Human Beings–Perfect and Predictable …

… in our imperfection and unpredictability.

Watching the snowstorm sweep up the coast today, I have noticed an interesting dialog developing after Governor Deval Patrick of Massachusetts declared a state of emergency, banning most motor vehicle traffic as of 4:00pm today.

The conspiracy crowd has climbed all over this declaration, citing “Big Brother” concerns and the belief that this is merely another step towards controlling what people are allowed to do.

Most of these conspiracy people aren’t smart enough to realize that such declarations may save the lives of people who otherwise aren’t intelligent enough to avoid potentially life-threatening situations.  It may also prevent loss-0f-life in the ranks of the many brave, unsung heroes who serve as first-responders and would be forced to go out in the storm to rescue these people.

Sadly, such conspiracy-laden thinking is getting more and more predictable.

And with such predictability comes a warning.

As the populous gets more and more wound up over things that exist to save their lives (remember people who fought seatbelt laws as infringements on personal freedom?) or things that aren’t important, the very thing they fear, loss of said freedom, will become more and more a reality.

Any unstable society that grows paranoid about everything deserves to lose its freedom and will do so for its own protection.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to predict such a future.

Meanwhile ……

I had a meeting last week with someone who made the following observation about the organization and person he works for:

“The cool thing about <<name withheld>>  is that we can work on whatever we want and however we want to do it and he doesn’t care what we do”.

The interesting thing about this organization is that after having spent considerable amounts of cash, they have practically zero to show for it.

Now while it is true that some individuals and organizations have thrived in such an environment, on closer examination it could be observed that they had underlying personal disciplines that complemented their personal and collaborative freedoms, thus producing a great result.

However, many people, when given the freedom to be totally unaccountable for anything or to anybody, usually meet the expectations set for them by delivering little or nothing in return.

When outside observers can routinely predict the result of every project they embrace, you would think someone would decide that a more disciplined behaviour is in order.

Sadly, predictably, excessive ego won’t allow this adjustment to manifest either.

A warning …. and an opportunity

The great challenge we have with these and other examples is that it is easy to predict where the world is heading as a result of what we are doing in and to the world.

And yet for as easily as we can predict such a future, little is being done to correct our behaviour.

Hopefully we will understand this on a higher level soon, be totally unpredictable for once and in doing so, strive towards a higher level of perfection in order to solve the challenges we face in the world.

Hopefully.

In service and servanthood,

Harry

Addendum: In a meeting with a client the other day, we were noodling over what constitutes a complete solution when it comes to addressing the challenges we face today and I came up with the following picture to express a 50,000 ft. view of what a solution must encompass (click on the image for a larger version).

What do you think?

The Difficulty With Being Perfect

I was having an exchange with a colleague today who was getting exasperated with my advice.  In the last exchange, he (whom I will refer to as Dave) said “Look, it’s easy for you to say this.  You’ve never made mistakes.  You never worry.   People like you don’t understand how the rest of us live”.

It’s not the first time I have tried to help someone and been told that.

If Dave and others knew the burden of being perfect, they wouldn’t treat perfect people such as myself and others so harshly.

Of course, if they really knew the definition of a “perfect” person, they would know something else.

They would know that those whom they consider perfect are as far from perfect as one could get.

Yes, it is true that my upbringing gave me an unfair advantage that put me far ahead of the pack in the Race of Life.  For example, here is a picture of my family’s first house when I was young:

An unfair advantage indeed!

And yes, I had a very successful career from an early age, whether it was architecting Canada’s first PC-based insurance system or solving complex problems on Wall St.   I did it so effortlessly, I am told. 

Truth is, I just never let people see me sweat or hear me second-guessing my capabilities as I dealt with fraud complex at an early age (the inability to accept that one deserves the awards and accolades that one is receiving).

Years later, when I was driving the software company that I cofounded in NYC towards a subsequent acquisition / IPO, a number of colleagues wished they could trade places with me.  After all, they said, Life is much easier when you are on the top than it is when you are working for someone else.

Yes, there was a lot of excitement working at the top.  But sometimes when my colleagues were fast asleep, I was awake wondering if we would make the next payroll or if the next big deal was the one that would save or sink the company, its employees and their families whom I was responsible for.

Did I make any mistakes along the way? Hah – if you only knew! :-)

When it comes to personal relationships, I have made more than my share of mistakes.  In fact, some mistakes were outright failures on my part.

So what does all of this mean?

Absolutely nothing.

Life is what it is - I am perfect in my imperfection as is everyone on this planet.

If Life were easy, we would all steamroll to the top and then, looking around and experiencing a challenge-free Life, we would look to the sky and say '”Is this it?  Is this all there is?”

We would have little to be proud of, including accomplishments or examples of personal growth.  After all, how many of us brag about the days when we were rewarded for no effort on our part?

Fortunately, Life forces us to be challenged, forces us to grow and to rise above challenge.

Even when we don’t want to.

Or rather .... especially when we don’t want to.

It has been said that when a bird wants to fly fast, it flies with the wind but when it wants to fly high, it flies against the wind.

So the question is:

Do we prefer to get somewhere easily with minimal reward or to be forced to fly high to find the rewards that are commensurate with our immeasurable potential?

I believe that when we reach our personal end-of-days, we discover at that moment that we were indeed perfect for the journey we just experienced.

In the meantime, we shouldn’t allow our potential to be diminished by the belief that our state of perfection is any different than anyone else’s, since that belief becomes a millstone around our neck and prevents us from accomplishing the things we wish to achieve.

We should focus on enhancing the state of perfection in ourselves and others instead of constantly comparing ourselves to others.

Until then, we’ll have to be content with our state of imperfection and continue to work towards refining ourselves, to bringing our result as close as possible to our potential. 

We will also need to be content with failing once in a while, since such mistakes and the learning associated with them bring us closer to growth and a state of perfection.

Well … you will have to be content with this.

Because I’m already perfect. :-)

Create a great day for yourself and others, in service and servanthood.

Harry