The fool also called JESTER, a comic entertainer whose madness or imbecility, real or pretended,  made him a source of amusement and gave him license to abuse and poke fun at even the most exalted of his patrons. Professional fools flourished from the days of the Egyptian pharaohs until well into the 18th century, finding a place in societies as diverse as that of the Aztecs of Mexico and the courts of medieval Europe. Often deformed, dwarfed, or crippled, fools may have been kept for luck as well as for amusement, in the belief that deformity can avert the evil eye and that abusive raillery  can transfer ill luck from the abused to the abuser. Fool figures played a part in the religious rituals of India and pre-Christian Europe, and, in some societies, such as that of Ireland in the 7th century BC, they were regarded as being inspired with poetic and prophetic powers. The raillery of the fool and his frequent ritual association with a mock king suggest that he may have originated as a sacrificial scapegoat substituted for a royal victim. A resemblance between the sacrificial garments of ancient ritual and the costume of a household jester in the Middle Ages--coxcomb, eared hood, bells, and bauble, with a motley coat--has been noted.

    The earliest record of the use of court fools dates from the 5th dynasty of Egypt, whose pharaohs attached great value to Pygmies brought from the mysterious lands  to the south, apparently employing them as dancers and buffoons. Fools were a part  of many wealthy households of imperial Rome, in which imbecility and deformity fetched  high prices in the slave markets. References to household fools appear increasingly in records from the 12th through the 15th century. Fools were attached to courts, private households, taverns, and even brothels. In the 18th century, household jesters declined in western Europe but flourished in Russia, and offending courtiers were sometimes degraded to court jesters.

 The figure of the fool has also been important in literature and drama. The clown-player in Shakespeare's dramatic company, Robert Armin, was interested in household fools and published a historical account of them in 1605. His knowledge may have influenced the playwright, who produced some of the best-known fools in literature: Touchstone in As You Like It; Feste in Twelfth Night; and the fool in King Lear.
 
Source: ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA
 

THE FEAST OF FOOLS

    Folk festivals in the middle ages included one acted out on The Feast of the Epiphany. It was called the Feast of Fools and the tradition, beginning in France, appears in England in the 14th century. During the festival the revellers engage in the crowning of a mock-king and for a brief period of time the rigid medieval social order seemed to be turned upsidedown.This Lord of Misrule became an annual tradition at court, although the tradition stops by the end of the reign of Edward VI.

In this tradition, as elsewhere, the fool does not actually lead a revolt against the law, he simply takes us into a realm where, for a brief time, it appears that the law has been suspended or won't be enforced. The fool is not only physically resilient, he is morally and spiritually fluid as well, and this may account for his universal appeal. The fool's world may not be romantic or beautiful but he makes the best of it, and our delight is derived from seeing him land on his feet whatever he does. In addition there is the thrill of watching the weak appear to defeat the powerful in a rigidly-stratified society.
 

THE CORPORATE FOOL

    The Corporate Fool is a concept for all those who see themselves as change agents. It will provoke radical change in the culture of organisations by advocating the simple yet outrageous things like pointing out the obvious and saying what we really mean.
 
The Fool lives and works with a simple philosophy:
 
          1. The Fool sees things as they really are
 
          2. The Fool says things as they really are
 
                     oh yes, and a third:
 
                      3. Fooling is fun.
 

 
    In these days of intellectual capital, learning and knowledge management, we do not suffer fools gladly in our organisations - which is one of the reasons we're short on wisdom too. Our Emperors remain naked. Our cultures vibrate with the tension of people thinking 'They must be able to see what's wrong? Why don't they ask us? Why don't they change?' - but not having the power, the authority or the skills to do anything about it.
 
We can all be fools. We can all balance our expertise and experience with honesty and innovation, if we follow four principles :

1. Fools offer outside perspectives

We tend to mix with people who are like us. We prefer to 'debate' with those who think like us. This means that we end up with a solution that is another version of what they've already got; it's nice and safe but not much happens. We should be encouraging what we haven't got.

We know someone who was employed for his fool-ishness in one of our big brewing organisations. A colleague of his told me:

'He'd bring me and the rest of the Board ten ideas a week. Two of the ten we would talk about for a few minutes but not do anything about in the end. Two more ideas would be hot - and I mean brilliant, exciting. The other six ideas would probably sink the company.'

I hear murmurings of doubt. 'Only two out of the ten - 20% - were any good?' No - 80%! Eight out of the ten ideas shocked the board, challenged them, even frightened them - exactly the restlessness with conformity that we need to match today's crazy world. Being right every time is the province of people who don't try very hard.
 
2. Fools see it like it is

Not worse, not better, but just like it is...As Lynch and Kordis in their book Strategy of the Dolphin note:
 
" In today's management culture, we are beset with illusions. And we tend to keep them because we don't do a very good job of assessing where we are compared to where we want to be...we don't introspect well. We fail to take a good look at ourselves and identify what is happening and what needs to happen. Thus we create illusions about our performance that keep us from doing something different."
 
3. Fools are honest

Seeing things as they really are without telling it like it is leads to profound frustration and cynicism. This is another cultural malaise in organisations; it makes people sick. 'Tell the truth' should be the get-fit cry of healthy companies.
 
4. Fools are masters of communication

For the jester in the King's court, acceptance and influence depended on his communication skills - if he could make 'em laugh, he could say what he liked. The same is true for corporate fools. Nobody will be grateful to you if you prove that they have to change - you have to persuade them to want to change - and that is a communication issue. It requires all the skills of listening, understanding and building rapport and the tools of passion and energy - tools that we keep being told don't belong in the professional kit bag. Make sure you have them - you may shock, but at
least you'll never bore.

If the King was a bad King, he would not be able to take the truth and he would thrash his fool for his impudence. You may see the same thing happening in your organisation. Stand apart from that. Ask yourself: what can I do to encourage the benefits of fooling? What do I do at the moment that probably restricts them? When was the last time that I rewarded - nay, celebrated - an act of honesty in the face of corporate delusion?

If you don't nurture it, you won't grow it...

Fooling should be a prerequisite for any adaptable, imaginative and creative business of today. The most foolish suggestion of them all: that the strong companies of the future will be those who seek out and nurture foolish skills in all their people. Whole ranks of internal corporate fools seeing things as they are, being totally honest, communicating excellently and so adapting effortlessly to change! This is an immense, mad, shocking challenge to our predictable, conformist, safe organisational cultures and only a fool would say it. But he must.

Accessed at: http://www.foolweb.com/

TENSION RELEASE FUNCTION

Topless Takes Center Stage at Rio Carnival Parades
By Mary Milliken

RIO DE JANEIRO, March 6 (Reuters) - Rio de Janeiro revelled in more controversy on Monday as topless muses reigned over samba schools on the final day of the world famous Carnival parades.

Many of the bare-breasted women dancing down the Sambadrome runway represented plumed Indian princesses who dominated the colourful floats as the schools honoured this year's theme -- the 500th anniversary of the
arrival of Portuguese explorers in Brazil.

Most spectators cheered the decadent display, but Monday's first parade -- which featured semi-nude dancers attending a mock Mass -- is sure to fuel a debate raging with Rio's archbishop.

Unidos da Tijuca, the first of the seven schools to parade Monday, hit the runway with plenty of advance publicity after wrestling with the church over a giant cross and a painting of the Virgin Mary on its floats.

Police acting upon the request of the city's archdiocese confiscated the religious props, but Unidos won a court order to get them back.

``This was marvellous publicity for the school,'' said Gilson Martins, who leads one of its 30 dancing sections. ``But, really, how were we supposed to talk about the discovery of Brazil and not depict the first Mass celebrated
in the country?''

Topless Indians and tigresses wearing nothing but long spotted tails and ears were followed by more sombre dancers in monks' robes and controversial 13 foot (4-metre) wooden cross.

A dancer who dared to paint the Brazilian flag on her nude body, attracting the notice of the police as well as the crowds during Sunday's parade, was still the talk of the town on Monday.

``It was an homage to the flag at a time when we are celebrating Brazil's 500 years,'' an irritated Angela Bismarck told TV Globo.

The topless craze -- which has swept Carnival the same year that Rio women won the right to sunbathe without bikini tops -- even spread to the spectators as women in one of the VIP boxes casually removed their shirts.

``I think it's great that everyone shows everything,'' said Brazil's most international fashion designer Ocimar Versolato. ``Besides, with the 500 years of Brazil theme, it is completely appropriate.''

Many of the schools are also providing fresh topics for debate with references to racism, torture, corruption and censorship in Brazil's history. The Caprichosos de Pilares school had a naked dancer painted with red whip
marks hanging upside down on a float that depicted a 1964-1985 dictatorship.

One of the perennial favourites, the Mangueira school, told the story of Afro-Brazilians' fight for freedom from slavery.

Men in ankle and neck chains and silver briefs lead the parade that featured floats with black deities, part of the local Candomble religion.

Another front-runner for the 2000 title, Beija Flor, is expected to act out a rape of a black woman by four white men as part of its parade called ``Brazil, the country of all or a no-man's land.''

On Wednesday judges will name the winner of the top 14 schools, bringing an end to Brazil's biggest and most expensive pre-Lenten celebrations ever. Street parties and parades designed by some of the lower-ranking schools will continue throughout Tuesday.

19:40 03-06-00 Copyright 2000 Reuters Limited.  All rights reserved.