The recent heist at the Louvre is the stuff of Netflix or Apple streaming entertainment. The robbers, with bright, construction-like clothing used a commercial, mechanical ladder truck (ironically, the brand is now being promoted), and entered through a window in broad daylight with tourists AND guards in the room, whom they threatened with commercial grinders.
This was far from James Bond stuff. A security camera outside was facing the wrong way. The escaping thieves dropped some loot while escaping into traffic on motor bikes, as well as some clothing items with probable DNA present. They were inside for just seconds.
We’ve been in the Louvre several times, as recently as a year ago, and a private tour by a director took us to remote parts. It’s amazing, however, how much of the public area has no video monitoring. Budget constraints have caused this (France is in terrible economic trouble).
Another issue, however, video notwithstanding, is continued and diligent scrutiny. Marshall McLuhan, the Canadian philosopher, he of “the medium is the message,” wrote that “The price of eternal vigilance is indifference.” He meant that we become bored constantly monitoring for something that may never happen, whether in nuclear command centers, guard stations, or TSA. TSA attempts to combat the problem by constantly rotating screeners, but tests by Forbes and all three TV broadcast stations in the recent past found that about 70 percent of deliberately inserted (unloaded) handguns placed in carry-on bags was not detected! (I am not making this up.)
Ironically, every time I pass an automated cashier machine in CVS it starts giving me instructions for use. But that’s the point: AI can play a huge role in continued, uniform diligence and monitoring so long as it doesn’t have to apply judgment and break its own rules. I wouldn’t want a machine determining if it were a good idea to begin launching nukes. (There’s a new movie about this, “A House of Dynamite.”) If you’d like to be scared out of your gourd by a real instance, I commend to you Stanislav Petrov: The Man Who Saved the World (Great Lives) Paperback, July 3, 2023.
Like The Great Train Robbery, the Louvre heist will become the stuff of legend. I believe the crooks will be caught, but if you think that these valuable jewels can’t be “fenced” because of their uniqueness and will be recovered, I have personally been in homes with rare, valuable, illegally obtained art work hung and mounted on the walls.
But even those illegal owners became bored looking at them.
The Fishbowl: In January I’ll be starting a year-long, monthly, “live” coaching session whereby one member of the group will be coached by me for 45 minutes on a current issue of theirs, we’ll deconstruct what happened, and then have 45 minutes of Q&A. This is a variation of the very popular “fishbowl” technique I ran a few years ago.
You may volunteer to be the person coached or simply watch. You needn’t attend every session and I will provide video to everyone afterwards along with written commentary. This should build your coaching prowess considerably.
This will be $500 for the year and I’m offering it to you, here, first, because I’ll obviously have limited participation. My offer to you is $400. (An hour of my “situational coaching” on my site is $2,500, so this is a hell of a deal if you choose to be coached or even just observe.)
You can register here: https://alanweiss.com/store/quick-pay/
I can only accept a few more and I’ll cut off registration on December 1, but if you wait and we’re filled, I can only put you on a waiting list.
BOOK SPRINT begins Nov. 3, 60-minute weekly call to create a completed, professional book proposal in the following 60 days. I have an 80%+ record placing these books with publishers for the last five years. I will introduce the proposal to agents and publishers (and so can you) and provide an additional 30 days of support for the book. The fee is only $4,500. Stop procrastinating and produce your first (or next) book, which is how I’ve attracted well over 90% of my business over the years. Register here and I’ll send the simple prep work: https://alanweiss.com/store/quick-pay/ Note: I can take one more person and we begin in less than two weeks.
AI: Alan Intelligence
My unique AI resource which will direct you to the relevant aspects of my entire body of work to answer your “real time” questions about proposals, value based fees, conceptual agreement, avoiding “ghosting,” and thousands of other issues with text, audio, and video resources, all of which you can download. Please go here to gain lifelong, constantly growing access to my work, including referral to specific pages in my books which you can access online: https://alanweiss.com/ai-alan-intelligence/ If you decide at any time to engage in one of my two elite, personal coaching relationships, I'll deduct the full fee you've paid for this resource.
Zoom Workshops 2025: Join me on November 4 for our next installment, Questions You Always Wanted to Ask (Me). If you can’t attend “live” you’ll still receive the video and the AI Companion transcript. https://alanweiss.com/growth-experiences/zoom-workshops-2025/ I'll take questions in writing in advance if you'd like to remain anonymous. $450. Consider it AI: Alan Intelligence® in person!!
Million Dollar Consulting® for the World: I’ve provided 14 modules with videos from me, from your colleagues globally, slides, and text. They include everything from launch to self-esteem, proposals to fees, closing business to creating a brand. No upsells! It’s only $115. What do you think about a 10,000:1 ROI? We have over 500 people from 47 countries. https://milliondollarconsultingcourse.com
Million Dollar Consulting® for the World ADVANCED: The new program contains over 60 videos and has 15 modules focusing on what to do in the buyer’s office, overcoming crises, financial planning, and much, much more. https://alanweiss.com/growth-experiences/advanced-global-learning-program/
Million Dollar Consulting® for the World GRADUATE: Another 12 modules with videos by me and your peers on contemporary issues such as Raising Fees Aggressively, How to Be Consistently Interviewed, Maximizing Happiness, and Managing Multiple projects. Join the people from 57 countries who are availing themselves of this inexpensive way to dramatically grow their businesses in any economic times. How does 100:1 ROI sound? https://milliondollarconsultingcourse.com/graduate-learning-program/
London: For those of you who read down here, a special offer. I'm planning to be in London in late May offering a 1.5-day program based on my new book The Seven-Figure Consultant (which will be released in February and which I'll send for free to registrants at that time). The program is about the philosophy, leverage, and opportunity acquisition you need to make seven figures annually and sustain it. It is a brand new offering (it is not “Six Figures to Seven”). If you're interested: The fee will be $4,500, which includes a reception evening, a light breakfast and lunch. If you register in November the fee is $3,500. Write me at alan@summitconsulting.com or register here: https://alanweiss.com/store/quick-pay/ Read this far? It's May 18-19.