Chichen Itza: Why are you driving to work?

---

Since I work online training people, it doesn't really matter where I live, so I live where I want. People have been talking about this day for decades, and its time a few of us start actually doing it. The bandwidth on the Internet is great enough that video calls, video document sharing, and audio realtime events are possible. So, as leaders, it is time to start asking an important question. Why are we driving to work in the morning? Why are we renting large buildings in expensive areas and asking our employees to spend 2 hours in the car every day? Why are we gathering in the same place every day? Is it so we can watch people work? Does that sound stupid to you?

Why are you asking your employees to put up with it? We are in the knowledge processing business now. If our employees are creating deliverables of high quality, why do we care where they sit? As leaders, we should have an issue with quality, not issues with pointless control. Is there a way to control information via technology that is not seat-geography related?

Could we pay our employees a little less if they get to work at "home." Could we make a little more profit, if we don't have to pay rent on a space that holds 100% of our employees? Are you someone who should be asking these questions? Are you someone who should be answering these questions?

On Friday morning in America it is Friday night in India, so it is the beginning of my weekend. Conversely, Sunday night is Monday morning in India. So I start my work week on Sunday morning and it ends on Thursday night.

Kim and I headed off from Playa Del Carmen to Chichen Itza on Friday morning at 7:40 AM. It cost $55 per person for the tour including lunch and transportation. It also included an English speaking guide at Chichen Itza.

Once again we learned how the "more civilized" religion is not always so civil. Apparently, the Spaniards thought they were saving the Mayan heathens. Five-hundred years later, it seems obvious that religious wars are not always fun for everyone involved kids.

When the Spaniards began "civilizing" these lands, one of the first things they did was start breaking all these temples apart and using the stones to make their new homes. Apparently, worshipping idols instead of Jesus is bad kids. So the god-loving Spaniards did their best to tear these thousand-year old temples apart. They also burned all the books that contained thousands of years of Mayan and Toltec history including their history, mathematics, geography, and astronomy. Thus, there is not much else they know about these people that can't be deciphered by reading what is carved in stone.

Sadly, I guess that is what we mean in English when we say that something is not permanent unless it is "carved in stone."

Apparently, the Mayans like the Egyptians, used hieroglyphics as their written words, and the Spaniards thought all the pretty little pictures were pictures of non-Jesus gods that needed to be burned to save the new world from Satan idols.

Once again, one begins to wonder the same few things when traveling about this crazy planet. 1. Is the civilized world really so civil? 2. Should government (those in power) be favoring people of one religion over another?

Back to work!!

---

Comments

[Nancy Taylor]

Great Pics
All organized religion eventually commits serious breaches of its own moral code. As 'the training' taught ... organizations soon become about their own survival at the expense of all else. On a lighter note, hope you and Kim can come and visit us sometime. Love you lots!

[Paul Mathew]

Very Pertinent Thought
Hi Dan, Your latest blog post is very relevant and suggests some exciting new possibilities. I have the feeling that very soon we will be working out of virtual offices and interacting in cyberspace and 'cyberoffices' rather than in concrete buildings. I am also in complete agreement with your thoughts on 'who has been civilizing whom?'. The Mayans, the Hawaians, the Native Americans, the so-called 'primitive' tribes in the Andamans, in Nilambur, have all displayed a much higher sense of values, a much higher understanding of spirituality than most organized religions. Grateful to be on your mailing list. Love to you and Kim, Paul

[A Travel Story]

'who has been civilizing whom?
Well said Paul, well said. :-)