Lines in the Sand

I had an interesting conversation today with a leader in our Cultural Development office. This department has been hard at work, for over a year, developing classes and on-line offerings for our associates. I teach one of these offerings and I was asked if I had any reservations regarding the classes or the "professors". I have to be honest that I shared my thoughts and they are similar to my thoughts regarding any "course of study". At best, when we create learnings, when we develop common language, when we align people to enable them to all be able to row in the same direction, it's important to not loose sight of the lines in the sand that we have created and of the freedom of choice that is a God given right of each and every person we connect with. I understand the imperative that our Corporate offices feel in bringing our people centered culture to our divisions, however, I am also aware that you can not make someone change, you can only create an environment that invites them to change. The challenge for all organizations driven to create alignment, is that the imperative of their "truth" becomes so strong that the people fueling the initiative start herding instead of inviting; start creating pressures to force change instead of resting in the faith that real power lies not in what you can control, but in what you can unleash.

I have core values that are quintessential to who I see myself as being - they are what my behaviors and choices spring from. They are not, necessarily, exactly the same as anybody else. From experience, I can say with certainty that there are communities of people with which I strongly align, and others with which I do not. I choose to make no judgment based on this except to say that I choose to engage with and be included in communities that allow me to thrive - that are in alignment with my core values. This being said, I also like to challenge myself to in-bed in communities that are somewhat alien to me and to work to come to understand and appreciate what they bring to humanity. We are not intended to be all alike. In music, harmony is about the blending of different notes. The same can be said of humanity - our challenge is to discover how to blend to create harmony.

So, back to my original topic. Teaching subjects, learning subjects, and creating curriculum is about expanding the human experience. People will not move towards words that pursue them. If what is being taught is valid, it doesn't matter how many doors and windows are thrown open - the truth becomes self evident. For myself, I want no part of that which can not hold it's own under scrutiny - all else is a line in the sand.