporate life.

Of course, that idea isn’t really more formed than that right now. That’s partly why I blog less frequently now – so many ideas are only 3/4 formed.

{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }

MishMish August 27, 2007 at 8:39 am

Okay…first OUCH!! Even if it is only twisted or mildly sprained that can sometimes even be worse than a break when it’s your ankle. They always seem to take forever to heal!!

Second – we have covered The Prince in many of my MGT courses, but I still have yet to read the book itsself. Machiavellism, though, is always a topic that comes up when discussing different mgmt techniques. I’ll have to be sure to read your follow-up post after you’ve finished the book.

cybertoad August 27, 2007 at 10:36 am

Ooh, ouch, I can visualize exactly what you did Mike because I have done the same but without the damage you seemed to have done. Hope it heals quickly Mike!!

laanba August 27, 2007 at 6:24 pm

Sorry about your toe!

Gretchen August 27, 2007 at 8:24 pm

Hope it heals very, very quickly.

The Prince. Where did you hear about it?

Gretchen September 2, 2007 at 7:30 pm

..and now it’s september…

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