Who is the Walrus?
Dave asks: What is the significance of the Walrus and the Carpenter in my 3 things presentation? Funny thing is he’s the first so far to have asked me the question – I guess the folks at the seminar where I showed it originally just thought it was an extra bit of lunacy thrown in to confuse them. 
Actually, following in a long tradition of ‘[insert-your-own-moral-here]‘ in interpreting Lewis Carroll’s writing, and seeking a tiny thread of continuity with AmazonBay – which was based on an article I wrote that I titled ‘Through the Looking Glass’ (for hopefully more obvious reasons) I wanted to weave an underlying warning into the message of 3 things. In this context I saw the Walrus as the confident (perhaps even arrogant), somewhat pompous and patronizing embodiment of the financial services (or more particularly for the original audience – the asset management) industry and the oysters as their customers who (mostly, with some usually ignored dissent) follow innocently and blindly the entreaties of the Walrus. Of course, they end up getting eaten. Bad for them, yes…but also bad for the Walrus. Eating all your customers is ultimately a poor strategic option. A cautionary tale.
