Change is, of course, opportunity (this particular opportunity involving lots of pain on the way), but in an idle moment I was musing at how hard we seem to find it to craft words which state with civic pride and emotional resonance what it is we are trying to do.
Which, in turn, reminded me of the phrase carved into the facade of New York's main Post Office building. Completed in 1912, genius Beaux-Arts architects McKim Mead & White used a free translation from Herodotus to symbolise the public service for whom they were working:
Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.
I've read dozens -- in fact, possibly thousands -- of modern mission statements, values statements and visions, and I can honestly say none of them comes close to that. Where's the poetry in the way we think about the modern world?
3 comments:
"Il n'est pas necessaire desperer pour entreprendre, ni de reussir pour perseverer" William of Orange
Now that was a mission statement!
The poetry of the modern world is certainly not to be found in Penn Station, the architectural monstrosity that lurks just across the street from those fine words. However, the station is moving into the post office building at some point and changing its name to Moynihan Station after the late Senator. Once this happens, three all-too-rare elements will be combined: a poetic mission statement, a beautiful train station, and a thoughtful, courageous, and progressive politician.
Suddenly I feel positive about the world!
Anonymous: The bureaucrat in me wants to point out that this is more a credo, or values statement, than a mission statement...
That William of Orange, he was a card, wasn't he?
Tom: Ironically (and I'm sure you know this, I'm just showing off), the architects of the original Pennsylvania Station -- reputedly the most glorious city terminus ever built (and featured on one or other of my blogs before) -- were also McKim Mead & White. It's a shame the original station was not preserved. But while I agree with the rarity of the other two, are beautiful railway stations so very rare?
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