Member-only story
Admittedly I didn’t pay as much attention as I should have in school around the Greek/Roman mythology stuff, so this morning I learned a little bit more about Cassandra from Troy; if you’re unfamiliar with the story, she’s the beautiful daughter (was everyone in Troy beautiful? I think so) of King Priam and Queen Hecuba. She was given the gift of prophecy — so she knew what was going to happen! — but then subsequently cursed so that no one would believe her. (Apollo, that bastard, did the cursing.) This became a whole thing because she foresaw the fall of Troy, but no one believed her.
It’s kind of a little bit (a tiny bit) like a mythological “Boy Who Cried Wolf,” ‘cept it’s a beautiful princess.
Anyway, point being: this all does have relevance back to the business world. Here’s how.
In 1949, a French philosopher (Gaston Bachelard) created something called “The Cassandra Complex,” which is exactly what you’d expect: a valid concern or belief is presented, but ultimately ignored by everyone. If you’ve ever worked in an office setting, this might be familiar to you.
