The ship-sailing era of exploration from 1400 to 1600 was a time when the globe got mapped, and ships embarked for faraway lands promising riches. It was the Age of Discovery! Between the latitude and longitude lines, mapmakers often drew monsters, dragons, serpents, giant scorpions, enormous elephant fish and saber-toothed lion-headed creatures.
These figures had some basis in confidence and some basis in fear. But they really were a combination of fact and fiction, known and unknown. They were a way of dealing with fear by saying, “Scary things may lie ahead, but follow these lines, and -- beast or no beast -- you will safely arrive at your destination.” Fraught with challenges and difficulties, heading into unknown waters and conditions can go from calm to chaotic very quickly. The need to shift course can arise without warning, like in today’s high-tech marketplace where demands seem to change monthly, if not daily, and where the best-laid plans on Friday often face the tsunami of Monday’s reality.
