The Page
Notes and comments for friends and clients of Lisk Associates
Star -Bellied Sneetches
Who Can We Blame?
As I write this we are coming
down to the wire in the presidential campaign while we are taking
a roller coaster ride in the
financial markets. It is fingerpointing time on all fronts with
clear distinctions between right
and wrong and right and left;
between red and blue states and
Wall Street and Main Street.
We should not be surprised at
this great show of partisanship.
We are, by nature, a competitive
people. We like a good fight with
winners and losers.
There have been mistakes
made in the financial markets. We
are all feeling the pinch and surely
there must be someone we can
blame. And there are differences
of opinion about how to govern
and these differences come out in
any political campaign. Of course
we’ll choose up sides. But this
partisan- negative-competitive
approach, when not balanced with
a more cooperative approach,
will not fix these messes..
We Have Met The Enemy
Why not give equal time to the
concept that, at some level, “we
are all in this together?” Native
Americans have a phrase that
often ends their prayers; Mitakue
Oyasin. This is translated as “We
are all related” or “We are all
one.” The Bible says, “Love thy
neighbor as thyself.” Interdependence is not a new concept.
Underneath the red states and
blue states is the United States. If
our economic engine stalls we all
lose. In fact, countries around the
world lose. These systems are
interdependent, whether we act
like it or not. To use the famous
Pogo quote, “We have met the
enemy, and he is us.”
Stars On Their Bellies
In The Page I make the point
that, ‘competition in interdependent groups is counterproductive.’
The key word is interdependent.
We are quick to draw distinctions
and see ourselves as “different
than” the other - independent. We
draw a small circle around who is
“us” and everyone else is “them.”
In Dr. Seuss terms, there are starbellied Sneetches and plain-bellied
Sneetches, and they do not
associate with each other.
We say why the other side is
wrong and we compete against
them. But, if we are all related,
when we beat them we make
losers of ourselves.
We are all connected by the
web, by our humanity and by the
finite planet we all inhabit. Technology is shrinking the planet,
making us all more interrelated,
more interdependent every day.
In America independence is
second nature to us. We even have
a Declaration of it. Interdependence, on the other hand, is an
acquired taste. We want to use our
old solutions to solve these new
problems, but the new problems,
like a mutating virus, resist the old
cures.
In summary, an independent
response to an interdependent
issue is counter-productive.
When the Star-Belly children went out to play ball,
Could a Plain-Belly get in the game…? Not at all.
You only could play if your bellies had starts
And the Plain-Belly children had none upon thars.
The Sneetches and Other Stories by Dr Seuss
Who Speaks For Wolf by Paula Underwood
Getting To Yes by Fisher and Uri
No Contest by Alfie Kohn
October 2008
This Way Out
In his book Leaders Beyond
Borders, Mark Gerzon makes the
point that the first step in all 20th
century genocides was the
creation of “the other.” People
will do things to an “other” that
they will not do to one of their
own group.
So, one way for us to improve
upon our independent thinking is
to not choose up sides and create
an “other.” Instead, “be tough on
the problem and soft on the
people.” Look for what all sides
care about. Use this common
ground to begin to create a
solution that works for everyone.
There will be common ground if
people will look for it.
Balance the sound bites and
negative rhetoric with authentic
dialogue. Elie Wiesel, holocaust
survivor and 1986 Nobel Peace
Prize laureate said, “Silence helps
the oppressor, never the
oppressed.“ The tough problems
we face today will not be
solved unless the people
involved are willing to talk and
listen with each other.
We may not be able to change
the world but we can begin to run
small experiments in our own
homes, businesses and communities to see if thinking and acting
more interdependently will make
our lives better. Who knows, we
might meet a new friend, one
without a star on his belly.
Leaders Beyond Borders by Mark Gerzon
Solving Tough Problems by Adam Kahane
www.eliewieselfoundation.org
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