DESCRIPTION OF SPEECH: A motivational speech directed to a work force. WHOM SPEECH IS SUITABLE FOR: CEO, President, Department Director, etc. Times are [tough/good] here at [Company] now. And I know you’re expecting me to tell you all to [appropriate cliché: “keep your chin up,” “not pat yourself on the back too hard,” etc.] because [Company] [can pull out of this slump/ can always use more clients] or some such cliché, but I think Mario Andretti, oddly enough, found the words I’m really looking for: “If everything is under control, you are going too slow.” Human beings are natural control freaks. We want to plan our vacations and major purchases and children and whatevers, for the coming year, for the decade, etc. We want to plan for our future income and investments; we want to plan for our retirement. We want to [add a few industry specific ones, ala “plan for our sales figures next year,” “plan ahead to accommodate 2005’s demand for wireless,” etc.]. And there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s in fact proven to be a rather helpful to us throughout history. The problem arises when we’re so focused on planning that we are unable to handle any deviation from our expectations. Strangely though, when call to mind our most treasured memories, most don’t stem from events we predicted ahead of time. We don’t sit around the holiday dinner table talking about Aunt Sheila’s wedding and how the caterer was on time and the DJ played all the songs he was supposed to. We talk about Aunt Gretchen’s wedding, when a freak hailstorm added a twist to the outdoor ceremony and the circus elephant strolled through the reception. And it’s not quite as simple as the old “tragedy plus time equals humor” formula. Unexpected events may eventually gestate into laughs, but we also take pride in such occurrences because, th