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{{short description|American author, lecturer, founder "est"}} | |||
{{Articleissues|POV=August 2007|disputed=August 2007|cleanup=January 2007}} | |||
{{POV|date=December 2022}} | |||
{{Infobox Celebrity | |||
{{Use mdy dates|date= June 2012}} | |||
| name = Werner Erhard | |||
{{Infobox person | |||
| bgcolour = #f0de31 | |||
| |
| name = Werner Erhard | ||
| image = File:Werner_Hans_Erhard-2.jpg | |||
| image_size = 120px | |||
| image_size = 220px | |||
| caption = Werner Erhard in 1977 | |||
| caption = Erhard in 2015 | |||
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1935|9|5|mf=y}} | |||
| birth_name = John Paul Rosenberg | |||
| birth_place = ],<br>]<br /> | |||
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1935|9|5|mf= y}} | |||
| death_date = | death_place = | |||
| birth_place = ], Pennsylvania, U.S. | |||
| occupation = Retired<ref></ref> | |||
| |
| death_date = | ||
| |
| death_place = | ||
| occupation = Author, lecturer | |||
| spouse = Patricia Fry, September 26, 1953 - 1960 (divorced) | |||
| networth = | |||
<br> | |||
| spouse = {{plainlist| | |||
Ellen Erhard (June Bryde), March 29, 1960 - November 1983 (divorced) | |||
* {{marriage|Patricia Fry|1953|1960|end=divorced}} | |||
| footnotes = | |||
* {{marriage|Ellen Erhard / June Bryde|1960|1983|end=divorced}} | |||
| children = 7 | |||
}} | |||
| website = | |||
| children = 7 | |||
| website = | |||
}} | }} | ||
'''Werner Hans Erhard''' (born '''John Paul Rosenberg'''; September 5, 1935)<ref name="Bartley">{{cite book | last= Bartley | first= William Warren III | author-link= W. W. Bartley III | date= 1978 | title= Werner Erhard: The Transformation of a Man, the Founding of est | location= New York | publisher= Clarkson N. Potter | isbn= 0-517-53502-5 | url = https://archive.org/details/wernererhard00will}}</ref>{{rp|7}} is an American lecturer known for founding ] (offered from 1971 to 1984).<ref name="Bartley" />{{rp|14|quote=est is a training program in the expansion and transformation of consciousness which was founded by Werner Erhard in California in 1971.}}<ref name="cv">{{cite web |last1= Erhard |first1= Werner |title= Curriculum Vitae |url= http://wernererhard.net/cv.html |website= Werner Erhard |access-date= 2 February 2017 |quote= These companies were: Erhard Seminars Training Inc. (1971–1975); est, an educational corporation (1975–1981), and Werner Erhard and Associates (1981–1991). |archive-date= September 23, 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180923005505/http://www.wernererhard.net/cv.html |url-status= live }}</ref> In 1985, he replaced the est Training with a newly designed program, the Forum.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hyde |first=Bruce |title=Speaking being: Werner Erhard, Martin Heidegger, and a new possibility of being human |last2=Kopp |first2=Drew |date=2019 |publisher=Wiley |isbn=978-1-119-54990-1 |location=Hoboken, New Jersey}}"The Forum replaced the est Training in 1985 and, indeed, it may be argued that this encounter was crucial in this development of Erhard's work, which development continues to this day in Landmark Worldwide and in his new work with speaking the Being of leadership."</ref> Since 1991, the Forum has been kept up to date and offered by ].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sobel |first=Eliezer |title=The 99th Monkey: A Spiritual Journalist's Misadventures with Gurus, Messiahs, Sex, Psychedelics, and Other Consciousness-Raising Experiments |date=2008-02-01 |publisher=Santa Monica Press |isbn=978-1-59580-028-2 |edition=1st }}"Several years later, est had evolved into "The Forum," which continues to flourish around the world today under the auspices of Landmark Education."</ref> Erhard has written, lectured, and taught on ]. | |||
'''Werner Hans Erhard'''<ref name="erhard-transform"/>{{rp|7}} (born '''John Paul Rosenberg''', 5 September 1935) authored transformational models and applications for individuals, groups, and organizations.<ref> | |||
"Distilled Wisdom: Buddy, Can you Paradigm", ''Fortune Magazine'', May 15, 1995 | |||
</ref> | |||
In 1977, Erhard co-founded ],<ref>{{cite web |last1=Toner |first1=Robin |title=Hunger project aiming at global commitment |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/10/06/nyregion/hunger-project-aiming-at-global-commitment.html |website=nytimes.com |publisher=The New York Times |access-date=20 November 2023 |archive-date=November 24, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171124090905/http://www.nytimes.com/1985/10/06/nyregion/hunger-project-aiming-at-global-commitment.html |url-status=live }}</ref> an ]. In 1991, he retired from business and sold his existing intellectual property to his employees, who then adopted the name Landmark Education, renamed Landmark Worldwide in 2013. | |||
Erhard is best known by the general public for the "]" (1971 – 1983) and the “Forum” (1984 – 1991), which were offered to the public through by an organizational structure that included ] Inc. (1971 - 1975), est, an educational corporation (1975 - 1981), and ] (WEA, 1981 – 1991). | |||
==Personal life== | |||
In 1991, about the time of his retirement from WEA, Erhard sold his ] to a group of his former employeees who had formed ] — after which he left the United States. | |||
John Paul Rosenberg was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on September 5, 1935.<ref name="Bartley" />{{rp|6}}<ref name="Steven M. Tipton 1982, page 176">Steven M. Tipton, ''Getting Saved from the Sixties: Moral Meaning in Conversion and Cultural Change''. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1982, p. 176.</ref> His father was a small-restaurant owner who left ] for a ] mission and then joined his wife in the ] denomination<ref name="Bartley" />{{rp|6}}<ref name="Steven M. Tipton 1982, page 176"/> where she taught Sunday School.<ref name="Bartley" />{{rp|6}} They agreed that their son should choose his religion when he was old enough.<ref name="Bartley" />{{rp|6}} He chose to be baptized in the Episcopal Church, served there for eight years as an acolyte,<ref name="Bartley" />{{rp|6}} and has been an Episcopalian since.<ref>{{cite web |first= Dan |last= Wakefield |url= http://www.wernererhard.com/boundary.html |title= Erhard's Life After est Common boundary: March/April 1994 |publisher= wernererhard.com |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100512010211/http://www.wernererhard.com/boundary.html |archive-date= May 12, 2010 |df= mdy-all }}</ref> | |||
Rosenberg attended Norristown High School in ], where he received the English award in his senior year.<ref name="Bartley" />{{rp|25,29}} He graduated in June 1953, along with his future wife Patricia Fry,<ref name="Bartley" />{{rp|30}} whom he married on September 26, 1953;<ref name="Bartley" />{{rp|40}} they had four children.<ref name="Bartley" />{{page needed|date=November 2017}} | |||
Erhard, along with ], ], and others, founded ] in 1977. | |||
In 1960, Rosenberg deserted his wife and their children in Philadelphia. Rosenberg and June Bryde assumed false identities and traveled to Indianapolis.<ref name="Bartley" />{{rp|57}} He chose the name "Werner Hans Erhard" from ''Esquire'' magazine articles he had read about West German economics minister ] and physicist ].<ref name="Bartley" />{{rp|57–58}} Bryde changed her name to Ellen Virginia Erhard.<ref name="Bartley" />{{rp|53}} The Erhards moved to St. Louis, where Werner took a job as a car salesman.<ref name="Bartley" />{{rp|54,55}} | |||
==Impact== | |||
Werner Erhard is considered by many to be a cultural icon of the 1970s.<ref>Bruce Schulman: ''The Seventies: The Great Shift in American Culture, Society, and Politics'', Da Capo Press, April 16, 2002, pages 96-98</ref> Millions of people have been influenced by Erhard’s work through direct participation or the cultural change that occurred as a result of people participating in his transformational programs. <ref> ''Peter Block: Community,the Structure of Belonging'', Berrett-Koehler, 2008, pg.14</ref> Erhard’s seminars received much attention, some balanced reporting and some vituperative and unfounded.<ref> Warren Bennis, Leaders, Strategies for Taking Charge, page 68-69 </ref> Erhard's business associates throughout the world, such as Peter Block,<ref> Peter Block: ''Community,the Structure of Belonging'', Berrett-Koehler, 2008, pg.14</ref> ], <ref> Warren Bennis: ''Leaders: Strategies for Taking Charge'', Harper Collins, 2003, pg 201</ref> and Michael Jensen, <ref> Peter Block: ''Community,the Structure of Belonging'', Berrett-Koehler, 2008, pg.198</ref> as well as celebrities such as John Denver,<ref> Christopher Silvester: Grove Book of Hollywood, Grove Press, November 30, 2000, pg 556</ref> and Diana Ross, <ref> Thomas Adrahtas: A Lifetime to Get Here: Diana Ross: The American Dreamgirl, AuthorHouse, November 20, 2006, pg 157</ref> spoke highly of Erhard. As noted in Sports Illustrated, Tiger Woods' father said "What I learned through est was that by doing more for myself, I could do much more for others. Which is where Tiger comes in. What I learned led me to give so much time to Tiger, and to give him the space to be himself, and not to smother him with dos and don'ts. I took out the authority aspect and turned it into companionship. I made myself vulnerable as a parent. When you have to earn respect from your child, rather than demanding it because it's owed to you as the father, miracles happen. I realized that, through him, the giving could take a quantum leap. What I could do on a limited scale, he could do on a global scale."<ref> http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/features/1996/sportsman/1996.html </ref> Over the years, Werner Erhard’s philosophy has been cited in helping to promote <ref>http://www.transformationfilm.com</ref> a multi-billion-dollar personal growth industry based on Erhard's original concepts.<ref>Marianne Williamson, ''The Age of Miracles: Embracing the New Midlife'';Hay House Inc.,January 31, 2008, pgs x, xi</ref><ref>Casey Hawley:''100+ Tactics for Office Politics'' (Barron's Business Success Guides); | |||
Barrons Educational Series; 2 edition, June 1, 2008, page 173</ref> | |||
Patricia Rosenberg and their four children initially relied on welfare and help from family and friends. After five years without contact, Patricia Rosenberg divorced Erhard for desertion and remarried.<ref name="Bartley" />{{rp|226}} | |||
==Early life (1935-1971)== | |||
John Paul Rosenberg graduated from Norristown High School, ], in June 1953, along with his future wife Patricia Fry.<ref name="erhard-transform"/>{{rp|30}} | |||
Rosenberg married Fry on 26 September 1953<ref name="pressman-dark">{{cite book | first=Steven | last=Pressman | authorlink=Steven Pressman | title=] | publisher=St Martin's Press| year=1993 | isbn=0312092962}}</ref>{{rp|4}} and they had four<ref name="erhard-transform"/>{{rp|51}} children together. He left Fry and their children in Philadelphia (1960), traveled west with June Bryde<ref name = "pressman-dark"/>{{rp|4}}, and changed his name to "Werner Hans Erhard". Rosenberg chose his new name from ] magazine articles he read about then ] economics minister ] and the philosopher and physicist ].<ref name="erhard-transform">{{cite book | first=William Warren | last=Bartley | authorlink=William Warren Bartley | title=]: The Founding of EST | publisher=Clarkson Potter | year=1978 | isbn=0-517-53502-5}}</ref>{{rp|57-58}} June Bryde changed her name to "Ellen Virginia Erhard". The newly-renamed Erhards moved to ]. | |||
In (1961), Erhard sold ]s in the Midwest, then drove to ] to seek a better territory, and eventually moved to ].<ref name="erhard-transform"/>{{rp|85}} After a few months, he took a job with ]'s ] program, and was soon promoted to area training-manager. In January 1962 Erhard switched to the Parent's Magazine Cultural Institute, a child-development materials division of '']''.<ref name="erhard-transform"/>{{rp|112}} In the late summer of 1962 he won promotion to the position of territorial manager for California, ], and ], and moved to ]; and in the spring of 1963 to Los Angeles.<ref name="erhard-transform"/>{{rp|82-106}} | |||
In January 1964, "Parents" promoted Erhard and transferred him to ] as a southeast manager.<ref name="erhard-transform"/>{{rp|94}}In August 1964, Erhard resigned his position in Arlington over a dispute with the company president and returned to his previous position in San Francisco.<ref name="erhard-transform"/>{{rp|107-114}} | |||
Erhard and his second wife moved into an apartment in ] and had a second daughter, Adair, on December 27, 1964. Erhard began a close friendship with ].<ref name="erhard-transform"/>{{rp|117-138}} In the next few years, Erhard brought on-staff at "Parents" many people who would become important in ], including Elaine Cronin, Gonneke Spits and Laurel Scheaf. In 1967 Erhard was promoted to vice president.<ref>], '']'': ''The Founding of EST'', Clarkson Potter, 1978. ISBN 0-517-53502-5 pages 117-138</ref> | |||
In October 1972, a year after creating ], Erhard contacted his first wife and family, arranged to provide support and college education for the children, and repaid Patricia's parents for their financial support.<ref name="Bartley" />{{rp|335}} Between 1973 and 1975, members of his extended family took the est training, and Patricia and his younger siblings took jobs in the est organization.<ref name="Bartley" />{{rp|242,243}} | |||
===Early influences=== | |||
In California in the 1960s Erhard engaged in a wide variety of ], ] and ] activities. | |||
==Career== | |||
Tipton wrote: 'Erhard calls Zen Buddhism the “essential” one of all the disciplines that he has studied. <ref> Steven M. Tipton: Getting saved from the sixties: moral meaning in conversion and cultural change. Berkeley, California: University of California Press, 1982, page 329. ISBN 0520038681 </ref> and 'Various observers of ''est'' have traced its ideas to Zen, ], and ]; ] ], ], ], ], and ]; ]'s '']'', ]'s ''The Power of Positive Thinking'', ]'s '']'', and the self-image psychology of ]'s '']''. Its methods have been traced to ], ], ], ], ], ] and ]; ] and ]; military, monastic, and penal institutions, sales and business motivation courses. | |||
<ref>Steven M. Tipton: ''Getting saved from the sixties: moral meaning in conversion and cultural change''. Berkeley, California: University of California Press, 1982, page 329. ISBN 0520038681</ref> | |||
===''Parents'' Magazine Cultural Institute=== | |||
Bartley noted in his biography of Erhard that in addition to ], ] courses, ]'s ], ]' ], ]'s ], ], and ], were among other psychological and ] influences. <ref name="erhard-transform"/>{{rp|13,121,141}} | |||
From the early mid-1950s until 1960, Rosenberg worked in various automobile dealerships, with a stint managing a medium-duty industrial equipment firm.<ref name="Bartley" />{{rp|42}} In 1961, Erhard began selling correspondence courses in the Midwest. He then moved to ],<ref name="Bartley" />{{rp|85}} where he worked at ]'s ] program as an area training manager. In January 1962, he began working at ''Parents'' Magazine Cultural Institute, a division of ]<ref name="Bartley" />{{rp|112}}<ref>''The Graphic Designer's Guide to Clients'', by Ellen M. Shapiro</ref> In the summer of 1962, he became territorial manager for California, Nevada, and Arizona, and moved to San Francisco, and in the spring of 1963 moved to Los Angeles.<ref name="Bartley" />{{rp|82–106}} In January 1964, ''Parents'' transferred him to Arlington, Virginia as the southeast division manager; but after a dispute with the company's president, he returned to his previous position as west coast division manager in San Francisco.<ref name="Bartley" />{{rp|53}}{{rp|117–138}} Over the next few years, Erhard brought on as ''Parents'' staff many people who later became important in est, including Elaine Cronin, Gonneke Spits, and Laurel Scheaf. | |||
In 1963 Erhard took part in ] seminars, becoming involved with ]s.<ref>: "1963 nimmt Erhard an Esalen-Seminaren teil. Er trifft Fritz Perls und ist in mehreren Selbsterfahrungs- und Bewußtseins-Gruppen (Encounter Training)."</ref> | |||
In 1967 he completed a Dale Carnegie course in ] and further courses in Gestalt therapy and in ].<ref>: "1967 absolviert er ein Verkaufstraining bei Dale Carnegie und einige andere Kurse in Gestalt-Therapie und Transaktionsanalyse."</ref> | |||
=== |
===Influences=== | ||
<!-- This section title is linked to in the Erhard Seminars Training article. If you remove or rename it, please update the Erhard Seminars Training article accordingly.--> | |||
In William Bartley's biography, ''Werner Erhard: The Transformation of a Man, the Founding of est'' (1978), Erhard describes these explorations. Bartley quotes Erhard as acknowledging ] as the essential contribution that "created the space for" est<ref name="erhard-transform"/>{{rp|146,147}} Bartley details Erhard's connections with Zen beginning with his extensive studies with ] in the mid 1960s<ref name="erhard-transform"/>{{rp|118}} Bartley quotes Erhard as acknowledging: | |||
During his time in St. Louis, Erhard read two books that had a marked effect on him: ]'s '']'' (1937) and ]'s '']'' (1960).<ref name="Bartley" />{{rp|122}} When a member of his staff at ''Parents Magazine'' introduced him to the ideas of ] and ], both key figures in the ], he became more interested in personal fulfillment than sales success.<ref name="Lewis2001" /> | |||
<blockquote> | |||
Of all the disciplines that I studied, practiced, learned, Zen was the essential one. It was not so much an influence on me, rather it created space. It allowed those things that were there to be there. It gave some form to my experience. And it built up in me the critical mass from which was kindled the experience that produced est. <ref name="erhard-transform"/>{{rp|118}} | |||
</blockquote> | |||
After moving to Sausalito, he attended seminars by ], a Western interpreter of ], who introduced him to the distinction between mind and self;<ref name="Lewis2001" /> Erhard subsequently became close friends with Watts.<ref name="Bartley" />{{rp|117–138}} Erhard also studied in Japan with Zen rōshi ].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Rawlinson|first1=Andrew|title=The Book of Enlightened Masters: Western Teachers in Eastern Traditions|date=December 31, 1998|publisher=Open Court|isbn=978-0812693102|page=|url=https://archive.org/details/bookofenlightene00rawl|url-access=registration}}</ref> In Bartley's biography, '']'' (1978), Bartley quotes Erhard as acknowledging ] as an essential contribution that "created the space for" est.<ref name="Bartley" />{{rp|146,147}} | |||
====Scientology==== | |||
William Bartley, in his biography of Werner Erhard, wrote: | |||
<blockquote> | |||
“When I asked Werner to sum up the differences between est and Scientology, he reflected for a moment. | |||
Erhard attended the ] in 1967.<ref name="Lewis2001" /> He was sufficiently impressed by it to make his staff attend the course, and began to think about developing a course of his own.<ref name="Lewis2001" /> Over the following years, he investigated a wide range of movements, including ], ], ], ] and ].<ref name="Lewis2001">{{cite book|editor=]|author=Kay Holzinger|title=Odd gods: new religions & the cult controversy|chapter=Erhard Seminars Training (est) and The Forum|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6Y7XAAAAMAAJ|access-date=November 18, 2010|date=February 1, 2001|publisher=Prometheus Books|isbn=978-1-57392-842-7}}</ref> | |||
'...The essential difference between est and Scientology is two-fold. The first has to do with Scientology’s emphasis on survival and its idea that the purpose of life is survival. est sees the purpose of life as wholeness or completion – truth – not survival..<br> | |||
The other main difference between est and Scientology lies in the treatment of knowing. Ron Hubbard seems to have no difficulty in codifying the truth and in urging people to believe it. But I suspect all codifications, particularly my own. In presenting my own ideas, I emphasize their ] context. I hold them as pointers to the truth, not as the truth itself.<br> | |||
I don’t think anyone ought to believe the ideas that we use in est. The est philosophy is not a belief system and most certainly ought not to be believed. In any case, even the truth, when believed, is a lie. You must experience the truth, not believe it.'<ref name="erhard-transform"/>{{rp|151,157}} </blockquote> | |||
In 1970, Erhard became involved in ] and began teaching his own version of Mind Dynamics classes in San Francisco and Los Angeles.<ref name="Bartley" />{{rp|136–137}} The directors of Mind Dynamics eventually invited him into their partnership, but Erhard rejected the offer, saying he would rather develop his own seminar program—est, the first program of which he conducted in October 1971.<ref name="Bartley" />{{rp|178}} John Hanley, who later founded ], was also involved at this time. In their 1992 book ''Perspectives on the New Age'', ] and ] write that Mind Dynamics, est, and LifeSpring have "striking" similarities, as all used "authoritarian trainers who enforce numerous rules," require applause from participants, and deemphasize reason in favor of emotion. The authors also describe graduates recruiting heavily on behalf of the companies, thereby eliminating marketing expenses.<ref name=melton>{{cite book| last1 = Melton| first1 = J. Gordon| author-link = J. Gordon Melton| last2 = Lewis| first2 = James R.| author-link2 = James R. Lewis (scholar)| title = Perspectives on the New Age| publisher = SUNY Press| year = 1992| pages = 129–132| isbn = 0-7914-1213-X| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=U1werz4a1BIC&pg=PA129| access-date = August 5, 2021| archive-date = September 29, 2023| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230929150415/https://books.google.com/books?id=U1werz4a1BIC&pg=PA129| url-status = live}}</ref> | |||
==The era of the est training (1971 - 1984)== | |||
Erhard reported having experienced a revelation while driving across the ] on ] in ] in 1971. He started to see the world as perfect "the way it is" and reported an insight that his attempts to change or modify either his physical circumstances or his mental outlook had their basis in a conception of the world (that it should differ from "the way it is") that precluded or at least limited one's experiential and creative appreciation of it. Erhard, who had become an instructor of ]<ref>], '']: The dark journey of Werner Erhard from est to exile''. ]: ], 1993. ISBN 0-312-09296-2, p.33-34</ref> | |||
<ref>{{cite book | |||
| last = Wilson | |||
| first = Brian R. | |||
| authorlink = | |||
| coauthors = Jamie Cresswell | |||
| title = New Religious Movements: challenge and response | |||
| publisher = Routledge | |||
|year=1999 | |||
| location = | |||
| pages = 56, 72, 280 | |||
| url = | |||
| doi = | |||
| isbn = 0415200490}}<br>"Especially influenced, it would appear, by his time with Mind Dynamics at the beginning of the 1970s, Erhard went on to found ''est'', (the first seminar ran in October 1971)." | |||
</ref><ref> | |||
{{cite book | |||
| last = Hoffmann | |||
| first = Frank W. | |||
| authorlink = | |||
| coauthors = William G. Bailey | |||
| title = Mind & Society Fads | |||
| publisher = Haworth Press | |||
|year=1992 | |||
| location = | |||
| pages = 119 | |||
| url = | |||
| doi = | |||
| isbn = 1560241780 | |||
}} | |||
</ref> | |||
put together an intensive two–weekend ] he called "]". | |||
===est (1971–1984)=== | |||
==Werner Erhard and Associates (1981 - 1991) and "the Forum"== | |||
{{main article|Erhard Seminars Training}} | |||
<!-- Deleted image removed: ] --> | |||
Starting in 1971, est, short for Erhard Seminars Training and Latin for "it is", offered in-depth personal and professional development workshops, the initial program of which was called "The est Training".<ref name="book-of-est">{{cite book|last1=Rhinehart|first1=Luke|title=The Book of est|date=1976|publisher=Holt, Rinehart and Winston}}</ref> The est Training's purpose was to transform the way one sees and makes sense of life so that the situations one had been trying to change or tolerating clear up in the process of living itself.<ref name="Steven M. Tipton 1982, page 176" /> The point was to leave participants free to be, while increasing their effectiveness and the quality of their lives.<ref name="The est Standard Training">{{cite journal|last1=Erhard|first1=Werner|last2=Gloscia|first2=Victor|title=The ''est'' Standard Training|url=https://archive.org/details/TheEstStandardTraining|journal=Biosciences Communications|date=1977|volume=3|pages=104–122}}</ref> The est Training was experiential and transformational in nature.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The est Experience|last=Kettle|first=James|publisher=Kensington Publishing Corporation|year=1976|isbn=978-0890831687|location=New York|pages=51, 52}}</ref> | |||
In the 1980s, Erhard worked with ] | |||
<ref> | |||
, website, "biografia" | |||
</ref> | |||
— philosopher, ] | |||
<ref> | |||
, website, Senate of ], retrieved 9/14/2006 | |||
</ref> | |||
of Chile and businessman — on aspects of language, setting up sets of practices which make a distinction between, on the one hand "speaking that describes being" with, on the other hand, "speaking that brings forth being". These seminars culminated in Erhard's announcement in 1984 of the retirement of the est-training, after the participation of 750,000 "graduates", and its replacement by a new program called "the Forum", inaugurated in January 1985. | |||
The workshops were offered until 1984, when the est training was replaced by the Forum. As of 1984, 700,000 people had completed the est training.<ref name="believermag"/> American ethicist, philosopher, and historian ] has described the est training as "the most important cultural event after the human potential movement itself seemed exhausted"<ref name="J.D. Moreno">{{cite book | last1 = Moreno | first1 = Jonathan D. | author-link1 = Jonathan D. Moreno | chapter = | title = Impromptu Man: J.L. Moreno and the Origins of Psychodrama, Encounter Culture, and the Social Network | date = September 22, 2014 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=59-hDwAAQBAJ | edition = 1 | location = New York | publisher = Bellevue Literary Press | publication-date = 2014 | page = | isbn = 9781934137857 | access-date = 7 March 2021 | quote = | archive-date = September 29, 2023 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230929174832/https://books.google.com/books?id=59-hDwAAQBAJ | url-status = live }}</ref> and a form of "Socratic interrogation". Erhard challenged participants to be themselves and live in the present<ref name="Hargrove">{{Cite book|title=est: Making Life Work|last=Hargrove|first=Robert|publisher=Dell Books|year=1976|isbn=978-0440195566|location=New York|pages=127}}</ref> instead of playing a role imposed on them<ref name="J.D. Moreno" /> by their past, and to move beyond their current points of view into a perspective from which they could observe their own positionality.<ref name="J.D. Moreno" /> The author Robert Hargrove said "you're going to notice that things do begin to clear up, just in the process of life itself".<ref name="Hargrove" /> | |||
Erhard intended this new "work" to acquire more mainstream respectability and to appeal to business and management markets. What est had called "space" or the "space of being" now became "the domain of possibility" or the "possibility of being for human beings". Where part of est's "Day 4" had included a "three-circle talk" on "being, doing, and having", the Forum now featured three distinctions of the domains of "possibility, presence, and representation"<ref>See ''Industry Weekly'' June 15 1987 article (vol 233, no 6), "Create Breakthroughs in Performance by Changing the Conversation," by Perry Pascarella; among other sources forthcoming{{Fact|date=October 2007}}.</ref> | |||
The first est course was held in San Francisco, California, in October 1971.<ref name=sf>{{cite news|title=hotel to hospital – farewell to S.F. era|newspaper=San Francisco Chronicle|date=Oct 31, 2009}}</ref> By the mid-1970s Erhard had trained 10 others to lead est courses.<ref name="Lewis2001" />{{rp|385}} Between 1972 and 1974 est centers opened in Los Angeles, Aspen, Honolulu, and New York City.<ref name="Lewis2001" />{{rp|385}} | |||
On February 1, 1991{{Fact|date=November 2007}}, some of the employees of Werner Erhard and Associates purchased the assets of WE&A, licensed the right to use its intellectual property and assumed some of its liabilities, paying $3 million and committing to remitting up to $15 million over the following 18 years in licencing fees.<ref> | |||
Compare Bärbel Schwertfeger, "Foreword" in Martin Lell, ''Das Forum: Protokoll einer Gehirnwäsche: Der Psycho-Konzern Landmark Education'' , Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, ], 1997, ISBN 3-423-36021-6, page 8 : "Am 31.1.91 verkaufte Erhard seine Anteile für drei Millionen Dollar an seine Mitarbeiter, die die Organisation in Landmark Education umbenannten. Landmark verpflichtete sich zudem, in den folgenden achtzehn Jahren bis zu fünfzehn Millionen Dollar Lizenzgebühren an Erhard zu zahlen." | |||
</ref> | |||
Shortly afterwards the new owners established ].<ref> | |||
"Landmark Education Corporation: Selling a Paradigm Shift", Harvard Business School Publishing, Boston, MA, Karen Hopper and Mikelle Fisher Eastley, 9-898-081, p.1, Rev. April 22, 1998. Availability restricted by Harvard "to faculty and staff of universities" (see Alex Beam, "Church takes to bully pulpit" in the '']'', April 2 1999, page F01; transcribed at http://www.freedomofmind.com/resourcecenter/groups/l/landmark/beam.htm, retrieved ]). | |||
</ref> | |||
Presentations that evolved from the "Forum" developed by Werner Erhard and Associates continue to take place {{As of|2007|alt=today}} in major cities in the USA and worldwide as the "Landmark Forum" under the auspices of ]. | |||
===Werner Erhard Foundation (1973–1991)=== | |||
==1991 - present== | |||
In the early 1970s, the est Foundation became the Werner Erhard Foundation,<ref name=foundation>{{cite web |url=http://wernererhardfoundation.org/ |title=Werner Erhard Foundation |publisher=Werner Erhard Foundation |access-date=November 13, 2011 |archive-date=March 25, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190325231717/http://wernererhardfoundation.org/ |url-status=live }}</ref> with the aim of "providing financial and organizational support to individuals and groups engaged in charitable and educational pursuits—research, communication, education, and scholarly endeavors in the fields of individual and social transformation and human well-being." The Foundation supported projects launched by people committed to altering what is possible for humanity, such as The Hunger Project, The Mastery Foundation, The Holiday Project, and the Youth at Risk Program, programs that continue to be active. It also organized presentations by scholars and humanitarians such as the Dalai Lama and Buckminster Fuller<ref name=foundation /> and hosted an annual conference in theoretical physics, a science in which Erhard was especially interested.<ref name="susskind191">{{cite book|last=Susskind|first=Leonard|title=The Black Hole War: My Battle with Stephen Hawking to Make the World Safe for Quantum Mechanics|url=https://archive.org/details/blackholewarmyba00suss_585|url-access=limited|year=2009|publisher=Back Bay Books|isbn= 978-0-316-01641-4|page=}}</ref> The annual conference was designed to give physicists an opportunity to work with their colleagues on what they were developing before they published, and was attended by such physicists as ], ],<ref name="susskind191"/> and ].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Physics Conferences |url=https://wernererhardfoundation.org/physics.html |access-date=2024-11-17 |website=wernererhardfoundation.org}}</ref> | |||
===The Hunger Project=== | |||
Since his retirement in 1991, Erhard has kept a low profile, except for a few public appearances. He appeared on '']'' in an episode titled "Whatever Happened to Werner Erhard?" via satellite from ] in ] on December 8, 1993. | |||
{{main|The Hunger Project}} | |||
In 1977, with the support of ], former Oberlin College president ], and others, Erhard founded The Hunger Project, a nonprofit NGO. In 1991 the organization severed its ties to Werner Erhard, ], and its philosophies.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cultnews.com/archives/000748.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040507234919/http://www.cultnews.com/archives/000748.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=7 May 2004|title=The Hunger Project attempts to purge criticism and history from the Internet|publisher=Cult News|author=Rick Ross|author-link=Rick Ross (consultant)|date=10 April 2004|access-date=5 November 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cultnews.com/archives/000754.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040503210745/http://www.cultnews.com/archives/000754.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=3 May 2004|title=Leader of controversial organization with ties to "cult-like" group tapped by UN Task Force to help cure world hunger|publisher=Cult News|author=Rick Ross|date=26 April 2004|access-date=5 November 2014}}</ref> The origin of the Hunger Project can be seen in the 1977 source document "The End of Starvation: Creating an Idea Whose Time Has Come", written by Erhard.<ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190327024732/http://www.wernererhard.net/thpsource.html |date=March 27, 2019 }}, The Hunger Project</ref> | |||
===Werner Erhard and Associates (1981–1991) and "The Forum"=== | |||
He has worked in the area of peace and reconciliation in ] with author Peter Block. <ref name="peterblock"></ref> He attended an event on May 11, 2004 at the ] at Harvard University, entitled "From Thought to Action: Growing Leaders in a Changing World". The event took place in honor of a friend, ], who had taken ] and then consulted for ]. | |||
{{further|Werner Erhard and Associates}} | |||
In the 1980s, Erhard created a new program called the ], which began in January 1985. Also during that period he developed and presented a series of seminars, broadcast via satellite, that included interviews with contemporary thinkers in science, economics, sports, and the arts on topics such as creativity, performance, and money. | |||
In October 1987, Erhard hosted a televised broadcast with sports coaches ], ], ] and ] to discuss principles of coaching across all disciplines. They sought to identify distinctions found in coaching regardless of the subject being coached. ] moderated the discussion and, in 1989, documented the outcome in the article "Coaching and the Art of Management."<ref>Sourcebook of Coaching History, Vikki G Brock PhD., 2012</ref> | |||
In recent years Werner has devoted his time to rigorous academic investigation and presentations in writing and lectures of his ideas. In 2007, Werner Erhard presented a talk exploring the link between integrity, leadership, and increased performance at the John F. Kennedy Center for Public Leadership,<ref>http://content.ksg.harvard.edu/leadership/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=118&Itemid=1</ref> led a course on integrity at the 2007 Sloan School of Management’s SIP (Sloan Innovation Period), <ref> http://mitsloan.mit.edu/newsroom/spotlight-category.php?c=leadership</ref> and spoke at the Harvard Law School program on Corporate Governance. <ref>http://www.law.harvard.edu/programs/olin_center/corporate_governance/speakers.shtml</ref> In 2008 he took part in a presentation on integrity at Depaul University<ref> http://fac.comtech.depaul.edu/khowe/integrity.htm </ref> and co-led a course on Leadership at the Simon School of Business.<ref>http://www.simon.rochester.edu/alumni/jensen-vanto-group-leadership-program/index.aspx</ref> | |||
{{As of|2001}}, Erhard reportedly lived at least part time with Gonneke Spits in ]<ref name="paymoney">, ''New York Magazine'', ], July 9, 2001.</ref><ref>, Christmas Dinner, Lighthouse at Breakers, December 19, 1997, ] chapter, ]</ref> | |||
=== Subsequent work === | |||
==Awards and acknowledgments== | |||
During the 1990s, Erhard lectured and led programs in various locations, including Russia, Japan, and Ireland. He had a three-year contract to give courses to Soviet managers that would allow Soviet officials to study his teaching methods.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Greenberger |first=Robert |date=December 3, 1986 |title=East meets Est: The Soviets discover Werner Erhard |journal=The Wall Street Journal |quote=Mr. Erhard gave a five-day course to about 60 Soviet managers in the workers' state, his first seminar under a three-year contract that also will allow Soviet officials to study his teaching methods in the U.S. |via=}}</ref> He consulted for both businesses and government agencies in Russia.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Haldeman |first=Peter |date=November 28, 2015 |title=The Return of Werner Erhard, Father of Self-Help |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/29/fashion/the-return-of-werner-erhard-father-of-self-help.html |work=The New York Times |quote=Mr. Erhard consulted for businesses and government agencies like the Russian adult-education program the Znaniye Society and a nonprofit organization supporting clergy in Ireland.}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Kellaway |first=Lucy |date=April 22, 2021 |title=Lunch With The FT: Werner Erhard |url=https://www.ft.com/content/feb214a8-8f88-11e1-98b1-00144feab49a |quote=Erhard tells me that paramilitaries in Northern Ireland had a bit of trouble too, but when they did get it they disarmed as a result. He also worked with members of the first Russian parliament in 1993.}}</ref> In the early 1990s he conducted seminars in Japan for professionals coping with their financial crisis.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Haldeman |first=Peter |date=November 28, 2015 |title=The Return of Werner Erhard, Father of Self-Help |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/29/fashion/the-return-of-werner-erhard-father-of-self-help.html |quote=he conducted seminars for professionals coping with Japan’s financial crisis of the early 1990s.}}</ref> In 1999, Erhard and Peter Block worked with a nonprofit organization for clergy and grassroots leaders to come up with new ways to deal with the peace process in Ireland.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite news |last=Locke |first=Bill |date=January 31, 2018 |title=A Conversation with Peter Block |url=https://www.kolbetimes.com/peter-block/ |work=Kolbe Times |quote=In 1999, he and Werner Erhard developed The Ireland Initiative, working with clergy and grassroots leaders to develop new thinking and new conversations.}}</ref> | |||
*The Gandhi Humanitarian Award , 1988,<ref>. | |||
], ''Shadow on the Path : Clearing the Psychological Blocks to Spiritual Development'', ], October 1999, ISBN 0-934252-81-5 </ref> from ]; this award-giving organization and its founder Yogesh K. Gandhi was later investigated by the ] and the ] for ].<ref name="doj">, Press Release, ], ], ]</ref><ref>{{cite news | |||
| last = Kurian | |||
| first = Rupa | |||
| coauthors = | |||
| title = Sentencing Date for Yogesh Gandhi Set; Could Serve A Year In Prison And Deported to India | |||
| work = Rediff | |||
| pages = | |||
| language = ] | |||
| publisher = Rediff India | |||
| date = July 1999 | |||
| url = http://www.rediff.com/news/1999/jul/01us3.htm | |||
| accessdate = }} | |||
</ref><ref name="cbsnews">{{cite news | |||
| last = Cole | |||
| first = Richard | |||
| coauthors = Michael J. Sniffin | |||
| title = Feds Add Fraud To Gandhi's Woes | |||
| work = ] | |||
| pages = | |||
| language = ] | |||
| publisher = ] | |||
| date = ] | |||
| url = http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/1998/03/05/national/main4299.shtml?CMP=ILC-SearchStories | |||
| accessdate = }} | |||
</ref> | |||
Erhard and Michael C. Jensen, Professor of Business Administration emeritus, led seminars and training sessions at Harvard.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Leeson |first=Robert |title=Hayek, A Collaborative Biography |date=May 14, 2013 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=978-0230301122 |quote=Erhard organized and led Harvard seminars and training sessions in association with Michael Jensen, Professor of Business Administration Emeritus at Harvard Business School}}</ref> They also explored the relationship between integrity and performance in a paper published at Harvard Business School.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kerr |first=James |title=Legacy |date=December 17, 2013 |publisher=Constable & Robinson |isbn=978-1472103536 |quote=In a paper published at Harvard Business School, Michael C. Jensen, Werner Erhard, and Steve Zaffron explore the relationship between integrity and performance.}}</ref> | |||
== Disputes == | |||
Charlotte Faltermayer in “The Best of est?” in '']'', March 16, 1998, reported on allegations made in a '']'' segment on Werner Erhard that "was filled with so many factual discrepancies that the transcript was made unavailable with this disclaimer: 'This segment has been deleted at the request of CBS News for legal or copyright reasons.'" <ref> http://www.believermag.com/issues/200305/?read=article_snider believermag.com]] retrieved ]</ref> | |||
Erhard and Jensen developed and led a course on leadership<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |last=Haldeman |first=Peter |date=November 28, 2015 |title=The Return of Werner Erhard, Father of Self-Help |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/29/fashion/the-return-of-werner-erhard-father-of-self-help.html |work=The New York Times |quote=Dr. Jensen developed an experiential course on integrity in leadership at the Simon Business School at the University of Rochester. The class was offered there for five years, with Mr. Erhard signing on as an instructor during its third year. It has since been taught at several universities around the world as well as at the United States Air Force Academy.}}</ref> that took an experience-based, rather than knowledge-based, approach to leadership. Students were asked to master integrity and authenticity, among other principles, so that they could leave the class as leaders rather than merely learning about leadership.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Haldeman |first=Peter |date=November 28, 2015 |title=The Return of Werner Erhard, Father of Self-Help |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/29/fashion/the-return-of-werner-erhard-father-of-self-help.html |work=The New York Times |quote=Briefly, the course, which owes ideological debts to the Forum and to the German philosopher Martin Heidegger, takes an experience-based, rather than knowledge-based, approach to its subject. Students master principles like integrity and authenticity in order to leave the class acting as leaders instead of merely knowing about leadership.}}</ref> The course has been taught at several universities worldwide as well as at the United States Air Force Academy.<ref name=":2" /> | |||
Celeste Erhard filed an unsuccessful $2 million lawsuit against the '']'', saying she “was defrauded and her privacy was invaded during interviews”. She stated on the record that the articles and her appearance on CBS television's ''60 Minutes'' were to get publicity for a book." <ref>"Daughter of est founder sues Mercury News over two articles", '']'', July 16, 1992</ref> Charlotte Faltermayer reports that Celeste Erhard's allegations of incest were recanted. <ref name="faltermayer">{{cite news | url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101980316-138763,00.html | title=The Best Of Est? | first=Charlotte | last=Faltermayer | publisher=] | date=] | accessdate=2007-09-28}}</ref> | |||
=== Landmark Education === | |||
In 1992 a court ruled that "The Forum" had not caused any “mental injuries” to Stephanie Ney; though it entered a ] of $380,000 against Werner Erhard — ].<ref name="pressman-dark"/>{{rp|262}} | |||
{{main|Landmark Worldwide}} | |||
In 1991, the group that later formed ] purchased Erhard's intellectual property. In 1998, ''Time'' magazine published an article<ref name="timearticle">{{cite magazine| url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,138763,00.html| title=The Best Of Est?| magazine=TIME| date=June 24, 2001| first=Charlotte| last=Faltermayer| access-date=October 13, 2020| archive-date=October 19, 2020| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201019210524/http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,138763,00.html| url-status=live}}</ref> about Landmark Education and its historical connection to Erhard. The article stated: "In 1991, before he left the U.S., Erhard sold the 'technology' behind his seminars to his employees, who formed a new company called the Landmark Education Corp., with Erhard's brother Harry Rosenberg at the helm." According to Landmark Education, its programs have as their basis ideas originally developed by Erhard, but Erhard has no financial interest, ownership, or management role in Landmark Education.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.landmarkeducation.com/display_content.jsp?top=26&mid=658 |title=Landmark Education, media Q&A |publisher=Landmarkeducation.com |access-date=November 13, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927213154/http://www.landmarkeducation.com/display_content.jsp?top=26&mid=658 |archive-date=September 27, 2007 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> In ''Stephanie Ney v. Landmark Education Corporation'' (1994), a court ruled that Landmark Education Corporation did not have successor-liability to Werner Erhard & Associates, the corporation whose assets it purchased.<ref>Appendix A. Text of Court Ruling in Ney Case – Source: LEXIS-NEXIS – STEPHANIE NEY, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. LANDMARK EDUCATION CORPORATION; RON ZELLER, Defendants-Appellees, and WERNER ERHARD; WERNER ERHARD AND ASSOCIATES; PETER SIAS, Defendants. – No. 92-1979 – UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT – 1994 U.S. App. LEXIS 2373</ref><ref name="pressman-dark"/>{{rp|262}} | |||
According to ]'s 1993 book '']'', Landmark Education agreed to pay Erhard a long-term licensing fee for the material used in ] and other courses: "Erhard stood to earn up to $15 million over the next 18 years."<ref name="pressman-dark"/>{{rp|253–255}} But Arthur Schreiber's declaration of May 3, 2005 states: "Landmark Education has never paid Erhard under the license agreements (he assigned his rights to others)."<ref>Declaration filed May 5, 2005 at the US District Court of New Jersey, civil action 04-3022 (JCL), pp 3 and 4</ref>{{primary source inline|date=August 2021}} | |||
The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit found Erhard did not have grounds for changing a previous tax decision February 8, 1995, in the case "Werner H. Erhard v. Commissioner Internal Revenue Service.<ref></ref> | |||
In 2001, ''New York Magazine'' reported that Landmark Education CEO Harry Rosenberg said that the company had bought Erhard's license outright and his rights to the business in Japan and Mexico.<ref name="paymoney"> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110521161035/http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/culture/features/4932/ |date=May 21, 2011 }}, ''New York Magazine'', ], July 9, 2001.</ref> From time to time, Erhard acts as a consultant to Landmark Education.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.landmarkeducation.com/OVERVW/cntrvrsy/default.htm |title=Landmark Education website |date=February 10, 2002 |access-date=November 13, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020210075416/http://www.landmarkeducation.com/OVERVW/cntrvrsy/default.htm |archive-date=February 10, 2002 }}</ref> | |||
In September 1996, the United States ] (IRS) settled for $200,000 in a damage suit Werner Erhard brought against the IRS for false statements IRS spokesmen made to the press about his tax information. | |||
<ref>"IRS Settles Lawsuit brought by Werner Erhard," '']'', September 11, 1996.</ref> <ref>http://www.thefreelibrary.com/LEADER+OF+EST+MOVEMENT+WINS+%24200%2c000+FROM+IRS.-a083966944 Leader of est Movement Wins $200,000 From IRS</ref> | |||
== |
== Critics and disputes == | ||
Erhard became the object of popular fascination and criticism, with the media tending to vilify him over several decades.<ref name="J.D. Moreno" /> Moreno has written, "Allegations of all sorts of personal and financial wrongdoing were hurled at him, none of which were borne out and some were even publicly retracted by major media organizations."<ref name="J.D. Moreno" /> Various skeptics have questioned or criticized the validity of Erhard's work and his motivations. Psychiatrist ] called Erhard "a man with no formal experience in mental health, self-help, or religious revivalism, but a background in retail sales".<ref>Marc Galanter: '']''. New York/Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989. {{ISBN|978-0-19-505631-0}}, page 80.</ref> ], chair of the philosophy department at Tulane University, wrote "A Philosophical Assessment of the est Training",<ref>{{cite web|last1=Zimmerman|first1=Michael E.|author-link=Michael E. Zimmerman|title=est: A Philosophical Appraisal|url=http://www.wernererhard.net/archive.html|access-date=November 15, 2016|archive-date=January 29, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230129225034/http://www.wernererhard.net/archive.html|url-status=live}}</ref> in which he calls Erhard "a kind of artist, a thinker, an inventor, who has big debts to others, borrowed from others, but then put the whole thing together in a way that no one else had ever done."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.transformationfilm.com/ |title=Documentary, 2006, Directed by Robyn Symon |publisher=Transformationfilm.com |access-date=2014-04-24 |archive-date=April 9, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190409043304/http://www.transformationfilm.com/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Sacramento City College philosophy professor Robert Todd Carroll has called est a "hodge-podge of philosophical bits and pieces culled from the carcasses of existential philosophy, motivational psychology."<ref>{{cite book |title=The Skeptic's Dictionary: A Collection of Strange Beliefs, Amusing Deceptions, and Dangerous Delusions |last=Carroll |first=Roberta |year=2004 |publisher=John Wiley&Sons |isbn=978-0-471-48088-4 |page=126}}</ref> Social critic John Bassett MacCleary called Erhard "a former used-car salesman" and est "just another moneymaking scam."<ref>MacCleary, John Bassett. (2004), The Hippie Dictionary: A Cultural Encyclopedia of the 1960s and 1970s, Page 165., Ten Speed Press, {{ISBN|1-58008-547-4}}</ref> NYU psychology professor Paul Vitz called est "primarily a business" and said its "style of operation has been labeled as fascist."<ref>Vitz, Paul C. (1994). Psychology As Religion: The Cult of Self-Worship. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. p. 26. {{ISBN|0-8028-0725-9}}.</ref> | |||
{{sectstub}} | |||
In 1991, Erhard "vanished amid reports of tax fraud (which proved false and won him $200,000 from the IRS<ref name="Lunch with the FT: Werner Erhard">{{cite news |title=Lunch with the FT: Werner Erhard |newspaper=The Financial Times |date=April 28, 2012 |url=http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/feb214a8-8f88-11e1-98b1-00144feab49a.html#axzz1vd1c5s7a |quote=Erhard is an autodidact… Jensen is an emeritus professor at Harvard Business School… Together they are writing academic articles and touring the world’s best universities. |access-date=May 23, 2012 |archive-date=June 25, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160625025153/http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/feb214a8-8f88-11e1-98b1-00144feab49a.html#axzz1vd1c5s7a |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=faltermayer />) and allegations of incest (which were later recanted)."<ref>{{cite magazine|url= http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,138763,00.html|title= The Best of est?|author= Charlotte Faltermayer|magazine= ]|date= June 24, 2001|access-date= November 3, 2012|archive-date= November 2, 2014|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20141102121304/http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,138763,00.html|url-status= live}}</ref> The March 3, 1991, episode of '']'' covered these allegations and was later removed by CBS due to factual inaccuracies.<ref name="believermag">{{cite news|last=Snider|first=Susan |url=https://believermag.com/est-werner-erhard-and-the-corporatization-of-self-help/ |title=Est, Werner Erhard and The Corporatization of Self-Help |work=] |access-date=August 2, 2021|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070806045536/http://www.believermag.com/issues/200305/?read=article_snider |archivedate=August 6, 2007 | quote = By shedding the overt Erhard association with the program (occasionally Erhard still consults, the Forum admits), the Forum moved toward establishing itself as a common passage for the upwardly mobile young (or even not-so-young) adult, as well as for the fringe element it had always succeeded in catching.}}</ref> On March 3, 1992, Erhard sued CBS, ''San Jose Mercury News'' reporter John Hubner and approximately 20 other defendants for libel, defamation, slander, invasion of privacy, and conspiracy.<ref name="estfounder">{{cite news | last =San Jose Mercury News staff | title =Est Founder sues critics: suit names Mercury News writer | work =] | date =April 7, 1992|page=8B }}</ref><ref name="estgurusues">{{cite news | last =United Press International staff | title =EST guru sues CBS, Enquirer, Hustler | work =] | page =Domestic News | date =March 4, 1992 }}</ref> On May 20, 1992, he filed for dismissal of his own case and sent each of the defendants $100 to cover their filing fees in the case.<ref name="docket">''Werner Erhard vs. Columbia Broadcasting System'', (Filed: March 3, 1992) Case Number: 1992-L-002687. Division: Law Division. District: First Municipal. ], Chicago, Illinois.</ref> Erhard told ] in an interview that he dropped the suit after receiving legal advice telling him that in order to win it, he would have to prove not just that CBS knew the allegations were false but that CBS acted with ].<ref name=Westword>{{cite magazine|author=Steve Jackson |url=http://www.westword.com/1996-04-18/news/it-happens/8/ |title=It Happens – Page 8 – News – Denver |magazine=Westword |access-date=November 13, 2011}}</ref> Erhard told King that his family members<ref name="faltermayer">{{cite magazine | url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,138763,00.html | title=The Best Of Est? | first=Charlotte | last=Faltermayer | magazine=] | date=June 24, 2001 | access-date=September 28, 2007 | archive-date=November 2, 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141102121304/http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,138763,00.html | url-status=live }}</ref> had since retracted their allegations, which according to Erhard had been made under pressure from the ''60 Minutes'' producer.<ref name=Westword /> | |||
The psychiatrist ] described Erhard as "a man with no formal experience in mental health, self help, or religious revivalism, but a background in retail sales."<ref>Marc Galanter: '']''. New York/Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989. ISBN 9780195056310 , page 80.</ref> | |||
Erhard's daughters retracted the allegations of sexual abuse they had made against him.<ref name=nymag>{{cite news | last =Grigoriadis | first =Vanessa | title =Pay Money, Be Happy | periodical =] | publisher =New York Media Holdings | date =July 9, 2001 | url =https://nymag.com/nymetro/news/culture/features/4932/ | access-date =November 12, 2010 | archive-date =May 21, 2011 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20110521161035/http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/culture/features/4932/ | url-status =live }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,138763,00.html|title=The Best Of est|author=Charlotte Faltermayer|magazine=]|date=June 24, 2001|access-date=October 13, 2020|archive-date=October 19, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201019210524/http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,138763,00.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Celeste Erhard, one of the daughters featured on ''60 Minutes'', sued Hubner and the ''San Jose Mercury News'' for $2 million,<ref name="noharm">{{cite news|work=]|title=$2 million suit against MN dismissed – No harm to Erhard's daughter seen|date=August 14, 1993 |last=Fischer|first=Jack|page=6B|location=California}}</ref> accusing the newspaper of having "defrauded her and invaded her privacy",<ref name="noharm" /> saying she had exaggerated information, been promised a $2 million book deal, and appeared on ''60 Minutes'' to get publicity for the book.<ref name="noharm" /><ref>"Daughter of est founder sues Mercury News over two articles", '']'', July 16, 1992</ref> Celeste claimed that her quotes in the ''Mercury News'' article were deceitfully obtained.<ref name="endsin">{{cite news|work=]|date=January 14, 1994|title=Suit against MN ends in paper's favor|page=2B}}</ref> The case was dismissed in August 1993, the judge ruling that the statute of limitations had expired, that Celeste "had suffered no monetary damages or physical harm and that she failed to present legal evidence that Hubner had deliberately misled her",<ref name="noharm" /> which is legally required for damages. | |||
==Related organizations== | |||
===The Hunger Project=== | |||
''Main article: ]'' | |||
Along with ] and Oberlin College President ], Erhard co-founded ]. In 1977 Erhard authored the Hunger Project Source Document, subtitled, “The End of Starvation: Creating an Idea Whose Time Has Come” <ref></ref>. | |||
CBS subsequently withdrew the video of the ''60 Minutes'' program from the market.<ref name="boingboing">{{cite news|work=]|date=August 31, 2009|publisher=boingboing.net|title=Wikileaks re-publishes 60 Minutes piece on est/Landmark cult leader Werner Erhard|last=Jardin|first=Xeni|author-link=Xeni Jardin|url=http://boingboing.net/2009/08/31/suppressed-60-minute.html|access-date=October 27, 2010|archive-date=June 3, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100603222102/http://boingboing.net/2009/08/31/suppressed-60-minute.html|url-status=live}}</ref> A disclaimer said, "this segment has been deleted at the request of CBS News for legal or copyright reasons".<ref name="believermag"/> | |||
=== Landmark Education === | |||
In 1991 the group that would shortly form ] purchased the ] of Werner Erhard. In 1998, '']'' published an article <ref name="timearticle"> {{cite web| url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101980316-138763,00.html| title=The Best Of Est?| publisher='']''}}</ref> about ] and its historical connection to Werner Erhard. The article stated that: "In 1991, before he left the U.S., Erhard sold the 'technology' behind his seminars to his employees, who formed a new company called the Landmark Education Corp., with Erhard's brother Harry Rosenberg at the helm." Landmark Education states that its programs have as their basis ideas originally developed by Erhard, but that Erhard has no financial interest, ownership, or management role in Landmark Education.<ref></ref> | |||
In 1992, a court entered a default judgment of $380,000 against Erhard in absentia in a case alleging negligent injury.<ref name="pressman-dark">{{cite book | first=Steven | last=Pressman | author-link=Steven Pressman | title=Outrageous Betrayal | publisher=St Martin's Press| year=1993 | isbn=0-312-09296-2| title-link=Outrageous Betrayal }}</ref>{{rp|262}} The appellate court stated that he had not been personally served and was not present at the trial.<ref name=appeal>]</ref> | |||
In Stephanie Ney v. Landmark Education Corporation (1994),<ref>, Rickross.com </ref> | |||
the courts determined Landmark Education Corporation did not have successor-liability to Werner Erhard & Associates, the corporation whose assets Landmark Education purchased. | |||
In 1993, Erhard filed a wrongful disclosure lawsuit against the IRS, asserting that IRS agents had incorrectly and illegally revealed details of his tax returns to the media.<ref name="leaderofest" /> In April 1991, IRS spokesmen were widely quoted alleging that "Erhard owed millions of dollars in back taxes, that he was transferring assets out of the country, and that the agency was suing Erhard", branding Erhard a "tax cheat".<ref name="leaderofest" /> On April 15, the IRS was reported to have placed a lien of $6.7 million on Erhard's personal property.<ref>{{cite news|title=IRS starts liening on Werner Erhard|work=Chicago Sun-Times|date=April 15, 1991|location=Chicago, Illinois}}</ref> In his suit, Erhard stated that he had never refused to pay taxes that were lawfully due,<ref name="leaderofest" /> and in September 1996 he won the suit. The IRS paid him $200,000 in damages. While admitting that the media reports quoting the IRS on Erhard's tax liabilities had been false, the IRS took no action to have the media correct those statements.<ref name="leaderofest">{{cite news|title=Leader of est movement wins $200,000 from IRS|work=Daily News of Los Angeles|date=September 12, 1996|location=Los Angeles, California|url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/LEADER+OF+EST+MOVEMENT+WINS+$200,000+FROM+IRS.-a083966944|access-date=November 18, 2010|archive-date=October 17, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181017204732/https://www.thefreelibrary.com/LEADER+OF+EST+MOVEMENT+WINS+$200,000+FROM+IRS.-a083966944|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>"IRS Settles Lawsuit brought by Werner Erhard," '']'', September 11, 1996.</ref> | |||
According to ] in '']'': ] further agreed to pay Erhard a long-term licensing fee for the material used in ] and other courses. Erhard stood to earn up to $15 million over the next 18 years."<ref name="pressman-dark"/>{{rp|253-255}} However, Arthur Schreiber's declaration of 3 May 2005 states: "Landmark Education has never paid Erhard under the license agreements (he assigned his rights to others)." | |||
<ref> at the US District Court of New Jersey, civil action 04-3022 (JCL), pp 3 and 4, via Rickross.com. retrieved ]</ref> | |||
A private investigator quoted in the ''Los Angeles Times'' stated that, by October 1989, Scientology had collected five filing cabinets' worth of materials about Erhard, many from certain graduates of est who had joined Scientology, and that Scientology was clearly in the process of organizing a "media blitz" aimed at discrediting him.<ref name=LAT19911229>{{cite news| url= https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-12-29-mn-2102-story.html | work= Los Angeles Times | first= Robert W. | last= Welkos | date= December 29, 1991 | title= Founder of est Targeted in Campaign by Scientologists : Religion: Competition for customers is said to be the motive behind effort to discredit Werner Erhard}}</ref> According to Erhard's brother Harry Rosenberg, "Werner made some very, very powerful enemies. They really got him."<ref name=nymag/> | |||
In 2001 '']'' reported Landmark Education's CEO Harry Rosenberg said that the company had bought outright Erhard's license and his rights to the business in Japan and Mexico.<ref name="paymoney" /> From time to time Erhard ]s with Landmark Education.<ref></ref> | |||
== |
==Works== | ||
* with Michael C. Jensen, Chapter 16 in Handbook For Teaching Leadership: Knowing, Doing, and Being, edited by Scott A. Snook, Rakesh Khurana, and Nitin Nohria, Harvard Business School. SAGE Publications, 2012 | |||
===''The Century of the Self''=== | |||
* with Michael C. Jensen, Jesse Isidor Straus Professor of Business Administration, emeritus Harvard Business School, 2013 | |||
Werner Erhard appeared in the 2002 British documentary by ], '']'', featuring in episode part 3 of 4. This segment of the video discusses the ] in great detail, and includes interviews with est-graduates ], and ]. | |||
* 1977 | |||
* with Michael C. Jensen, and Steve Zaffron. Harvard Business School NOM Working Paper No. 06-11; Barbados Group Working Paper No. 06-03; Simon School Working Paper No. FR 08–05. | |||
* with ]. Journal: Capitalism and Society, Issue 12, Volume 1, May 2017; National Bureau of Economic Research (]) #19986, March 2014; European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI) Finance Working Paper No. 417/2014; and ] Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation. | |||
==See also== | |||
===''Transformation: The Life and Legacy of Werner Erhard''=== | |||
* ] | |||
In 2006, Erhard appeared in the documentary ''Transformation: The Life and Legacy of Werner Erhard''.<ref>{{cite news | last =Guzman | first =Rafer | title =Movie Buzz: WHO Werner Erhard, THE DEAL The founder of the controversial training program called est| work =] | page =B9 | publisher =Newsday, Inc. | date =August 14, 2008 }}</ref> | |||
The film was co-produced by Erhard's attorney.<ref>{{cite news | last =Guzman | first =Rafer | title =Movie Buzz: WHO Werner Erhard, THE DEAL The founder of the controversial training program called est| work =] | page =B9 | publisher =Newsday, Inc. | date =August 14, 2008 }}</ref> | |||
'']'' commented on the film: "The movie claims to ask 'hard questions' about Erhard's life and work, though concerns about the film's agenda already are circulating on the Web. Walter Maksym, who has served as Erhard's attorney, is listed as an executive producer of the film on the Internet Movie Database."<ref>{{cite news | last =Guzman | first =Rafer | title =Movie Buzz: WHO Werner Erhard, THE DEAL The founder of the controversial training program called est| work =] | page =B9 | publisher =Newsday, Inc. | date =August 14, 2008 }}</ref> | |||
== |
==References== | ||
{{Reflist|30em}} | |||
===Biographies=== | |||
*] (1978). Werner Erhard The Transformation of a Man: The Founding of est. NY, NY, USA: Clarkson N. Potter, Inc. ISBN 0-517-53502-5. | |||
*Pressman, Steven (1993) '']''. New York, New York, USA. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-09296-2 | |||
** Second edition: {{cite book | last = Pressman | first = Steven | authorlink = Steven Pressman | coauthors = | title = Outrageous Betrayal: The Dark Journey of Werner Erhard from est to Exile | publisher = ] | date = ], ]| location = | pages = | url = | doi = | id = | isbn = 0517143356}} | |||
===Other books=== | |||
*Kettle, James: The est Experience. Zebra Books, 1976. | |||
*Marks, Pat R.: est: The Movement and the Man. Playboy Press 1976. | |||
*Raising Hell: How the Center for Investigative Reporting Gets the Story. (Chapter on "Let Them Eat est.") Addison-Wesley, 1983. ISBN 0-201-10858-5 | |||
*Rhinehart, Luke: The Book of est. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1976. | |||
*] (1992) 60 Minutes and the Assassination of Werner Erhard: How America's Top Rated Television Show Was Used in an Attempt to Destroy a Man Who Was Making A Difference. Breakthru Publishing. ISBN 0-942540-23-9 | |||
*Fenwick, Sheridan (1976). '']''. Philadelphia, PA, USA: J. B. Lippincott Company. ISBN 0-397-01170-9 | |||
==See also== | |||
*] | |||
*] | |||
*] | |||
*] | |||
*] | |||
== |
==Further reading== | ||
*Bartley, William Warren III: ] (1978) {{ISBN|0-517-53502-5}}. | |||
{{reflist|2}} | |||
*''Speaking Being: Werner Erhard, Martin Heidegger, and a New Possibility of Being Human'', Hyde, Bruce and Drew Kopp: ] (2019) {{ISBN|978-1119549901}}. | |||
* Chapter 5 in ''Beyond Health and Normality: Explorations of Exceptional Psychological Well-Being'', edited by Roger Walsh and Deane H. Shapiro Jr., Van Nostrand. 1983. | |||
* with Victor Gioscia, ''The Journal of Current Psychiatric Therapies'', Volume 18. 1978. | |||
* with Victor Gioscia. Biosciences Communication 3:104-122. 1977. | |||
==External links== | ==External links== | ||
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Latest revision as of 06:14, 20 January 2025
American author, lecturer, founder "est"The neutrality of this article is disputed. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until conditions to do so are met. (December 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Werner Erhard | |
---|---|
Erhard in 2015 | |
Born | John Paul Rosenberg (1935-09-05) September 5, 1935 (age 89) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
Occupation(s) | Author, lecturer |
Spouses |
|
Children | 7 |
Website | wernererhard.net |
Werner Hans Erhard (born John Paul Rosenberg; September 5, 1935) is an American lecturer known for founding est (offered from 1971 to 1984). In 1985, he replaced the est Training with a newly designed program, the Forum. Since 1991, the Forum has been kept up to date and offered by Landmark Education. Erhard has written, lectured, and taught on self-improvement.
In 1977, Erhard co-founded The Hunger Project, an NGO. In 1991, he retired from business and sold his existing intellectual property to his employees, who then adopted the name Landmark Education, renamed Landmark Worldwide in 2013.
Personal life
John Paul Rosenberg was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on September 5, 1935. His father was a small-restaurant owner who left Judaism for a Baptist mission and then joined his wife in the Episcopalian denomination where she taught Sunday School. They agreed that their son should choose his religion when he was old enough. He chose to be baptized in the Episcopal Church, served there for eight years as an acolyte, and has been an Episcopalian since.
Rosenberg attended Norristown High School in Norristown, Pennsylvania, where he received the English award in his senior year. He graduated in June 1953, along with his future wife Patricia Fry, whom he married on September 26, 1953; they had four children.
In 1960, Rosenberg deserted his wife and their children in Philadelphia. Rosenberg and June Bryde assumed false identities and traveled to Indianapolis. He chose the name "Werner Hans Erhard" from Esquire magazine articles he had read about West German economics minister Ludwig Erhard and physicist Werner Heisenberg. Bryde changed her name to Ellen Virginia Erhard. The Erhards moved to St. Louis, where Werner took a job as a car salesman.
Patricia Rosenberg and their four children initially relied on welfare and help from family and friends. After five years without contact, Patricia Rosenberg divorced Erhard for desertion and remarried.
In October 1972, a year after creating Erhard Seminars Training, Erhard contacted his first wife and family, arranged to provide support and college education for the children, and repaid Patricia's parents for their financial support. Between 1973 and 1975, members of his extended family took the est training, and Patricia and his younger siblings took jobs in the est organization.
Career
Parents Magazine Cultural Institute
From the early mid-1950s until 1960, Rosenberg worked in various automobile dealerships, with a stint managing a medium-duty industrial equipment firm. In 1961, Erhard began selling correspondence courses in the Midwest. He then moved to Spokane, Washington, where he worked at Encyclopædia Britannica's "Great Books" program as an area training manager. In January 1962, he began working at Parents Magazine Cultural Institute, a division of W. R. Grace & Co. In the summer of 1962, he became territorial manager for California, Nevada, and Arizona, and moved to San Francisco, and in the spring of 1963 moved to Los Angeles. In January 1964, Parents transferred him to Arlington, Virginia as the southeast division manager; but after a dispute with the company's president, he returned to his previous position as west coast division manager in San Francisco. Over the next few years, Erhard brought on as Parents staff many people who later became important in est, including Elaine Cronin, Gonneke Spits, and Laurel Scheaf.
Influences
During his time in St. Louis, Erhard read two books that had a marked effect on him: Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich (1937) and Maxwell Maltz's Psycho-Cybernetics (1960). When a member of his staff at Parents Magazine introduced him to the ideas of Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers, both key figures in the Human Potential Movement, he became more interested in personal fulfillment than sales success.
After moving to Sausalito, he attended seminars by Alan Watts, a Western interpreter of Zen Buddhism, who introduced him to the distinction between mind and self; Erhard subsequently became close friends with Watts. Erhard also studied in Japan with Zen rōshi Yamada Mumon. In Bartley's biography, Werner Erhard: The Transformation of a Man, the Founding of est (1978), Bartley quotes Erhard as acknowledging Zen as an essential contribution that "created the space for" est.
Erhard attended the Dale Carnegie Course in 1967. He was sufficiently impressed by it to make his staff attend the course, and began to think about developing a course of his own. Over the following years, he investigated a wide range of movements, including Encounter, Transactional Analysis, Enlightenment Intensive, Subud and Scientology.
In 1970, Erhard became involved in Mind Dynamics and began teaching his own version of Mind Dynamics classes in San Francisco and Los Angeles. The directors of Mind Dynamics eventually invited him into their partnership, but Erhard rejected the offer, saying he would rather develop his own seminar program—est, the first program of which he conducted in October 1971. John Hanley, who later founded Lifespring, was also involved at this time. In their 1992 book Perspectives on the New Age, James R. Lewis and J. Gordon Melton write that Mind Dynamics, est, and LifeSpring have "striking" similarities, as all used "authoritarian trainers who enforce numerous rules," require applause from participants, and deemphasize reason in favor of emotion. The authors also describe graduates recruiting heavily on behalf of the companies, thereby eliminating marketing expenses.
est (1971–1984)
Main article: Erhard Seminars TrainingStarting in 1971, est, short for Erhard Seminars Training and Latin for "it is", offered in-depth personal and professional development workshops, the initial program of which was called "The est Training". The est Training's purpose was to transform the way one sees and makes sense of life so that the situations one had been trying to change or tolerating clear up in the process of living itself. The point was to leave participants free to be, while increasing their effectiveness and the quality of their lives. The est Training was experiential and transformational in nature.
The workshops were offered until 1984, when the est training was replaced by the Forum. As of 1984, 700,000 people had completed the est training. American ethicist, philosopher, and historian Jonathan D. Moreno has described the est training as "the most important cultural event after the human potential movement itself seemed exhausted" and a form of "Socratic interrogation". Erhard challenged participants to be themselves and live in the present instead of playing a role imposed on them by their past, and to move beyond their current points of view into a perspective from which they could observe their own positionality. The author Robert Hargrove said "you're going to notice that things do begin to clear up, just in the process of life itself".
The first est course was held in San Francisco, California, in October 1971. By the mid-1970s Erhard had trained 10 others to lead est courses. Between 1972 and 1974 est centers opened in Los Angeles, Aspen, Honolulu, and New York City.
Werner Erhard Foundation (1973–1991)
In the early 1970s, the est Foundation became the Werner Erhard Foundation, with the aim of "providing financial and organizational support to individuals and groups engaged in charitable and educational pursuits—research, communication, education, and scholarly endeavors in the fields of individual and social transformation and human well-being." The Foundation supported projects launched by people committed to altering what is possible for humanity, such as The Hunger Project, The Mastery Foundation, The Holiday Project, and the Youth at Risk Program, programs that continue to be active. It also organized presentations by scholars and humanitarians such as the Dalai Lama and Buckminster Fuller and hosted an annual conference in theoretical physics, a science in which Erhard was especially interested. The annual conference was designed to give physicists an opportunity to work with their colleagues on what they were developing before they published, and was attended by such physicists as Richard Feynman, Stephen Hawking, and Leonard Susskind.
The Hunger Project
Main article: The Hunger ProjectIn 1977, with the support of John Denver, former Oberlin College president Robert W. Fuller, and others, Erhard founded The Hunger Project, a nonprofit NGO. In 1991 the organization severed its ties to Werner Erhard, Erhard Seminars Training, and its philosophies. The origin of the Hunger Project can be seen in the 1977 source document "The End of Starvation: Creating an Idea Whose Time Has Come", written by Erhard.
Werner Erhard and Associates (1981–1991) and "The Forum"
Further information: Werner Erhard and AssociatesIn the 1980s, Erhard created a new program called the Forum, which began in January 1985. Also during that period he developed and presented a series of seminars, broadcast via satellite, that included interviews with contemporary thinkers in science, economics, sports, and the arts on topics such as creativity, performance, and money.
In October 1987, Erhard hosted a televised broadcast with sports coaches John Wooden, Red Auerbach, Tim Gallwey and George Allen to discuss principles of coaching across all disciplines. They sought to identify distinctions found in coaching regardless of the subject being coached. Jim Selman moderated the discussion and, in 1989, documented the outcome in the article "Coaching and the Art of Management."
Subsequent work
During the 1990s, Erhard lectured and led programs in various locations, including Russia, Japan, and Ireland. He had a three-year contract to give courses to Soviet managers that would allow Soviet officials to study his teaching methods. He consulted for both businesses and government agencies in Russia. In the early 1990s he conducted seminars in Japan for professionals coping with their financial crisis. In 1999, Erhard and Peter Block worked with a nonprofit organization for clergy and grassroots leaders to come up with new ways to deal with the peace process in Ireland.
Erhard and Michael C. Jensen, Professor of Business Administration emeritus, led seminars and training sessions at Harvard. They also explored the relationship between integrity and performance in a paper published at Harvard Business School.
Erhard and Jensen developed and led a course on leadership that took an experience-based, rather than knowledge-based, approach to leadership. Students were asked to master integrity and authenticity, among other principles, so that they could leave the class as leaders rather than merely learning about leadership. The course has been taught at several universities worldwide as well as at the United States Air Force Academy.
Landmark Education
Main article: Landmark WorldwideIn 1991, the group that later formed Landmark Education purchased Erhard's intellectual property. In 1998, Time magazine published an article about Landmark Education and its historical connection to Erhard. The article stated: "In 1991, before he left the U.S., Erhard sold the 'technology' behind his seminars to his employees, who formed a new company called the Landmark Education Corp., with Erhard's brother Harry Rosenberg at the helm." According to Landmark Education, its programs have as their basis ideas originally developed by Erhard, but Erhard has no financial interest, ownership, or management role in Landmark Education. In Stephanie Ney v. Landmark Education Corporation (1994), a court ruled that Landmark Education Corporation did not have successor-liability to Werner Erhard & Associates, the corporation whose assets it purchased.
According to Steven Pressman's 1993 book Outrageous Betrayal, Landmark Education agreed to pay Erhard a long-term licensing fee for the material used in the Forum and other courses: "Erhard stood to earn up to $15 million over the next 18 years." But Arthur Schreiber's declaration of May 3, 2005 states: "Landmark Education has never paid Erhard under the license agreements (he assigned his rights to others)."
In 2001, New York Magazine reported that Landmark Education CEO Harry Rosenberg said that the company had bought Erhard's license outright and his rights to the business in Japan and Mexico. From time to time, Erhard acts as a consultant to Landmark Education.
Critics and disputes
Erhard became the object of popular fascination and criticism, with the media tending to vilify him over several decades. Moreno has written, "Allegations of all sorts of personal and financial wrongdoing were hurled at him, none of which were borne out and some were even publicly retracted by major media organizations." Various skeptics have questioned or criticized the validity of Erhard's work and his motivations. Psychiatrist Marc Galanter called Erhard "a man with no formal experience in mental health, self-help, or religious revivalism, but a background in retail sales". Michael E. Zimmerman, chair of the philosophy department at Tulane University, wrote "A Philosophical Assessment of the est Training", in which he calls Erhard "a kind of artist, a thinker, an inventor, who has big debts to others, borrowed from others, but then put the whole thing together in a way that no one else had ever done." Sacramento City College philosophy professor Robert Todd Carroll has called est a "hodge-podge of philosophical bits and pieces culled from the carcasses of existential philosophy, motivational psychology." Social critic John Bassett MacCleary called Erhard "a former used-car salesman" and est "just another moneymaking scam." NYU psychology professor Paul Vitz called est "primarily a business" and said its "style of operation has been labeled as fascist."
In 1991, Erhard "vanished amid reports of tax fraud (which proved false and won him $200,000 from the IRS) and allegations of incest (which were later recanted)." The March 3, 1991, episode of 60 Minutes covered these allegations and was later removed by CBS due to factual inaccuracies. On March 3, 1992, Erhard sued CBS, San Jose Mercury News reporter John Hubner and approximately 20 other defendants for libel, defamation, slander, invasion of privacy, and conspiracy. On May 20, 1992, he filed for dismissal of his own case and sent each of the defendants $100 to cover their filing fees in the case. Erhard told Larry King in an interview that he dropped the suit after receiving legal advice telling him that in order to win it, he would have to prove not just that CBS knew the allegations were false but that CBS acted with malice. Erhard told King that his family members had since retracted their allegations, which according to Erhard had been made under pressure from the 60 Minutes producer.
Erhard's daughters retracted the allegations of sexual abuse they had made against him. Celeste Erhard, one of the daughters featured on 60 Minutes, sued Hubner and the San Jose Mercury News for $2 million, accusing the newspaper of having "defrauded her and invaded her privacy", saying she had exaggerated information, been promised a $2 million book deal, and appeared on 60 Minutes to get publicity for the book. Celeste claimed that her quotes in the Mercury News article were deceitfully obtained. The case was dismissed in August 1993, the judge ruling that the statute of limitations had expired, that Celeste "had suffered no monetary damages or physical harm and that she failed to present legal evidence that Hubner had deliberately misled her", which is legally required for damages.
CBS subsequently withdrew the video of the 60 Minutes program from the market. A disclaimer said, "this segment has been deleted at the request of CBS News for legal or copyright reasons".
In 1992, a court entered a default judgment of $380,000 against Erhard in absentia in a case alleging negligent injury. The appellate court stated that he had not been personally served and was not present at the trial.
In 1993, Erhard filed a wrongful disclosure lawsuit against the IRS, asserting that IRS agents had incorrectly and illegally revealed details of his tax returns to the media. In April 1991, IRS spokesmen were widely quoted alleging that "Erhard owed millions of dollars in back taxes, that he was transferring assets out of the country, and that the agency was suing Erhard", branding Erhard a "tax cheat". On April 15, the IRS was reported to have placed a lien of $6.7 million on Erhard's personal property. In his suit, Erhard stated that he had never refused to pay taxes that were lawfully due, and in September 1996 he won the suit. The IRS paid him $200,000 in damages. While admitting that the media reports quoting the IRS on Erhard's tax liabilities had been false, the IRS took no action to have the media correct those statements.
A private investigator quoted in the Los Angeles Times stated that, by October 1989, Scientology had collected five filing cabinets' worth of materials about Erhard, many from certain graduates of est who had joined Scientology, and that Scientology was clearly in the process of organizing a "media blitz" aimed at discrediting him. According to Erhard's brother Harry Rosenberg, "Werner made some very, very powerful enemies. They really got him."
Works
- Creating Leaders: An Ontological/Phenomenological Model with Michael C. Jensen, Chapter 16 in Handbook For Teaching Leadership: Knowing, Doing, and Being, edited by Scott A. Snook, Rakesh Khurana, and Nitin Nohria, Harvard Business School. SAGE Publications, 2012
- Four Ways of Being that Create the Foundations of A Great Personal Life, Great Leadership and A Great Organization with Michael C. Jensen, Jesse Isidor Straus Professor of Business Administration, emeritus Harvard Business School, 2013
- The Hunger Project Source Document, The End of Starvation: Creating an Idea Whose Time Has Come 1977
- Integrity: A Positive Model that Incorporates the Normative Phenomena of Morality, Ethics and Legality with Michael C. Jensen, and Steve Zaffron. Harvard Business School NOM Working Paper No. 06-11; Barbados Group Working Paper No. 06-03; Simon School Working Paper No. FR 08–05.
- Putting Integrity Into Finance: A Purely Positive Approach with Michael C. Jensen. Journal: Capitalism and Society, Issue 12, Volume 1, May 2017; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) #19986, March 2014; European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI) Finance Working Paper No. 417/2014; and Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation.
See also
References
- ^ Bartley, William Warren III (1978). Werner Erhard: The Transformation of a Man, the Founding of est. New York: Clarkson N. Potter. ISBN 0-517-53502-5.
- Erhard, Werner. "Curriculum Vitae". Werner Erhard. Archived from the original on September 23, 2018. Retrieved February 2, 2017.
These companies were: Erhard Seminars Training Inc. (1971–1975); est, an educational corporation (1975–1981), and Werner Erhard and Associates (1981–1991).
- Hyde, Bruce; Kopp, Drew (2019). Speaking being: Werner Erhard, Martin Heidegger, and a new possibility of being human. Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley. ISBN 978-1-119-54990-1."The Forum replaced the est Training in 1985 and, indeed, it may be argued that this encounter was crucial in this development of Erhard's work, which development continues to this day in Landmark Worldwide and in his new work with speaking the Being of leadership."
- Sobel, Eliezer (February 1, 2008). The 99th Monkey: A Spiritual Journalist's Misadventures with Gurus, Messiahs, Sex, Psychedelics, and Other Consciousness-Raising Experiments (1st ed.). Santa Monica Press. ISBN 978-1-59580-028-2."Several years later, est had evolved into "The Forum," which continues to flourish around the world today under the auspices of Landmark Education."
- Toner, Robin. "Hunger project aiming at global commitment". nytimes.com. The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 24, 2017. Retrieved November 20, 2023.
- ^ Steven M. Tipton, Getting Saved from the Sixties: Moral Meaning in Conversion and Cultural Change. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1982, p. 176.
- Wakefield, Dan. "Erhard's Life After est Common boundary: March/April 1994". wernererhard.com. Archived from the original on May 12, 2010.
- The Graphic Designer's Guide to Clients, by Ellen M. Shapiro
- ^ Kay Holzinger (February 1, 2001). "Erhard Seminars Training (est) and The Forum". In James R. Lewis (ed.). Odd gods: new religions & the cult controversy. Prometheus Books. ISBN 978-1-57392-842-7. Retrieved November 18, 2010.
- Rawlinson, Andrew (December 31, 1998). The Book of Enlightened Masters: Western Teachers in Eastern Traditions. Open Court. p. 261. ISBN 978-0812693102.
- Melton, J. Gordon; Lewis, James R. (1992). Perspectives on the New Age. SUNY Press. pp. 129–132. ISBN 0-7914-1213-X. Archived from the original on September 29, 2023. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
- Rhinehart, Luke (1976). The Book of est. Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
- Erhard, Werner; Gloscia, Victor (1977). "The est Standard Training". Biosciences Communications. 3: 104–122.
- Kettle, James (1976). The est Experience. New York: Kensington Publishing Corporation. pp. 51, 52. ISBN 978-0890831687.
- ^ Snider, Susan. "Est, Werner Erhard and The Corporatization of Self-Help". The Believer. Archived from the original on August 6, 2007. Retrieved August 2, 2021.
By shedding the overt Erhard association with the program (occasionally Erhard still consults, the Forum admits), the Forum moved toward establishing itself as a common passage for the upwardly mobile young (or even not-so-young) adult, as well as for the fringe element it had always succeeded in catching.
- ^ Moreno, Jonathan D. (September 22, 2014). Impromptu Man: J.L. Moreno and the Origins of Psychodrama, Encounter Culture, and the Social Network (1 ed.). New York: Bellevue Literary Press (published 2014). ISBN 9781934137857. Archived from the original on September 29, 2023. Retrieved March 7, 2021.
- ^ Hargrove, Robert (1976). est: Making Life Work. New York: Dell Books. p. 127. ISBN 978-0440195566.
- "hotel to hospital – farewell to S.F. era". San Francisco Chronicle. October 31, 2009.
- ^ "Werner Erhard Foundation". Werner Erhard Foundation. Archived from the original on March 25, 2019. Retrieved November 13, 2011.
- ^ Susskind, Leonard (2009). The Black Hole War: My Battle with Stephen Hawking to Make the World Safe for Quantum Mechanics. Back Bay Books. p. 191. ISBN 978-0-316-01641-4.
- "Physics Conferences". wernererhardfoundation.org. Retrieved November 17, 2024.
- Rick Ross (April 10, 2004). "The Hunger Project attempts to purge criticism and history from the Internet". Cult News. Archived from the original on May 7, 2004. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
- Rick Ross (April 26, 2004). "Leader of controversial organization with ties to "cult-like" group tapped by UN Task Force to help cure world hunger". Cult News. Archived from the original on May 3, 2004. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
- The End of Starvation: Creating an Idea Whose Time Has Come Archived March 27, 2019, at the Wayback Machine, The Hunger Project
- Sourcebook of Coaching History, Vikki G Brock PhD., 2012
- Greenberger, Robert (December 3, 1986). "East meets Est: The Soviets discover Werner Erhard". The Wall Street Journal.
Mr. Erhard gave a five-day course to about 60 Soviet managers in the workers' state, his first seminar under a three-year contract that also will allow Soviet officials to study his teaching methods in the U.S.
- ^ Haldeman, Peter (November 28, 2015). "The Return of Werner Erhard, Father of Self-Help". The New York Times.
Mr. Erhard consulted for businesses and government agencies like the Russian adult-education program the Znaniye Society and a nonprofit organization supporting clergy in Ireland.
- ^ Kellaway, Lucy (April 22, 2021). "Lunch With The FT: Werner Erhard".
Erhard tells me that paramilitaries in Northern Ireland had a bit of trouble too, but when they did get it they disarmed as a result. He also worked with members of the first Russian parliament in 1993.
- Haldeman, Peter (November 28, 2015). "The Return of Werner Erhard, Father of Self-Help".
he conducted seminars for professionals coping with Japan's financial crisis of the early 1990s.
- Locke, Bill (January 31, 2018). "A Conversation with Peter Block". Kolbe Times.
In 1999, he and Werner Erhard developed The Ireland Initiative, working with clergy and grassroots leaders to develop new thinking and new conversations.
- Leeson, Robert (May 14, 2013). Hayek, A Collaborative Biography. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-0230301122.
Erhard organized and led Harvard seminars and training sessions in association with Michael Jensen, Professor of Business Administration Emeritus at Harvard Business School
- Kerr, James (December 17, 2013). Legacy. Constable & Robinson. ISBN 978-1472103536.
In a paper published at Harvard Business School, Michael C. Jensen, Werner Erhard, and Steve Zaffron explore the relationship between integrity and performance.
- ^ Haldeman, Peter (November 28, 2015). "The Return of Werner Erhard, Father of Self-Help". The New York Times.
Dr. Jensen developed an experiential course on integrity in leadership at the Simon Business School at the University of Rochester. The class was offered there for five years, with Mr. Erhard signing on as an instructor during its third year. It has since been taught at several universities around the world as well as at the United States Air Force Academy.
- Haldeman, Peter (November 28, 2015). "The Return of Werner Erhard, Father of Self-Help". The New York Times.
Briefly, the course, which owes ideological debts to the Forum and to the German philosopher Martin Heidegger, takes an experience-based, rather than knowledge-based, approach to its subject. Students master principles like integrity and authenticity in order to leave the class acting as leaders instead of merely knowing about leadership.
- Faltermayer, Charlotte (June 24, 2001). "The Best Of Est?". TIME. Archived from the original on October 19, 2020. Retrieved October 13, 2020.
- "Landmark Education, media Q&A". Landmarkeducation.com. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved November 13, 2011.
- Appendix A. Text of Court Ruling in Ney Case – Source: LEXIS-NEXIS – STEPHANIE NEY, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. LANDMARK EDUCATION CORPORATION; RON ZELLER, Defendants-Appellees, and WERNER ERHARD; WERNER ERHARD AND ASSOCIATES; PETER SIAS, Defendants. – No. 92-1979 – UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT – 1994 U.S. App. LEXIS 2373
- ^ Pressman, Steven (1993). Outrageous Betrayal. St Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-09296-2.
- Declaration filed May 5, 2005 at the US District Court of New Jersey, civil action 04-3022 (JCL), pp 3 and 4
- Pay Money, Be Happy Archived May 21, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, New York Magazine, Vanessa Grigoriadis, July 9, 2001.
- "Landmark Education website". February 10, 2002. Archived from the original on February 10, 2002. Retrieved November 13, 2011.
- Marc Galanter: Cults: faith, healing, and coercion. New York/Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989. ISBN 978-0-19-505631-0, page 80.
- Zimmerman, Michael E. "est: A Philosophical Appraisal". Archived from the original on January 29, 2023. Retrieved November 15, 2016.
- "Documentary, 2006, Directed by Robyn Symon". Transformationfilm.com. Archived from the original on April 9, 2019. Retrieved April 24, 2014.
- Carroll, Roberta (2004). The Skeptic's Dictionary: A Collection of Strange Beliefs, Amusing Deceptions, and Dangerous Delusions. John Wiley&Sons. p. 126. ISBN 978-0-471-48088-4.
- MacCleary, John Bassett. (2004), The Hippie Dictionary: A Cultural Encyclopedia of the 1960s and 1970s, Page 165., Ten Speed Press, ISBN 1-58008-547-4
- Vitz, Paul C. (1994). Psychology As Religion: The Cult of Self-Worship. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. p. 26. ISBN 0-8028-0725-9.
- "Lunch with the FT: Werner Erhard". The Financial Times. April 28, 2012. Archived from the original on June 25, 2016. Retrieved May 23, 2012.
Erhard is an autodidact… Jensen is an emeritus professor at Harvard Business School… Together they are writing academic articles and touring the world's best universities.
- ^ Faltermayer, Charlotte (June 24, 2001). "The Best Of Est?". Time. Archived from the original on November 2, 2014. Retrieved September 28, 2007.
- Charlotte Faltermayer (June 24, 2001). "The Best of est?". Time. Archived from the original on November 2, 2014. Retrieved November 3, 2012.
- San Jose Mercury News staff (April 7, 1992). "Est Founder sues critics: suit names Mercury News writer". San Jose Mercury News. p. 8B.
- United Press International staff (March 4, 1992). "EST guru sues CBS, Enquirer, Hustler". United Press International. p. Domestic News.
- Werner Erhard vs. Columbia Broadcasting System, (Filed: March 3, 1992) Case Number: 1992-L-002687. Division: Law Division. District: First Municipal. Cook County Circuit Court, Chicago, Illinois.
- ^ Steve Jackson. "It Happens – Page 8 – News – Denver". Westword. Retrieved November 13, 2011.
- ^ Grigoriadis, Vanessa (July 9, 2001). "Pay Money, Be Happy". New York. New York Media Holdings. Archived from the original on May 21, 2011. Retrieved November 12, 2010.
- Charlotte Faltermayer (June 24, 2001). "The Best Of est". Time. Archived from the original on October 19, 2020. Retrieved October 13, 2020.
- ^ Fischer, Jack (August 14, 1993). "$2 million suit against MN dismissed – No harm to Erhard's daughter seen". San Jose Mercury News. California. p. 6B.
- "Daughter of est founder sues Mercury News over two articles", San Jose Mercury News, July 16, 1992
- "Suit against MN ends in paper's favor". San Jose Mercury News. January 14, 1994. p. 2B.
- Jardin, Xeni (August 31, 2009). "Wikileaks re-publishes 60 Minutes piece on est/Landmark cult leader Werner Erhard". Boing Boing. boingboing.net. Archived from the original on June 3, 2010. Retrieved October 27, 2010.
- Wikisource:Ney v. Landmark Education Corporation and Werner Erhard
- ^ "Leader of est movement wins $200,000 from IRS". Daily News of Los Angeles. Los Angeles, California. September 12, 1996. Archived from the original on October 17, 2018. Retrieved November 18, 2010.
- "IRS starts liening on Werner Erhard". Chicago Sun-Times. Chicago, Illinois. April 15, 1991.
- "IRS Settles Lawsuit brought by Werner Erhard," Business Wire, September 11, 1996.
- Welkos, Robert W. (December 29, 1991). "Founder of est Targeted in Campaign by Scientologists : Religion: Competition for customers is said to be the motive behind effort to discredit Werner Erhard". Los Angeles Times.
Further reading
- Bartley, William Warren III: Werner Erhard The Transformation of a Man: The Founding of est, New York: Clarkson N. Potter Inc. (1978) ISBN 0-517-53502-5.
- Speaking Being: Werner Erhard, Martin Heidegger, and a New Possibility of Being Human, Hyde, Bruce and Drew Kopp: Wiley (2019) ISBN 978-1119549901.
- "Being Well" Chapter 5 in Beyond Health and Normality: Explorations of Exceptional Psychological Well-Being, edited by Roger Walsh and Deane H. Shapiro Jr., Van Nostrand. 1983.
- "est: Communication in a Context of Compassion" with Victor Gioscia, The Journal of Current Psychiatric Therapies, Volume 18. 1978.
- The est Standard Training with Victor Gioscia. Biosciences Communication 3:104-122. 1977.
External links
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