The most prolific literary masters, poets, entrepreneurs, kings/leaders of archaic kingdoms. religious prophets and sacred texts over the centuries have warned us, prophetically, that pride, avarice, hubris, jealousy and antagonism leads to nothing. These modes of ignorance and passion are fundamental flaws in the world we live in. It’s a counter productive force inhibiting innovation and development in all types of systems (economic, political, social and personal) and has no place in an age where collaboration, radical perspectives, networked enterprises and disruption are requisite themes in fostering progress!
Prophecies, assertions and proclamations alike flourish through inspirational people, their writings, teachings and religious texts. All of these have ensconced and effectively delineated the polarities of avarice, hubris and greed! Think about it, we moved from division of labour to matrix styled organisations, from the industrial age to the digital age, from advanced economies to knowledge economies. This kind of progress is natural. To move to the next phase of evolution – the collaborative, networked and integrated digital age – we need to give up all these modes of ignorance and passion (in the contexts of sabotage overt or covert) and unnecessary politics!
Its said “…man, proud man, dressed in a little brief authority, most ignorant of what he’s most assured, his glassy essence, like an angry ape, Plays such fantastic tricks before high heaven As make the angels weel….” The connotation here is clear that these human tenets are against the didactic and altruistic paradigms that were established ancestrally and which were bound to be followed to ensure the collective human experience is one that nurtures compassion, unity, intelligence and mainly progress. Its also clear that “jealous souls will not be answer’d so; they are not ever jealous for the cause, but jealous for they are jealous” as Shakespeare said in Othello (Which we all know was a dramatic and renowned play that is still studied today as a paragon of the facets of racism, love, jealousy, betrayal and ultimately offcourse – REPENTANCE).
Yes – these attributes of human behaviour were prevalent during colonialism, imperialism and the Romantic period as they influenced a certain type of emergence, order and union and were warranted to drive progress. Leadership ensued through these principles (think Caesar, Cyprus) and flourished through the ages to define the abundance of knowledge, economic prowess and human progress that we see today. Just like evolution takes hold in every dimensions of our living world; these paradigms were eventually transcended to foster breakthrough progress in the face of increased integration and advancement of economic and technological capabilities. Today, whilst you can learn from Genghis Khan for example – you cant really lead like he did with smoke signals and trumpets can you? You can’t lead through violence either – neither can you lead by backstabbing! So its very clear – leardership itself – is fundamentally different today – many talk about bottom up approaches but in fact – these are quite often facades!
I have seen in my own personal endeavours commercially a multitude of bullying tactics. From tourism bodies, suppliers and network partners telling me stories, to hearing about it from my good friends when we catch up (and they work in diverse industries from investment banking, engineering, medicine, consulting and technology). Its rather sad to still see this type of thinking and behaviour continue to manifest and unmanifest (like clouds covering the sun – where the sun is meant to energise and empower)! A great model to use a natural framework for innovative enterprises which I wrote about is at the core of this article https://www.thealphaswarmer.com/2018/12/an-innovation-and-learning-framework-for-enterprises-for-business-model-evolution/
Mohit (Max) Bhanabhai – Founder and Author of thealphaswarmer
So, despite the contention being raised across the entire literary canon from Shakespeare to the Holy Bible, the Koran, the Bhagvad Gita, Vedas, Sastras and commentaries from the business elite alike; why do we still see these impotent human behaviours today in contexts where it should not exist? Why can’t everyone just stay focused, keep work professional and not involve politics? Why cant we stop the boys clubs or the elite clubs at organisations where power (whilst purported to be distributed) still remains centralised?
Its quite simple – in order to transgress these behaviours, one has to learn to art of forgiveness and put a complete stop unnecessary politics. You have to work in the mode of goodness, without yearning for the fruits of your work. Its essentially what Martin Luther King said that “ Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness. ”. Whilst this may sound obvious, direct and many will say ‘that’s how we are now’; unfortunately its not and that is a universal truth! The virtues of of respect and humility is something that every one of us knows (by definition even), but none of us practice collectively (only ostensibly)!
True intelligence, will be the rise of collective intelligence, fused with a consciousness that unifies thought and augments capabilities with the use of intelligent technologies that complement the human capital input into any system. You will respect your competition because they exist so that a pie is bigger for everyone, and everyone takes a piece of the pie. No wonder the rapper Notorious BIG said “More Money Mo Problems” and it is without doubt, why Roosevelt asserted that “Great Minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people”