What if Irony is Judging Others for Lacking Empathy?
When we use the word
lead
let us be clear
what it is
we are leading.
If we are leading
people.
Then let us be explicit
that what we mean by
lead
Is leading
people.
Not money.
Not decisions.
Not strategies.
People.
Yes,
we need
money
decisions
strategies
to lead
people.
But those are the means
not the end.
May we remebmer that.
I want you
to be happy.
I want you
to be happy.
Don’t you know
that I do?
Why don’t you know
that I do?
What must I do
so you’ll know?
Why must you
continue
to hurt me?
Getting what we want
is not always
what we want.
What we want
is sometimes
to feel surprised.
And rarely will we feel surprise
by fixing
what we don’t want.
There are times
when we judge others
as wanting us
to sacrifice for them.
And yet,
when we ask
we may realize
that what they actually want
is what is best
for us.
Oftentimes
all we disagree on
is the definition
of a word.
If we are willing to use
the other persons definition
we may agree
if we are unwilling
then we disagree.
The question then beceoms
what are we afraid would happen
if we let the other person
use their definition?
“Your intention doesn’t matter!”
shouted
the CTO.
“Yes, it does!”
shouted back
the CEO.
“What matters
is the impact!”
shouted back
the CTO.
“Stop.”
I interrupted.
“What
is preventing them both
from mattering?”
I asked.
“I keep learning
the same lesson
over
and over
and over again.”
said the founder.
“I don’t know what
is wrong with me.”
she lamented.
“May I share a story?”
I asked.
“Yes, of course.”
said the founder.
“Before I went to art school,”
I began.
“I thought craft
was outdated.
After all,
craft
makes you repeat yourself
over
and over
and over again.
…
Why do craft,
when we have machines?’”
I explained.
“That makes sense.”
said the founder.
“Then I learned
that life
is a craft.
There is no machine
that can live
for us.
If it did,
it would no longer be
our lives.
Yes,
craft makes us
repeat ourselves
over
and over
and over again.
But that
is life.
What craft does
is it trains us
to learn
from the repetition.
All experiences
are.
Until we judge them.
Then and only then
may it become
Good or bad,
right or wrong.
All the words we use
mean what we mean.
Until others judge our words
good or bad
right or wrong
Peter Drucker
never said
culture
eats strategy
for breakfast.
A great strategy
without a great culture
to
But a great culture
without a great strategy
isn’t great,
either.
If you hope
to get what you want,
frame it as a problem
to solve.
If you hope
to get what you didn’t know you wanted,
frame it as a paradox
to be dissolved.