On the bus? Nah! On the Millennium Falcon...

Spooky Action

Throughout history, societies have developed tales of epic adventure to teach and inspire virtue and greatness among their peoples. Like the stories of the [Good to Great] companies, these tales begin with characters living normal, unremarkable lives in safe, well-defined comfort zones. Then, unexpectedly, the comfort zone is destroyed, usually by the intrusion of actors in a larger conflict. One of these actors (the mentor) reveals the nature of this larger conflict to the would-be heroes, and recruits them to play a pivotal role in resolving the conflict.

The initial reaction to this request is usually a combination of disbelief, denial, and refusal to participate in the larger conflict. But the mentor eventually succeeds in convincing the characters to pursue the fantastic quest. The heros then embark, with help and guidance of the mentor, on a series of challenges and encounters with allies and enemies. Through this process the heros are transformed in ways that neither they nor their old acquaintances would ever have imagined - and achieve lasting greatness.

So how do the old good to great stories relate to the new ones? Two ideas suggest themselves to me....

Everybody talks about "being on the bus," yet no-one talks about generating "rider-ship."

Yeah. Who should be on the bus? Why are they there? What's their story? Is it fair to ask "where are you going?" or "why do you want to come?"

Of course it is. In fact, it's primary unless you want to shed motivation, cash and smoke like an AMC Gremlin as you barrel down the highway to your ideal future.

SpookyAction tackles the paradoxical myth and reality of idealized missions, one-eyed skeleton armies and heroes of the balance-sheet variety here.