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| We talk of ways to "check everybody." How long, forever? I think not. We have so many brilliant minds focused on wealth accumulation, as long as we pay little attention to those who view us through cracks in the blinds, destroying the latest villain will only buy us temporary respite. |
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| —Gil Robinson |
Looking over one of my favorite weekly business magazines published a couple days before the September 11 terrorist attacks in the U.S., I am struck by how dated (and relatively insignificant) all of the articles were. If written today, nearly all might have included some reference to the awful watershed events of that day, because those events may have implications for every business story. But what are the implications of the attack?
We are already reading, of course, the most obvious stories of how the airline and insurance industries, to name two, will be affected. And of how the Internet performed so dependably in spite of almost unimaginable demand.
But what about more basic issues? Must we increasingly choose between our freedom and our security? If so, what's the price (and cost) of this choice?
At a personal level, for example, all of us have several trips, both business and personal, already scheduled. Some are more important than others. Do we take all of them? If not, how will it affect the way we relate to our business colleagues and loved ones? If we don't take them, are we acknowledging a victory for terrorism over freedom?
Perhaps more relevant for this column, at a commercial level, what are the implications of a possible loss of certain freedoms, its impact on free enterprise, and its effect on global enterprise? How great are the security costs—at global, national, organizational, and personal levels—needed to achieve the "peace of mind" with which we did business on September 10? How will they and other changes affect business and consumer costs and, at a more basic level, the global economy? And what can we learn from those who have been doing business and succeeding in global competition under the threat of terrorist attacks for years? What do you think?