Imagine that you are in Bezos situation, you have 20 people super excited about what was just achieved (including yourself). You have one person that is reacting in a deeply philosophical way. Everyone knows that you are the leader and you set the tone. Do you want to change the tone at that moment to a deeply philosophical (and slightly non-positive) one? Being the leader is not as easy as many think.
I suspect the deep philosophical discussion did happen, but perhaps at a more appropriate time.
The answer is yes. Definitely yes. When you're the leader, it's not just about you and how you feel. It's about everyone. It's about fully understanding the gravity of the enterprise you're all pursuing and how the experience might affect participants in different ways.
Traveling to space isn't the same as canyon rafting or bungee jumping. It's not just "exciting", it elicits a wide range of profound experiences and deep emotions. And all of them are just as valid and should be affirmed. If you are organizing and leading people into space, you have to be fully aware as well as humble.
Over the past decades, Bezos spend mountains of energy expounding the importance of space travel, including its philosophical aspects. Bezos response to Shatner makes all of that questionable. It leaves one speculating whether or not he sees commercial space travel as anything else then another thrill ride that might add to the profit margins of his companies.
Maybe he did have a deeper discussion in private. But given Bezos' public image and demeanour, I wouldn't assume he fully understood the importance of that moment before the camera's in hindsight.
That's such a very narrow perspective, that Bezos was just modeling to be a great leader. Bezos showed himself to be a really poor leader in fact, modeling exactly the wrong behavior.
Shatner was on that trip as a prop. Most famous space captain going to space for real! Bezos had the opportunity to curb that, and let some humanity seep back into what was basically just a PR stunt.
More damning than that, Bezos was rude to an elderly man, which is rude full stop, no matter the setting.
If Bezos's staff really needed the celebration so much, have their boss come down to their level to do the hooting-and-hollering, and couldn't wait a whole two minutes, they are guilty for the same reasons that Bezos was.
That is a great perspective. I thought at the time that Shatner was being a bit of a drama queen for the cameras, making it about himself and his own experience. This piece made me realize I judged incorrectly. The others seemed genuinely happy, perhaps having processed the philosophical stuff more readily or perhaps it hadn't hit them yet. There in the middle was Bezos trying to keep things positive. Tough job when the eyes of the world are upon you.
It is more of an analysis of probabilities. I suspect that this was the case but of course I don't know. What probability would you assign to Bezos being seen as the leader/setting the tone in this situation?
I'm rejecting the premise indicated by your forward slash, that being a team leader and setting an emotional tone for everyone involved are synonymous.
The rest of the team had a sharp constrast to Shatner in their style of celebration, so which group wasn't following their leader's tone properly? And the group that was celebrating loudly was doing so independent of Bezos, but somehow required him to join in soon and give their tone his affirmation? It's an absurd idea. It makes no sense after just a bit of thought.
>> I'm rejecting the premise indicated by your forward slash, that being a team leader and setting an emotional tone for everyone involved are synonymous.
Yes. I reject that premise as well.
>> The rest of the team had a sharp constrast to Shatner in their style of celebration, so which group wasn't following their leader's tone properly? And the group that was celebrating loudly was doing so independent of Bezos, but somehow required him to join in soon and give their tone his affirmation? It's an absurd idea. It makes no sense after just a bit of thought.
I think that if Bezos would have settled into a lengthy quiet and introspective discussion with Shatner at the time, it would have changed the overall tone of the group (or at least could have). Of course, I don't know for sure, but I have observed human behaviour in the past.
> Everyone knows that you are the leader and you set the tone. Do you want to change the tone at that moment to a deeply philosophical (and slightly non-positive) one? Being the leader is not as easy as many think.
This reflects on Bezos and the company that he kept -- either they are too shallow to understand the depth of what they had done, or too weak to make the uncomfortable choice of discussing it.
I suspect the deep philosophical discussion did happen, but perhaps at a more appropriate time.