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Part 2 - A business paradigm change is needed

Written by: Andrew Campbell-Watt

Article Overview: This is not a call to arms, for a revolution nor is it a recipe for chaos. This is a call for understanding; for a paradigm change. More of the same will give us all more of the same – this is the recipe for chaos. Just look around. It is obvious from the state of the World economy, the mental health and the well being of the general population that something is out of kilter.

Part 2 - A business paradigm change is needed

This is not a call to arms, for a revolution nor is it a recipe for chaos. This is a call for understanding; for a paradigm change. More of the same will give us all more of the same – this is the recipe for chaos. Just look around. It is obvious from the state of the World economy, the mental health and the well being of the general population that something is out of kilter.

There can be no work-life balance or harmony in anyone’s life without there being an understanding that life means something. If there is no meaning to life, then life would be considered an accident of Nature (but what is Nature?), with no purpose and any further examination just a pointless exercise. For many, who believe this, there is an almost unbearable despair that comes from a mind wounded by the ‘discovery’ of the perceived meaninglessness of existence (these are really distressed canaries).

We all, however, have a hunger for meaning; we somehow need to extract a meaning from life. We all seek peace of mind. We crave order and are frightened by chaos – we are risk averse. So there are we now, alive and earning (or trying to earn) a living and conforming to the requirements of the society we live in. What then, apart from having a job, does life mean to you? Have you an answer to the eternal questions - “Who am I? Who or what made the universe? What is my relationship to that who or what?” Answers to the first and last of these questions will be touched on here. Any answer to the second question may be inferred from the contents of this article.

In truth you are, we are all, at least three people – firstly, the person we think we are; secondly, the person others think we are; and finally, the person we really are. The first two of these depend on the role we are playing at the time, and we are all role players. Do you know who you are?

When we examine the human condition there are two strands to consider – the material and the non-material. Discussing the material will get us to where many are today – looking for more possessions; seeking ways to maintain what possessions we have and being distressed if any are lost or diminished in any way. For many the material is the be all and end all of ‘life’.
The human form is a magnificent thing yet it is composed of common elements – those found throughout the universe – we are indeed common clay. This clay can be seen, touched, measured and chemically analysed - for example, blood has similar concentrations of minerals and salts to sea water. Our bodies are the ultimate in recyclable materials – when we die our bodies, over time, revert to their constituent materials – nothing is wasted in nature. Yet something animates that common clay. From the non-material point of view there is some essence present when we are alive that is absent when we are dead. The body is the same, so what is missing? It is called ‘Life’. This ‘Life essence’ cannot be seen tasted, touched, measured or in any way analysed, yet we are all aware of it presence or absence.

Then there is consciousness. Logically something which is conscious must also be alive but there is no satisfactory definition of consciousness. Whether life and consciousness are flip sides of the same ‘coin’ is unknown. But consciousness, as with life, cannot be seen, touched measured nor analysed. It may be inferred only by deduction. The melding of this Life essence with consciousness and the material is what gives us the various life forms and humanity. What is present, or absent, is unknown and defies categorization yet we are all aware of its presence and saddened by its absence. Most people appreciate the beauty of the various forms of life that the world presents to us and are distressed when involved in destroying a ‘life’, be it chopping down a tree or killing any sentient being. Life is considered sacred and in many instances to take a ‘life’ - to destroy the ‘form,’ is considered a crime.

Now our perception of being alive is the sum of our life experience, what we have read, our education, our various relationships, what we believe in, what we value, our moral precepts. In other words how we live our life and no two people can live the same life. This demonstrates our individuality.

Yet we do not stand only in relation to ourselves. We are not isolated – as if drifting in a void – but are inextricably woven into the pattern of the lives of all. Each influences all and all influence the individual. This is the true relationship of mankind.

This relationship is very apparent today (2009) with all the trials and tribulations being experience by many. The threads that link humans together are incredibly long and tortuous with unexpected consequences when pulled or cut - often a pattern in life starts to unravel in far flung places with very unwelcome consequences affecting all (read Wall Street).

Times are tough and getting tougher for both employers and employees. To keep an organization on a sound financial footing it may be necessary to pursue any course of action that will reduce costs. Such actions may be (unethically) to consider jeopardising the integrity of the company’s products by cutting on quality or services or to ‘encourage’ employees to work longer hours without adequate compensation or the old standby – cut staff numbers.

The problem for employers, economists and business strategists is that people are not at all uniform beings to be categorised, ‘scientifically’ analysed with any certainty of accuracy. At the back of all this, behind all human activity is a ‘mind’, something that is greater than the brain, something that must be common to all. Possibly something that has been called the ‘collective unconscious.’ There are many unanswered questions about the non-material aspect of life, such as how and why do electrons, protons and other particles come together to form atoms; then why do atoms come together to form complex molecules; finally why and how do molecules coalesce to form the complex systems of cells, organs and organisms of living bodies? Then there is the intriguing WHO statistic that, world - wide, for every 100 girl babies born there are approximately 106 boy babies born. ‘Nature’ balances things out – boy babies have a higher mortality rate than girls and men die younger for a variety of reasons – wars and extreme activities. One wonders how ‘nature’ directs this course of events!

We are extremely complex beings that don’t like being caged like canaries and ignored as individuals.

{Continued in Part 3}

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Article Tags: balance, business paradigm, call to arms, chaos, consciousness, mental health, out of kilter, paradigm change, population, recipe for chaos, relationship, unethically, world economy



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