Everything I Needed to Know I Learned from Star Trek (well almost, anyway)

By Dennis Wooldridge, DTM, LGET

“It is the struggle itself that is most important. We must strive to be more than we are. It does not matter that we will not reach our ultimate goal. The effort itself yields its own reward.”

That idea came from one of my personal mentors, Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry. Yes, for those that don't know me as well as others, I am a Trekker. This self-bestowed title is not to be confused with Trekkie, because I take my self more seriously! ...wait, me taken more seriously? Seriously!? But I digress.

“It is the struggle itself that is most important. We must strive to be more than we are. It does not matter that we will not reach our ultimate goal. The effort itself yields its own reward.”

That idea came from one of my personal mentors, Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry. Yes, for those that don't know me as well as others, I am a Trekker. This self-bestowed title is not to be confused with Trekkie, because I take my self more seriously! ...wait, me taken more seriously? Seriously!? But I digress.

• IDIC – Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations. This is the basis for the Vulcan philosophy. Not only must we be tolerant of other cultures and the difference between the beings that inhabit them, we must embrace them. Roddenberry said, “If man is to survive, he will have learned to take a delight in the essential differences between men and between cultures. He will learn that differences in ideas and attitudes are a delight, part of life's exciting variety, not something to fear.” I believe this wholeheartedly. In an age when we seem more separated and torn than ever before over religion, politics, sexual orientation, race, and on and on, I believe that the only way to heal and become the society reflected in Star Trek (an excellent example of what I would make the future if I could) is to embrace the philosophy of IDIC. If we cannot learn to celebrate the differences between ourselves, how will we ever be able to accept the vastly more dramatic differences we shall one day encounter as we walk among the stars?
  
• The leadership of James T. Kirk. Oh sure, he was cocky and arrogant (although that might have just been William Shatner bleeding through the character), he was one of the best example of what a leader should be. He was tenacious about the mission, protective of his people (except maybe that inexhaustible supply of “red shirts”...if you don't know what that means, see me at the THINGS TO COME Conference) and boldly went to place he had never gone before. I knew I wanted to be just like him when I grew up. These leadership practices are ones I strive to implement everyday as a District 84 leader. I hope it is obvious enough I didn't need to say it here, but just in case, I believe in and tenacious about the mission of Toastmasters, Believe there is nothing more important in the District than the individual members (even the red shirts) and I try everyday to boldly accept challenges that are new and unfamiliar. It's the only way to grow. Oh yeah, Kirk seemed to really do well with the aforementioned cute girls too. Something worth emulating.
• Thirdly, I was entranced by the positive nature of the universe as seen through the vision of Gene Roddenberry. Imagine a future where what is important is reaching out further than you have before, where values are not based on petty greed and envy but on self-realization, where the individual is important, more important than the collective (always resist the Borg – resistance is never futile), and where family is made up of those you choose to be with, not just the group into which you are born. Roddenberry's future is a bright and wondrous place, filled with new and exciting adventures. “It isn't all over; everything has not been invented; the human adventure is just beginning.” I think Roddenberry was right. Every day is a new chance, a new beginning, a new adventure.

Whether you are a Trekker, Trekkie, or never saw an episode or movie about the Star Trek universe (what, have you been living under a Horta?...again, see me at the conference), the ideas and vision of Gene Roddenberry and Star Trek ring true inside me every single day. I so look forward to the upcoming THINGS TO COME Conference. The people I will meet for the first time, old friends and family with whom I will reconnect, the new and interesting things I will be taught, the overall fun and festivities from a thousand futuristic visions and worlds and the chance “to be more than we are.”

Yes, indeed. One to beam up! Engage! I'll see you there!