Nope, everything is not going to be okay. Sorry.
Us humans face competing signals at several blind and globally crack-pot crossroads right now. Red? Green? Both? A last supper anybody? Have you looked around at the way the world is lately?
We have some 'prittee' big choices to make. We hear some people say that they don’t believe we can figure it all, decide what to do and then change in time. We hear other people asking what's the problem anyway. Aaaargh!
Some of us are not going to make it.
Humans reassure other humans. It's just the way we are.
I'm now not talking about a few global issues like terrorism, famine, poverty, natural disasters or the political and financial systems. I'm talking about work - in every business. We often just say - "It’s all going to work out fine." - I now don’t think that that is that the right thing to do? We should tell people the truth - that no one actually knows whats going on, no one knows what's actually going to happen and 'yes' it probably will all be a total disaster – a very good chance it will be in fact. OK?
That’s the surest context for the world we have now created and probably the best baseline to work from. It would surely wake a few people up and we could begin to plan properly. A safe distance away from our pre-conceptions and prejudices.
Our lizard brain keeps us wanting that safe place – so this is tough. You probably stopped reading this way up there anyway. Holy Amygdala Batman. Check these emotions – sound familiar? http://bit.ly/hk5XWm
Most of us want to believe that the choices we make will work out, that everything will be okay. We seek decisions that are low risk and there's avery chance it will all just be fine. Well forget simplicity and low risk unless you are prepared to work hard at the sheer complexity of what low risk calculations demand. Everyone in business wants to be sure, they want the low risk strategy – the simple solution, the fast ride.
How on Earth can we proceed knowing that there's a good chance that our actions will fail! How can we operate knowing that things might get worse, that everything won't end up okay? In search of solace, we seek reassurance. We get it. The decisions become worse. The sycophants around us don’t give a damn. The whole thing falls down. The alternative? Plan for a world that works the other way around.“So people lie to us. So we lie to ourselves...”
No, everything is not going to be okay. It never is. It isn't okay now. Change, by definition, changes things. It makes some things better and some things worse. But everything is never okay. Finding the courage to avoid constant, often empty, reassurance is a critical step in vital transformation. Once you free yourself from the need for approval, and recognise that stuff is likely to come with increasing risk of failure - it's a lot easier to do the critical stuff.
No, everything is not going to be okay. It never is. It isn't okay now. Change, by definition, changes things. It makes some things better and some things worse. But everything is never okay. Finding the courage to avoid constant, often empty, reassurance is a critical step in vital transformation. Once you free yourself from the need for approval, and recognise that stuff is likely to come with increasing risk of failure - it's a lot easier to do the critical stuff.
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