GloriaG, thank you for writing that. You're right. This past day I spent several hours on the phone with a friend who did the Forum, and we started to unravel all of the BS behind the company and its business model. It's all starting to make sense, and I could write a whole book on what I'm realizing.
A couple brief points. One, it hit us that Landmark sets up difficult rules (no alcohol, no aspirin, extreme arrival / departure times, limited breaks, no writing, do all of the homework, etc) in order to guilt-trip us and make us feel inferior to the leader who appears to have it all together. I used to see this as a lesson to show how we fail to honor our commitments, but really it's just a mind game to make us feel stressed, tired, and to feel like failures.
And here's the thing. Landmark says if we don't follow their rules, it's because we don't follow other rules in life. How we are in the Forum is how we are in life. Maybe, but in real life, there aren't necessarily consequences for being that way. Failing to honor our word doesn't always lead to bad results. In reverse, honoring our word doesn't always help us, either. But Landmark makes it seem like being "in integrity" (honoring our word) is vital to breakthroughs and happiness.
But here's the kicker: the only proof of the consequences of honoring your word that Landmark has is the consequences they dish out at the Forum! They manufacture guilt and punishment, chastising us if we're late and making us feel indebted to Landmark's wisdom. This psychologically tricks us into revering the perfect leader and trusting that Landmark has the answers to our weaknesses.
And then we go out into the real world and try out these concepts, only to realize that they don't always work. Telling my boss I cheat on my timesheets isn't going to complete anything other than my employment. Telling my wife I cheated on her might actually be a terrible idea. Hell, after the Forum, I found myself judging people for not honoring their word. It led me to cut some people out of my life because they aren't of a certain standard.
I'm not saying honoring your word doesn't have value. It's definitely a sign of respect and can help with getting stuff done. But Landmark uses it to manipulate you into believing in consequences that don't necessarily exist outside of Landmark. And as long as you stay in Landmark, you'll continue to see those same consequences, especially if you pursue leadership and thus must bring in X number of participants.
I'm still perplexed by the origin of this business model. The only explanation I can think of is some guy was on acid in the 60s and thought of a genius business that ran independently of him, manipulating countless people into giving him money and acting as unpaid salesmen to get other people to give him more money. It's really the stuff of psychopathic brilliance.
A couple brief points. One, it hit us that Landmark sets up difficult rules (no alcohol, no aspirin, extreme arrival / departure times, limited breaks, no writing, do all of the homework, etc) in order to guilt-trip us and make us feel inferior to the leader who appears to have it all together. I used to see this as a lesson to show how we fail to honor our commitments, but really it's just a mind game to make us feel stressed, tired, and to feel like failures.
And here's the thing. Landmark says if we don't follow their rules, it's because we don't follow other rules in life. How we are in the Forum is how we are in life. Maybe, but in real life, there aren't necessarily consequences for being that way. Failing to honor our word doesn't always lead to bad results. In reverse, honoring our word doesn't always help us, either. But Landmark makes it seem like being "in integrity" (honoring our word) is vital to breakthroughs and happiness.
But here's the kicker: the only proof of the consequences of honoring your word that Landmark has is the consequences they dish out at the Forum! They manufacture guilt and punishment, chastising us if we're late and making us feel indebted to Landmark's wisdom. This psychologically tricks us into revering the perfect leader and trusting that Landmark has the answers to our weaknesses.
And then we go out into the real world and try out these concepts, only to realize that they don't always work. Telling my boss I cheat on my timesheets isn't going to complete anything other than my employment. Telling my wife I cheated on her might actually be a terrible idea. Hell, after the Forum, I found myself judging people for not honoring their word. It led me to cut some people out of my life because they aren't of a certain standard.
I'm not saying honoring your word doesn't have value. It's definitely a sign of respect and can help with getting stuff done. But Landmark uses it to manipulate you into believing in consequences that don't necessarily exist outside of Landmark. And as long as you stay in Landmark, you'll continue to see those same consequences, especially if you pursue leadership and thus must bring in X number of participants.
I'm still perplexed by the origin of this business model. The only explanation I can think of is some guy was on acid in the 60s and thought of a genius business that ran independently of him, manipulating countless people into giving him money and acting as unpaid salesmen to get other people to give him more money. It's really the stuff of psychopathic brilliance.