Nel paese di straordinari Tafazzi, un po’ di aria sana, di riflessioni virtuose sul patrimonio che non sappiamo valorizzare e raccontare in maniera adeguata al mondo: quello italiano. Quello del paese che abbiamo la fortuna di abitare. Quello che in tutto il mondo si definisce il “bel paese” perché situato in un punto del globo con il miglior ecosistema naturale del mondo.
Quello che leggerete tra poco è il racconto, breve ma estremamente succoso, di un italiano come noi, che, in una platea altolocata di colleghi provenienti da tutto il mondo, ha voluto “cambiare verso” e raccontare l’Italia in modo diverso: con orgoglio, consapevolezza della fortuna che abbiamo, spirito identitario, senso della storia che ci accompagna.
Ve lo socializzo in lingua inglese ma vi assicuro che è un inglese facile e comprensibile per tutti.
Leggetelo con attenzione perché potrebbe diventare uno strumento che tutti noi, delle nostre comunità nazionali o internazionali, potremmo usare per cambiare l’immagine del nostro paese nel mondo.
Dobbiamo crederci, saperlo ammirare e descrivere in maniera adeguata, essere orgogliosi di abitarlo e di esserne cittadini. Grazie Paolo per averci permesso di poter apprezzare questo esperimento di narrazione virtuosa dell’Italia.
“Italy as we think of it (the boot) has only been unified twice – at the beginning for 1200 years under the Romans, and then again in the last 156 years. In between, there were 1.500 years of absolute chaos !
So, what we Italians have really done over the last 3000 years ?
What came to my mind are generations of sailors, poets, artists, entrepreneurs, philosophers, mathematicians, emperors, saints, bankers, singers
In my view, over 3 thousands years, Italians have been consistently famous, and, at times, notorious, essentially for 2 features, which are very very Italian:
Creativity and Disruption !
Italians have consistently been creative people who never accepted the idea of following the rules – in most cases, producing fantastic innovations and masterpieces that really impacted the evolution of the global community
The issue is that this disruptive creativity sometimes goes overboard, gets out of control and makes a mess ! – I would call it the dark side of creativity
So, miracles and mistakes – a bit bipolar, but very Italian !
A couple of examples
The single most powerful expression of disruptive creativity in the history of the global community was in 1492 when this Italian guy was the first to decide to take the other direction to reach the Indies, as they were called at the time. He found another place, eventually named America, after another Italian hero. Their names are Cristoforo Colombo and Amerigo Vespucci
I would probably call this the biggest sliding doors moment in contemporary history
But sometimes, we go overboard
As an example, think about the election of Trump. The most benign interpretation of such election is that it was as well an expression of disruptive creativity by the Americans. But even on this dimension, we arrived well before you guys
You may think I am referring to Berlusconi now, but this is not the case
Much more creative than electing Berlusconi, we are the ones that 2 thousands and 500 years ago managed to appoint a horse, the horse of emperor Caligola, at the Senate !
Let’s stay in Rome, almost 3 thousands years ago, when Rome was founded
Many things have been said on the Romans
Let me focus on very few additional ones
The first discovery of the Romans is by far the most important, but also the least known
Creative people are first of all great at learning. Indeed, creativity comes from learning
The Romans discovered the importance of learning
Indeed, we realized that these Greek were quite brilliant in philosophy and technology and decided to pick the best of them as our teachers
Then, while we conquered the world, the remaining Greek stayed focused on their tzatziki
They did not produce any other relevant contribution in the following 2 thousands years, with the exceptions of Maria Callas and Pete Sampras
So, we were saying that with disruptive creativity, the Romans conquered the world
Around 2 thousands years ago, at its peak, the Roman empire stretched from Portugal to Syria, from Britain to North Africa. It was as big as 2 / 3 of the US, or 1 / 3 of the world
But then came the fall. Again, so much has been said. The barbarians (not in the sense of the PE guys), corruption, instability, the weakening of the Roman legions. All true, but the real reason was different
It was a family saga
Emperor Teodosio the first – who should infact be called Teodosio the last – around 400 AD could not choose between his 2 beloved sons, and instead of disappointing one of them – they are the first “Mamma’s boys” of the history – gave the Western Empire to Onorio and the Eastern Empire to Aracadio. That was the beginning of the end. And a disastrous succession plan
After the fall of the Roman Empire, we headed into the Middle Ages, also called “dark” ages. Why ‘dark’ ages ? Italians think because of all these Germanic people were who camping in Italy at the time
For the next 1.500 years, Italy became a mosaic of city-states
Notwithstanding the Germans, many things happened in Italy under the surface during the Middle Ages which have immense influence today
First of all, we worked hard. All these states developed their own identities, traditions – and most importantly for us today – their own menus and food
Benedetto da Norcia – Saint Benedict to you – said that laziness is the enemy of the soul, and as such monks should do both manual and intellectual labors. We invented the Protestants’ work ethic and we exported it across Europe
If I look at Rome today, I wish we had exported less of it and kept a bit more for ourselves
Then Dante came. Born in 1265, he is simply the most brilliant and influential Italian of all times. As Eliot once said, Dante and Shakespeare divide the modern world between them. There is no third. And, again, he is a true expression of creativity and disruption
On the creativity side, he created the Italian language and wrote the best poem ever written. It is difficult to find an analogy but it is like inventing the car and produce as the first prototype a Ferrari 250 Testarossa
But also a truly disruptive creator. La Divina Commedia is a gigantic trip in the afterlife where he visited hell, talked to lost souls and eventually even saw God, all this well before LSD or other psychedelic drugs. He wrote the poem for ordinary Italians and talked to them about being human
By the 14th century, Italy was trading everything – maybe not LSD – but the maritime republics Genoa, Pisa and Venice plus Milan and Florence were getting rich
We are now in the Renaissance, at the beginning of 1500. It was Orson Wells who described best what happened in Italy during the Renaissance. He said that in Italy in 30 years under the Borgias we had wars, terror, murders, and we produced Michelangelo, Leonardo Da Vinci, the whole Renaissance. In Switzerland, in 5 hundreds years of love, democracy and peace – what did they produce ? The cuckoo clock
We also created the first bank in the Renaissance. But true to ourselves, when sometimes we go overboard, we also wrecked it. I am talking about bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena, established in 1472 and almost terminated today.
So, disruptive creativity
For 350 years after the Renaissance, we carried on with our national hobbies
Being disruptive – fighting with the Habsburgs, the Bourbons, Napoleon and the Pope
and being creative
Think about Galileo, who in the 1630s, against the Pope, stated that the Earth was moving around the Sun
It requires also great tenacity to be creative and resist against the attacks of the reactionary
Galileo was convicted for his ideas, even if the Pope afterwards said – I am sorry, you were right – unfortunately, a bit late, in 1992
Galileo initiated the Scientific revolution in Europe and his concepts became the basis for Einsten’s special theory of relativity
Think about what we invented afterwards and the relevance today
Meucci invented the telephone in 1860, even if Bell took credit for it, but the US Congress in 2002 recognized that the inventor was Meucci – again, you may say a bit late
Marconi invented the radio early in 1900. When he died in 1937 all the radios around the globe have been silent for 2 minutes. A really touching moment for the global community
And then in 1962 Roberto Olivetti invented the desktop PC, called Programma 101. He wanted to create something truly revolutionary. A computer to be used by people, in a time when there were only large mainframe computers. I would say he was as visionary as Steve Jobs. Unfortunately, Oilvetti at the time in was in financial troubles and was not able to develop this project properly
Again, very Italian: after a disruptive innovation, we suffered from the lack of the organization required to launch it globally
Think about another great personality who changed the world
Maria Montessori, who at the beginning of the last century invented a revolutionary approach to education. Children should be helped to learn on their own, to become independent thinkers and learners. Again, a very powerful symbol of disruptive creativity
So, where are we today ?
Our relevance is slightly lower vs its peak over the last three thousands years …
But there are still things we do well. For instance, we are the second manufacturer in Europe after the Germans and we are really good on craftsmanship and high quality productions
Just one example for all the Italian high end productions. I will not talk about Ferrari, Prada, Armani or Gucci
I will talk about one guy who was such a great craftsman that his products are still the best even 300 years after he actually made them. His name is Stradivari
But why we are not at the top today?
Again, many things have been said. The reality is very simple but really unknown
Italy is still young
As much as we have three thousands years of history, Italy is a very recent concept: we have only been together as Italians for 156 years
After unification in 1861, it started well actually – Italian Opera took-off (Rossini, Verdi and Puccini) and we won two World Cups in 1934 and 1938. It took nearly 50 years for get the third
But in the meanwhile we went massively overboard with our disruptive creativity. Think about the growth of Mafia, Mussolini and the Second World War
So, modern Italy is a very recent concept. Only 70 years of contemporary history after the birth of the Republic in 1946 compared to 240 for the US – and so far we are living up to our reputation
I believe that the World now needs Italy, the Italians and their creative disruption more than ever
After all, we Italians know better than anyone else how to thrive in chaos
Before concluding, just a quick test now for the audience. Can you please be ready to raise your hands:
In the last 3 years: how many of you were on an Helicopter or drove a Vespa scooter?
Well you need to know that both come from the same inventor,a brilliant but not enough known engineer, Corrado D’Ascanio, who worked in the 1930s
In the last 3 months: how many of you bought a new pair of Jeans ?
Well, this name comes from the fabric used in Genoa’s harbor, that is Italian creativity and passion translated into fabric
In the last 3 days: how many of you spent endless hours in front of a laptop ?
Well, be aware that the first microchip was invented in the 70s by Federico Faggini, an Italian engineer, in Intel labs
In the last 3 minutes: who thought that this summary of 3000 years of Italian history was way too long and look forward to drinking some excellent Italian wine?
I believe you all in the audience have drinks…
Well please raise a toast to … Italy and the Italians – creative disruptors and disruptive creators !!!
And welcome to you all !!!
Benvenuti !!!
ALEGHER !!!
Thanks”