Mozartian Requiem

I heard that no two top executives at Coca Cola are allowed to fly together on the same flight.

And that they hand-carry the secret sauce (just like the White House “football”).

Maybe their risk-averse strategy should serve as a cautionary tale for our time, especially after today’s crash which took out

most of Polish government.

Succession planning.

Companies large and small these days have to deal with myriads of issues, among them HR and pension plan.

GM paid out a large chunk to clear out their Union obligation.

I hope their Volt can compete with the likes of LEAF.

A life cycle of a company is getting shorter and shorter.

So is its institutional memory (this is because they laid off experienced – translated as expensive – workers, who happen to be depositories of

its DNA and mythologies).

The MCI comments about its culture have run quite long (the largest group on Facebook), just to show how deeply ingrained we are to our work place, especially if it gave us our sense of identity,

satisfaction and recognition.

Every once in a while, we got a winning company, product of its time, but also brainchild of its founder.

For now Google, Facebook, Apple and Amazon rule the tech space.

Behind each company, we find a strong and dynamic personality (ies): Jobs, Larry/Serge/Eric etc..

I hope they don’t travel together too often.

I encountered turbulence on my most recent flight. And it was an unnerving experience.

You question your priorities right then and there: have I been paying attention to the wrong things?

What if????

I am sure the Polish leadership team was praying (Catholic). And now they are prayed for, globally.

God rest their souls. Such solidarity, in life and in death. They were on their way to commemorate a historic event.

Now, it’s a double-tragedy Memorial from here on. What if this is our last moment of staying conscious? What is the most important thing

in our lives? Do we have a succession plan in place? I would work backward, like Mozart, from my funeral back, so I can finish my life symphony.

Wouldn’t you?