In that order.
You just need to navigate the permutation and potential.
Great things are accomplished by and through people.
Yet at the same time, it’s people who drive us crazy.
When a big group with more EGO than ECO, we have faction and division.
Cliques and classes.
In India, an “untouchable” family finally had it. Their daughter got raped by the village powerful. And it did not stop there. They even bragged about it. Words got around back to the father. Shamed and humiliated, the mother took it to court. Twice the shame, in hope of one right.
Now, that’s people, problems and politics.
At work, we don’t have such an extreme (not at the magnitude of Penn State).
But part of the process is to let leadership rise. People can be taught to collaborate by example.
The power of someone in the organization acting for the common good (without any one watching, or claiming credits).
At some point in our lives, we learn to trust ourselves. That no matter how bad, we only have one life to live, sharing it with the people not of our own choosing (family and co-workers – especially during the Recession). Hence, make the best of it.
Bigger picture. One Earth . One ozone layer above and one oil resource underneath. Be “earthful” i.e. mindful of late-stage Earth. We have been on steroid. We have been “Lances”. Now is the time to take stocks. Get rid of the water bottles. Start using hand-wash towels. String out a clothes line (solar energy instead of machine dryer). Maybe even hand wash our sneakers.
Come one. Park the car at the other end of the parking lot and start walking to the gym.
Brain storm on the refrigerator’s door to see how many ways our families can save by conservation (I saw a kid pick up soda cans tonight, with parental participation. Outta girl!).
Of all the holidays, Halloween is such a waste (costume worn once).
Fourth of July as well. We keep shooting up and burning our hard-earned money for a politics we don’t even support (I know this is harsh and unsubstantiated. But look, the way the country is heading, we might as well be partitioned in two).
People, problems and politics. Can’t do with them, can’t do without them. Before 1984 (Personal Computer), we had spent most of our time talking and working with people. After 1984, we sit in front of the screen (all sizes), and interact with a machine. “It says here, you are not in the system” (what system? the clerk did not even input a ticket I have tried three times to pay for).
Not sure we have sacrificed people skills for computer skills. But society hasn’t progressed for the better as a result of faster data processing. We still have homeless people (perhaps more with high foreclosure rates), our educational standing has slipped, and we are not even up there in Competitive and Happy Index as a Super Power should. Go figure. Google it for yourself.
Thang Nguyen 555 