John Glenn passed away at the end of 2016. He was a Senator, an astronaut, and distinguished pilot in the World War II and the Korean War. The picture below struck me as one of ultimate cool.
Mr. Glenn had just finished orbiting the Earth on February 20, 1962. Doing so in a tin can with less computing than your smart phone. He was the first American to orbit the Earth, the third American in space, and just the fifth human in space. Chunks of his Friendship 7 had been turned to flaming debris, flying past his window on the descent back to the surface, being sacrificed to keep his heat shield in place.
There he is in the picture above, Chuck’s on his feet, aviators, keeping the sun from his eyes and his collar popped, looking like nothing could bother him.
Post Dodd-Frank, compliance became cool. … Okay, maybe not cool, but better embraced. Organizations needed help to navigate the byzantine regulatory frameworks to ensure their organizations were in compliance with the thick rules coming rapid-fire from Washington. Compliance could prevent missteps and protecting their organizations from being turned into flaming debris by regulators and prosecutors.
The Trump Administration looks to be rolling back regulations and whatever “cool” compliance may have gathered could be smashed on the rocks of de-regulation. We still don’t know how far the administration and Congress may go in de-regulation.
The gains of the compliance profession are likely to erode and will never be as cool as John Glenn looks in that picture.
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