The Tortoise Picnic

There was a story once told of a tortoise family who went on a picnic. They had prepared seven years for their outing. The family left home, searching for a suitable place. During the second year of their journey, they found it. For about the first six months they cleared the area, unpacked the picnic basket, and completed the arrangements. They discovered, however, that they had forgotten the salt. A picnic without salt would be a disaster, they all agreed.

      After a lengthy discussion, the youngest tortoise was chosen to retrieve the salt at home. Although he was the fastest of the slow-moving tortoises, the little tortoise whined, cried, and wobbled in his shell. He agreed to go on only one condition: that no one would eat until he returned. The family consented and the little tortoise left.

     Three years passed---and the little tortoise had not returned. Five years. Six years. Then in the seventh year of his absence, the eldest tortoise could no longer contain his hunger. He announced that he was going to eat and began to unwrap a sandwich. At that point, the little tortoise suddenly popped out from behind a tree shouting, “SEE! I knew you wouldn’t wait! Now, I’m not going for the salt.” 

At this time while so much information and activity is taking place around our great hobby we so desperately need a strong voice that will speak for us all. The NCMD is and has been that voice for a couple of decades or so, but I get the impression that market forces are at work in and around this representative body. It’s said, that any vision that people might follow begins to stagnate after around 10 years if it does not constantly re-evaluate its purpose and goals. Let’s face it we need strong representation and strong leadership with all the pressures that are being put on us as never before.

 I get the impression that for whatever reason this representation is reactive rather than pro-active in its dealings with its own membership, let alone these other market forces.

 I’m reminded of the difference between Thermometers and Thermostats!

Do you know the difference?

  A Thermometer merely tells what the temperature is in a particular area. If your thermometer reads seventy degrees and you place that thermometer in a room that is currently eighty degrees, the thermometer will change to register whatever the room temperature is. It won’t be long before the thermometer reads eighty degrees. It always adjusts to its environment.

      The thermostat, however, adjusts the room temperature. If the thermostat is set at seventy degrees and the room is eighty degrees, the temperature of the room changes to conform to whatever the thermostat is reading. The room will become seventy degrees.

  A strong NCMD needs to change the temperature rather than reacting to it. In doing so it will provide clear and concise leadership and direction rather than re-acting to market forces from all directions, A strong NCMD will benefit us all.

We all live our lives as either a thermostat or a thermometer. You either blend in with the crowd, or you can change the crowd. You are either influencing others, or they are influencing you.

  Happy hunting, Pete.