The tale once told by Hans Christian Anderson goes as follows:
Once a very vain Emperor who placed much emphasis on the exterior trappings of success was approached by a few swindling weavers. Their aim? Much wealth.
To achieve this, they had to convince him that their product is so special, that only the elite few would ever be able to see it for what it was… unique, a cut above the rest and obviously immensely desirable. They meant it literally. Only the elite, the informed, the royalty as such, would be deserving of laying their eyes upon the beautiful cloth that these gentlemen could weave and therefore to the rest of society the cloth would remain invisible.
Not much has changed…
Along come the trendsetters, the go getters, the awesome phrase makers and within a day or two they have wooed the world. With their clever talk of moola and muchness of gadgets and gizmo’s they call them “must haves and desirables” and just like the swindling weavers they start to build their product.
This product is often without substance or truth and in the case of the weavers, without even the basic raw ingredients.
So the colours having been decided by the aforementioned smooth talkers, green (for the envious potential client), red (for the client’s bank balance once product has been purchased) and white (for colour of client’s face when he realizes he is broke) and don’t forget black, the colour of the smooth talkers bank balance and preferred colour of his Mazerati, the next step in this great swindle of all times is to validate the truth of all the nothingness being sold.
Enter the consultants…
The consultants scoring high on theory and knowledge are keen to demonstrate to their clients, (the swindling weaving smooth talkers) just how impressively high THEIR knowledge levels and subsequent invoices can be. Therefore they investigate the theory and the market or voters impact of the move or business decision and within moments they too, just like the Emperor’s advisors are caught up in the suggestion that only the very best will be able to ascertain the value, beauty, worth or appeal of the product and as for those poor souls who cannot SEE it, well, luckily it is 2010 otherwise the dungeons would suffice!
So the consultants concur. The product is awesome! The colours are appealing, they too have now joined the elite few who can recognize the flamboyant and artistically unique qualities of the product on offer and therefore they too, must surely be awesome and will soon have black as the predominant colour in their lives.
In fact the consultants even suggest the pattern for the colours. The weave they say is perfect in colouring, but if they were to earn their keep they would suggest a slight alteration in the pattern…and there ladies and gentleman you now have an invisible cloth with four colours and a pattern to die for, ready for the advertising agencies.
The launch is imminent. So, whisper the crowds, the underlings and the followers. It’s coming. The advertising agency naturally trained to do just about anything with even the most boring of product, have surpassed themselves. They have created an ad campaign taking the very weakness of the product (the fact that it has no substance) and have turned that into a strength by suggesting that it be sold not only as cloth but also as completed garments, light as silk and impossible to feel once on your body. You can even win a “free fitting and alteration” if you buy within 7 days.
So a number of Emperors from the most wealthy of Empires all come together around and they buy. They buy lock stock and barrel, rolls of cloth, as after all the more they can stockpile, the more they can drive up demand and later they can sell at tremendous profits.
Then finally the day arrives. The day that the Emperors parade their newly acquired garments and the day the public finally come to meet the product…and here dear reader is where we can certainly by now should have learnt a lesson or two, but alas, it is not to be.
As the Emperor in Hans Christian Anderson’s version marched through the street cloaked in “nothingness” a young child calls out “but he is naked” and so the naked truth emerged. The underlings and followers saw it all for what is was, pure nonsense. The Emperor and those around him continued their silly charade though as not one of them wanted to admit that they couldn’t see the garment, after all, they were superior beings.
And in my version in 2010, the ending is EXACTLY the same. The underlings, the followers, the people like you and I, we see the economy and the world leaders and we see the lack of substance, we laugh about it and we point fingers, yet the Emperors continue their silly charade, as not one of them want to admit that they, their products, their leadership and their little playgrounds lacks the essential ingredient of substance.
What happened to the good old days? Have there ever been any, or is it time that the human race takes a good and honest look at itself?
Honesty, humility and wisdom together with lack of greed and ego gets my vote anytime. Well, at least I can try to exercise that in my little sphere of influence and encourage you to stand by your truth, no matter how tough it sometimes is. Who knows, maybe one day one of you may become the Emperor and remember this story…I truly hope so!
© Debbie Engelbrecht 1 February 2010
Debbie is the owner of Staff Training a soft skills training company. Her goal in life is to inspire her fellow humans to stay true to themselves
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