Cobb

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December 01, 2005

Are you a Cobbler?

I'm going to spread some love and in the process of doing so, may modify the format of Cobb. But first to the love.

A lot of people do a lot of headscratching about what I'm representing on the blog. I can be maddeningly infuriating if you're trying to figure me out. I know this. But here's what I do for a living. I get people to tell me what's the most important numbers they run their business on, and I design systems to deliver those numbers with speed, accuracy and style. In other words, I do a lot of listening, and then I structure up the best way I can to express what it is you say is so important. Since I tend to be incredibly geeky and logic oriented, I also show you the embarrassing contradictions on the way from pie in the sky to feet on the ground. So therefore I am skeptical, analytical, and possessed of a certain .. how shall I say it? Showmeism. You say you want the truth, Mr, CFO? OK, here's what systems and work you have to get there, now how much are you willing to pay? I generally find that people in all walks of life would rather have 80% of the truth told nicely than 100% of the full ugly truth.

But the corollary to all that is that there's a hell of a lot of discovery that needs to be done in order to get the truth delivered promptly. A lot of swamps have to be drained, a lot of trees climbed to peer into the misty mists and the dusky dusks. Furhtermore, a lot of bridges need to be built. It's not enough to be one who scouts out the truth armed with a machete through the jungles of uncertainty and over the mountains of lies. You have to pave roads too. The truth is not so much revealed as cobbled together. Once you find this to be the case over and over, you are less likely to say what lies on the other side of the river. You analyze, you sniff the wind, you rely on your gut and you take precise measurements, grunt and move forward. You are a Cobbler, putting together paths towards revelation one safari at a time.

That's the kind of environment I intent to continue fostering here at Cobb. Open inquiry, useful philosophical discipline, common sense, unabated curiousity and heartfelt passion. And none of that can happen, despite my ability to spew, without you.

And so I'm about to change the colors at Cobb from the green I've been using to something else, and I'm seriously considering a three column format. With the third column would come more extensive blogrolling, names posted on comments and possibly even advertisements, although I'm pretty hesitant on that last score. I'd much rather shill for bloggers than sellers.

As for the political angle, it will be retained but I'll spend more time on culture and the arts. I'll probably pull in the whole Lucifer Jones idea and just make that the primary focus - Matters of the Spirit. As for The Conservative Brotherhood and the Old School, I'm pretty much done with the philosophical groundwork. That becomes a much more practical angle over at TCB's portal. I'm not going to waste much time arguing about stuff I already know to be true - no offense to a player but I don't play.

But that's all to make Cobb a more personal place with more of your input.

Stay tuned.

Posted by mbowen at December 1, 2005 01:28 PM

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Comments

Posted by: Scott Ferguson at December 1, 2005 02:33 PM

Posted by: Cobb at December 1, 2005 06:04 PM

Posted by: matt at December 1, 2005 06:16 PM

Posted by: Cobb at December 1, 2005 10:17 PM

Posted by: Chap at December 2, 2005 08:50 PM

Posted by: Dell Gines at December 3, 2005 07:23 AM

Posted by: Anita at December 6, 2005 11:28 AM