On the International Day of Peace, September 21, 2021, DR. ICHAK ADIZES shared his experience on the future of management with members of the Heartfulness Institute, USA. In part 2, he highlights the need for differences, integration, and complementary teams based on mutual trust and respect.
JUST THINKING AND FEELING
To manage change, you have to make decisions, and you cannot make decisions alone. Would you agree with me that nobody’s perfect? So, what do you need? A complementary team. Look at your marriage. Look at your partner. You are with somebody who’s different from you. Why?
You need complementary teams to make good decisions. But the moment you have a complementary team, it means difference. Then what’s going to happen? Conflict. And to implement a decision, you need the cooperation of the people whom you need. Why should you all cooperate? Because you have a common interest.
Do we have common interests? Often we don’t. So, that’s another source of conflict – conflict of interest. So, we have conflict of personalities and conflict of interests. The more the differences, the more the conflict.
How do we integrate a complementary team? And how do we integrate common interests? That is, how to integrate diversity of styles, diversity of nationalities (if you are looking at the world), diversity of religions, social diversity, any diversity? For that we need mutual respect. Look at this extended hand with five fingers together. This is a symbol. You see it everywhere; in all religions the saints are standing like this. What do you see? Different fingers together. That’s a blessing. Different together.
If we’re together and there is mutual respect, we learn from one another. And as we learn from each other’s differences, there is synergy. And when there is synergy, it’s constructive. And you get integration through mutual respect. You don’t get integration – real, sustainable, successful, constructive integration – unless there is mutual respect. And that is not what happens with all the radical religions. They say, “We’re going to be together by being the same.” Here, we are talking about being together but different, and accepting, valuing, and appreciating differences, because we learn from differences.
If we’re together and there is mutual respect,
we learn
from one
another.
And as we learn from each other’s differences,
there is
synergy. And when there is synergy,
it’s constructive.
So, what keeps it together? Why should they be together? Because all benefit from what everybody contributes. That’s why there is a hand. Each finger contributes to the hand. There is symbiosis. That will happen only if there is mutual trust. I contribute to the system, and I trust that the system will benefit me, otherwise, I’m not going to contribute. If there is corruption, I’m not paying taxes: “Why should I pay taxes to a corrupt government? They steal from me; I steal from them.”
Peace and love mean united diversity based on mutual trust and respect. It is
inclusive prosperity. There is prosperity, there is success because of synergy
and growth. Because of symbiosis, it’s inclusive. We want integrated
interests with diversity that is honored and respected because we learn from
one another.
Peace is not sameness. Peace is harmony. Pay attention
to the word “harmony.” Different voices creating a harmony. If they’re all
singing in the same voice, it’s not harmony.
Peace is not sameness. Peace is harmony.
Pay attention to
the word
“harmony.”
Different voices creating a harmony.
If they’re all
singing in the same voice,
it’s not harmony.
So, if God is love and love is based on mutual trust and respect, there is no love unless there is respect for differences, and there is trust that there is a common interest. There is faith that there is a common interest despite the differences. If God is love, what is God’s will? What does love mean? Respect one another’s differences and share the benefits you create together.
To me, God is a conscious, value-loaded, loving energy, locomoted by mutual trust and respect. God’s will is recognizing each other’s differences and sharing what you create together.
Remove mutual trust and respect, and you’re removing God, you’re removing love. What do you get? The devil. Many of the exclusive religions, exclusive political ideologies, are serving the devil in the name of God because they don’t recognize diversity and they don’t integrate for common interest.
We all want peace. In peace there is no more stress. There is harmony, peacefulness. Peace and love start with yourself first. That’s why meditation. Not to get attached; to recognize differences; to recognize problems and let them pass. In meditation, you experience tolerance, patience, and peacefulness in the middle of turmoil. And as you find tolerance and self-respect, analyze the problems and let them pass. Don’t get attached to what you cannot control. Learn through meditation to surrender and go with the flow of life. Learn humility and find peace and happiness, respecting and trusting yourself.
Is there respect and trust in your family? That’s called love. Absolute respect, absolute trust is love. But love without knowing what to do might end up serving the devil in the name of love. Promote mutual respect and trust; nourish mutual trust and respect. Ask yourself: What causes disrespect in your family? What causes mistrust? Forbid those things. That’s how you raise your children to have self-esteem, to trust and respect themselves.
It is the same thing with your personal life. What causes you to disrespect yourself, so that you feel guilty and self-accusatory? Remove it. What causes you not to trust yourself? Remove it. Love yourself, love your family, bring mutual trust and respect to your company, which means bringing love, bringing peace, bringing harmony, etc. And the same thing on a country level. Hopefully, if we work hard enough from the inside out, we might bring peace to the world – or we are doomed. This pandemic is a sign of disintegration and it’s another call: Get united or you will destroy yourself.
Just thinking and feeling,
Dr. Ichak Kalderon Adizes
Dr. Ichak Adizes
Dr. Ichak Adizes is widely acknowledged as one of the world’s leading management experts. He has received 21 honorary doctorates and is the author of 27 books that have been translated into 36 languages. Dr. Adizes is recognized by Leade... Read More
