I’m working on a presentation for a new business venture and came across this little bit of jargon…those of you have been in the new media/technology world have probably heard of this phrase…”GandhiCon”.
What is Ghandicon? According to this FAQS.org jargon file it relates to a quote from Mohandas Gandhi, describing the stages of establishment resistance to a winning strategy of nonviolent activism. First they ignore you. Then they laugh at you. Then they fight you. Then you win.
The open source world has adopted it to describe what they see when they to get corporations and other large institutions to take new ways of doing things seriously. Together with the U.S. military’s degrees of war alert, known as DefCon, the levels of GhandiCon were born.
At GhandiCon One, you’re being ignored.
At GhandiCon Two, opponents are laughing at you and dismissing the idea that you could ever be a threat.
At GhandiCon Three, they’re fighting you on the merits and/or attempting to discredit you.
At GhandiCon Four, you’re winning and they are arguing to save face or stave off complete collapse of their position.
There are so many places you can relate GhandiCon. Apply it to negotiating for anew car, finding a job, pitching a new idea at work, or launching you own blog or website. How about dating? I remember the years of therapy that came from GhandiCon Two…sheesh.
No matter what you’re pursuing where this might apply remember that the satisfaction of being at GhandiCon Three and the sheer jubilation of GhandiCon Four are worth the trip
Be Sociable