Suddenly Anything is Possible

Another Opportunity for Hypocrisy?

by Howard Ross, Founder & Chief Learning Officer

Last week a divided panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11^th Circuit in Atlanta struck down the insurance mandate portion of the 2010 health care law, ruling that Congress overstepped its authority when it required all Americans to have health insurance.

To be clear, this ruling does not end the legal debate on the legislation, which will undoubtedly eventually be decided by the Supreme Court, but it is a frightening harbinger of what is likely to come. As much as I searched the newspapers and internet over the past few days, I was unable to find any hue and cry against this “radical judicial activism” from those who were so vociferous in that characterization when the courts ruled against voters or legislators decisions on marriage equality, affirmative action, or other such issues.

In all transparency I supported the healthcare bill.  Actually, that is not truly accurate because I had hoped it would have gone further.  But at least it was a start.  An acceptance of the general notion that quality healthcare should be a right for all citizens. 

Now I know that many people criticize and condemn that idea.  They see it as a move towards “socialized medicine.”  But I have a hard time understanding why it is fine for us to have state-sponsored education, state-sponsored traffic laws, state-sponsored postal service, and a state-sponsored military, but it is somehow repugnant or “socialist” to have some governmental process that ensures health access in a society that prides itself on the notion that the American people are endowed with “…certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.  It is hard in my mind to understand how life and happiness (and arguably liberty as well) are not related to health.  Life is obvious. But I know that I am never less happy than when one of my loved ones or I is sick or injured.  I would find it appalling if some Americans in general, regardless of race, economic status, gender, etc., had less access to quality healthcare and poorer health outcomes.  But how often that happens is not random in our society, it is directly related to race and socio-economic status.  Consider these Department of Health and Human Services statistics:

• African American men are over twice more likely to die from prostate cancer than White. While breast cancer is diagnosed 10% less frequently in African American women than White women, African American women are 36% more likely to die from the disease.
• African Americans are twice as likely to have diabetes as Whites. Hispanics are 1.5 times as likely to have diabetes as Whites. American Indians and Alaska Natives are twice as likely as non-Hispanic Whites of similar age to have diabetes.
• African American men are 30% more likely to die from heart disease than non-Hispanic white males, despite the fact that 6% of African Americans have heart disease.
• 32% of African Americans have hypertension compared to 23% of Whites.
• Non-Hispanic Blacks are 60% more likely to die from viral hepatitis, as compared to non-Hispanic Whites. American Indian/Alaska Natives were almost twice as likely to develop a case of Hepatitis C, as compared to the White population.  Hispanics are twice more likely to be diagnosed with Hepatitis A than non-Hispanic Whites.
• African Americans accounted for 52% of all HIV/AIDS cases diagnosed.
• African American mothers were 2.3 times as likely as non-Hispanic white mothers to begin prenatal care in the 3rd trimester. Or not receive prenatal care at all.
• American Indian/Alaska Natives have 1.6 times the infant mortality rate of non-Hispanic Whites.
• Puerto Rican infants were twice as likely to die from causes related to low birth weight, compared to non-Hispanic white infants.
• The infant mortality rate is 1.7 times greater for Native Hawaiians than for non-Hispanic Whites
• Mexican Americans, who make up the largest share of the U.S. Hispanic population, suffer in greater percentages than Whites from overweight and obesity, two of the leading risk factors for heart disease. Premature death was higher for Hispanics (23.5%) than non-Hispanics (16.5%).
• Oral health disparities are so dramatic in this country that Native American people have dental diseases 3-5 times as often as Whites.

I could go on with similar statistics that link income levels, sexual orientation, and gender to health performance. Data that link poor healthcare to education and job attainment, especially for poor children, is readily available. But the real issue is why so many of us feel comfortable ignoring the obviousness of this data.

“Liberty and justice for all?”  

“Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness?”   

The “best healthcare system in the world?”

 According to the World Health Organization, the United States is:

• 31^st in the world in life expectancy (tied with Kuwait)

• 37^th in the world in infant mortality (an American child is 2 ½ times more likely to die before the age of five than a Singaporean child)
• 34^th in the world in maternal mortality (an American mother is 11 times more likely to die in childbirth than an Irish mother)

Who are we kidding?

I have heard the argument that the United States Constitution does not provide for healthcare for all.  But, of course Article 1, Section 2, Paragraph 3 of the United States Constitution also did not provide for African Americans to be counted as full human beings, and, of course, there was that sticky issue of a woman’s right to vote…

I have heard the argument that this service is best provided by the states, which was, of course, the same argument that Mississippi and Alabama used to resist the Civil Rights movement.

I have heard the argument that people should be able to decide for themselves whether they need health insurance. But there have been numerous times when we have decided as a society (education, child labor, child sexuality, seat belts, etc.) that the well-being of our citizenry requires that we sometimes be protected from our own poor decision-making. Not to mention the fact that we as a society pay for the lack of health insurance of our fellow citizens through the rising tide of healthcare costs.

And I have also heard the argument that private industry is better able to provide these services. I generally believe that there are many healthcare companies that combine a deep commitment to service with an ability to operate a consciously capitalist company. But we also have to admit that there are some who are simply out for profit and need to be carefully regulated.

Unfortunately what is just under the surface of the resistance to our intervening in the tragic inequity in healthcare in our society is a rising tide of Social Darwinism, a notion, originated in the 19^th Century, that some of us are just more “fit” for survival and it is simply the evolutionary forces of nature that sort out the ones who aren’t.  It slips out sometimes, as when Utah Senator Orrin Hatch recently said, “The poor need to share some of the responsibility in reducing America’s debt burden.”  It is a philosophy that was generally discredited after it contributed to the development of eugenics, scientific racism, imperialism, and fascism.

One of the overarching themes in my just-release new book, ReInventing Diversity: Transforming Organizational Community to Strengthen People, Purpose & Performance, is that we all need to work to overcome the deeply ingrained and polarizing dynamic of “us versus them.”

Personally I don't believe that poor people, black and Hispanic people, women, and gay people are getting poorer health results because they are “less fit to survive.” I believe we, as a society, have not joined virtually the entire developed world in understanding that it is the responsibility of the strong to assist the weak. And the rich to assist the poor. How? By providing the simplest, if not the easiest, of safety nets: universally available and affordable health insurance.

The notion that just because you are poor, black, Hispanic, gay, or a woman, doesn't mean that you should be doomed to be sick and die more than those who are rich, white, straight men.  And, if you don’t believe that we have a responsibility to help our neighbors than consider your own family’s self-interest:  when your neighbor’s children are sick because they can’t afford quality healthcare, they still play on the same playground as your children and grandchildren.

This fight is not over.  Please contact your elected representative today and tell them that we need to stand strong for a quality healthcare for all people in this country.  And if the Supreme Court overturns this bill, we intend to fight for another so that the United States can truly have liberty and justice for all.

The First Day of the Rest of Our Lives?

by Howard J. Ross, Founder & Chief Learning Officer, Cook Ross Inc.

Yesterday, Sunday, July 24, 2011, gay and lesbian couples all over the state of New York were allowed to legally marry for the first time. Thousands of people were granted the same legal and civil rights as those of us who are straight. Straight people have historically never, even for a moment, had to consider if their marriage would be recognized as legal and valid.  New York is now the 7^th state in the nation, in addition to the District of Columbia, that has recognized the right to marriage equality. (http://www.marriageequality.org/current-status)

I was deeply moved as I watched the news reports of people getting married who have been devoted and faithful partners, in some cases for dozens of years. Now they are finally getting assurance that they will be legally guaranteed the right to sit in the hospital with their beloveds as they passed their last breath. Now they can fully share in creating their financial futures. Now they can legally share the lives that they have in actuality been sharing for years. 

As I sat there watching I couldn’t help but ask myself, “How can this possibly be a threat to my own straight marriage?”

I am convinced that some day we will look back at this time like we now look back at the early days of the civil rights movement, when people were fighting for the right to be treated as full citizens of our country and others were fighting to deny those rights, and say “what were we thinking?”

As the news stories and photographs came out yesterday I was completing a training I had been leading all week in Ottawa, Canada.  The Canadians I was with had, almost universally, just one thing to say:  “What took you so long?”

Many strategists are predicting that Maryland is the next big state where marriage equality will become a legal reality. Please support organizations like Equality Maryland, HRC, PFLAG, and any other organization advocating for marriage equality. We all need to work together to get this done!

Support equal rights for all citizens NOW so that one day we can look at this moment in time and say “that was when we came to our senses.”

 

photo credit

 

The First Day of the Rest of Our Lives?

by Howard J. Ross, Founder & Chief Learning Officer, Cook Ross Inc.

 

Yesterday, Sunday, July 24, 2011, gay and lesbian couples all over the state of New York were allowed to legally marry for the first time. Thousands of people were granted the same legal and civil rights as those of us who are straight. Straight people have historically never, even for a moment, had to consider if their marriage would be recognized as legal and valid.  New York is now the 7^th state in the nation, in addition to the District of Columbia, that has recognized the right to marriage equality. (http://www.marriageequality.org/current-status)

I was deeply moved as I watched the news reports of people getting married who have been devoted and faithful partners, in some cases for dozens of years. Now they are finally getting assurance that they will be legally guaranteed the right to sit in the hospital with their beloveds as they passed their last breath. Now they can fully share in creating their financial futures. Now they can legally share the lives that they have in actuality been sharing for years. 

As I sat there watching I couldn’t help but ask myself, “How can this possibly be a threat to my own straight marriage?”

I am convinced that some day we will look back at this time like we now look back at the early days of the civil rights movement, when people were fighting for the right to be treated as full citizens of our country and others were fighting to deny those rights, and say “what were we thinking?”

As the news stories and photographs came out yesterday I was completing a training I had been leading all week in Ottawa, Canada.  The Canadians I was with had, almost universally, just one thing to say:  “What took you so long?”

Many strategists are predicting that Maryland is the next big state where marriage equality will become a legal reality. Please support organizations like Equality Maryland, HRC, PFLAG, and any other organization advocating for marriage equality. We all need to work together to get this done!

Support equal rights for all citizens NOW so that one day we can look at this moment in time and say “that was when we came to our senses.”

 

Graduation Advice from Generation Y

Reflections for the New Graduating Class

by Caitlin Saunders, Project Manager, Cook Ross Inc.

I have heard a mixed bag of reviews of my generation – some say that we’re job-hoppers and demanding employees, others say that we’re technology savvy and innovative. Some say a bit of both. No matter where your opinions fall on the subject, one thing that can be said is that a keen curiosity exists for Generation Y.

As a member of the Millenial generation, I’m willing to own all of the critiques -- both the good and the bad, because like those terrible social rumors you heard in high school, the critiques tend to based in truth. With that said, Generation Y –- like the technology that we grew up with –- is constantly transforming, growing and learning. 

When I graduated from college, I felt like I knew myself and the world around me through and through (from what I’ve heard this is not a generational –based characteristic), but it turns out, I didn’t. It turns out the only thing that I know now with certainty is that I have a lot to learn. With this in mind, I wrote the lessons below to my younger sister, who is graduating in the Class of 2011 (so proud!), hoping to give her some guidance through her own exciting, exploratory, and trying transition from college to the real world.

The lessons below are those that I have learned since graduating from college. By no means am I speaking on behalf of my generation – in fact, I found that even within my closest circle of friends the journey over the past few years has been very different for each of us.  But what this list means for me, and hopefully for those both younger and older, is that we are all constantly learning and how critical it is to allow ourselves and each other the space to do so (without critique).  

1.  You can be whoever you want to be from here on out. Do what you want to do. No one can tell you differently.

• This can be felt on so many levels.  It first hit me the day my first paycheck was deposited into my account – I remember thinking, heart racing just a bit, I can do anything I want.  (Please note that may happen for you too, but brace yourself for the later realization of rent, utilities and potential loans that need to be paid).

2.  Surround yourself with good people – and let go of the ones who bring you down. It’s just not worth it.   

• You will be balancing a job, a new life, family, and other commitments and you quickly find that your personal time is limited. As such you will have to make an active choice as to who you spend your time with. Invest in those who bring you joy and let go of those who don’t, It is sad to see that a few friendships may fall off because of this, but those that do were probably not worth your time.
• Don’t forget that even the best relationships take work. I have to make a concerted effort at times to see even my closest friends, but I can’t imagine being in this life without them.

3.  Time to revamp those Facebook pics – take down the ones that don’t represent you in your best light aka. the ones you wouldn’t want your boss to see

• I know it was fun to roll through the Facebook pictures every week with friends in college, but it won’t be just your friends looking at them in the real world. Now that I’ve heard how those pictures can be discussed in the workplace and how they can be used against you – trust me, it’s just best to delete them.

4. Gone are the days where you can pull an all-nighter and power through the day.  Get some rest--otherwise, your body, and your work, may suffer.

• It only takes a few late nights to pick up on this one. In school you could have a night out with friends, sit in a two hour morning class, and then have a few hours to catch up on some much needed sleep. Now, you have an entire day of work ahead of you and it doesn’t let up because you’re tired. (For those of you who are unaffected by the lack of sleep, you are a lucky few).

5. Taking care of yourself can be exhausting, but also extremely rewarding.  

• I was at home for a recent family holiday sitting down to a delicious (and free!) homemade meal and I couldn’t help but think Isn’t this nice? This would be so easy… but then I think of the fact that I’m in control of my own life, that I have no one else to report to, and the trips that I’ve taken and the memories I’ve made because I can – and I know it’s all worth it.

6. Voicing your opinion is important. Be selective in choosing when to do so.

• My manager recently told me that saying yes to most things makes the times you say no that much more powerful. I think this statement is applicable to voicing your opinion as a young professional in the workplace. Exercising your voice is a critical exercise, but do so when you have something valuable to add that way you become a respected voice versus a background sound. 

7.  There’s a lot of grunt work and "paying your dues" in an entry-level position. Make the most of it. Surround yourself with people who you can learn from, who allow you to explore different paths, and who challenge/are willing to invest in you.

• After watching my friends and colleagues take on various jobs in a wide spectrum of industries, I have realized that there are not-so- glamorous aspects of every job. (Once you realize that, it’s a bit easier to relax.)
•  With that said, what separates a good first job from one that is less desired is the opportunity for development. If you are fortunate enough to be exposed to various sectors of the business, work on projects that stretch your skill set, and/or allowed the opportunity to explore your interests you’ve got a good thing going. My thought –- take advantage of the resources around you and learn as much as you can.

 8.  Not all of your co-workers are going to be like your group of friends from college. Take the time to figure out how to best communicate with and relate to them.

• It’s bizarre when you realize there is no “right” way to communicate –- there are probably dozens of wrong ways, but no 100% fool-proof right way because everyone brings a different understanding to the table. A conversation may mean more to one person than an email, others may request emails only, and some may need a bit of both, but what’s important is that you find a way to connect with each other as mature, responsible adults. Your workplace is a space to learn as much about process and content as it is to learn about others.

9.  Things in the real world take time. It’s okay if your three-year plan turns into five. Just remember to breathe and have compassion for yourself.

• I’m still working on this one. From what I understand this is a “generational characteristic.” For most of my life I have always equated faster to better –- a faster computer is better, a faster internet connection is better, a faster way to get from Point A to Point B is…better. With that said, I’m learning that this may not be the most realistic mindset for the real world. All I can say for now is: Things take time, you can only do so much, and try to go easy on yourself.

10.   Being happy is the most important thing in life, so find a job that brings joy.

• I have worked with two companies since graduating – I’ve had an incredibly rewarding experience at my current company and perhaps a less than experience at the former. When you are unhappy at a job it will likely affect other pieces of your life, so find a place where you can work AND be happy. A job doesn’t have to be just a job, a way to pay the bills, it can be a place of fulfillment and growth.

 11.   You think you know yourself now? Wait two years. Don’t be surprised if everything changes.

• I understand what it’s like to think you have your whole life planned out, but now I also know what it’s like to revise or adjust that plan.

Believe it or not who you are and what you want out of life may shift. If you’re anything like me (aka you like to have every step planned out) ... that’s a pretty scary thought. But it’s also what keeps things exciting and helps you grow. Try to stay open to the changes and chances that come your way because more often than not things turn out better than you planned (perhaps that is the ultra optimistic Generation Y part of me talking?) Continue to learn, keep an open mind, and enjoy!

 

No Need for Hate

Sometimes being a proud parent and an advocate for diversity come together. My 17-year-old son Jake composed this poem the other day that I thought I would share with you. Thank you for reading, Howard Ross

Hate
by Jake Ross

Hate.

Children forced to vacate their schools,
Punished again and again for following the rules,
Trying to fit in to a society that doesn’t want them,
That calls them different for being who they were born to be,
Gay, lesbian, transgender, straight, we are all people, there's no need for hate.

People are hated for who they are,
Told they are different, told they have flaws,
But the truth is,
Nobody deserves to be hated,
Harmed for things beyond their control,
Feelings are feelings,
And they belong to the feeler,
Schoolchildren harm each other,
Wounds too deep to heal.

Little boys interested in others,
While people just like them are murdered every day,
And there's poor innocent Matthew Shepard,
Who died for being gay,
Beat to death and left crucified in the desert.

When will the world learn that to discriminate is to kill?
Calling a little boy “fag” is the same as stabbing him with a knife,
Whether it be from an angry, ignorant fool, or by his own hand,
This wound may cost him his life.

Life is a very beautiful thing and deserves to be cherished,
But this cannot happen when innocent children perish.

So stop the hate, stop the death, stop the rage,
Learn to love,
Because the world won't fix itself,
We must fix the hearts that have broken,
Because if we can't love those different from us,
Then how can we really love at all?

Trumping the Race Card

by Howard J. Ross, Chief Learning Officer

People across the globe are gripped by the surprise news of the death of Osama bin Laden. For many, a part of us views his death as a catharsis for our anger which has brewed for more than a decade.  Another part of us embraces the release of a powerful and nagging fear which has insinuated itself into daily lives in a way that many of us have not felt before.

What is the impact of fear on us as individuals and as a society? How does fear impact our decisions, responses, and thoughts? In some cases, we can transform our fear into great works of creativity and tremendous acts of courage. In all too many cases, fear can transform itself into destructive cynicism and division.

Last week, we saw a textbook example of how collective fear can be manipulated for political purposes.  Donald Trump has dominated the airwaves the past couple of months as news reporters all over the country have seemed to salivate over every opportunity to hear him challenge President Obama’s citizenship.  Even as this charge had been proven to have far less credibility than the aliens supposed hidden in a vault in New Mexico.  As we all know, the President, finally tired of the distraction, had his lawyers arrange to produce a second official birth notification to again substantiate that he was born in this country, demonstrating that there was nothing but hot air to “The Donald’s” charges.

But that has not stopped Trump.  He now is challenging the President’s academic credentials. But what is Trump really trying to say when he charges that he has “read” that President Obama was an underachieving student?  Is he questioning his intelligence?  If so it’s a challenging charge against a former Harvard Law Review editor whose political enemies have even labeled him an “effete professor.”  Is he suggesting that there was some unethical play involved?  I don't think so.

He is trying very hard, as he has been all along, to remind us (as if we needed reminding) that President Obama is black.  Sadly, this kind of race baiting is not unusual in American politics.  It was just a couple of years ago that Congressman Harold Ford of Tennessee lost his United States Senate race in after his opponent ran a commercial suggesting that Ford was interested in white women.  I could list dozens of other examples but, of course, they are all too familiar.

The real question in my mind is, why is this so newsworthy?  Trump is, to put it bluntly, a buffoon and a vulgarian.  His single appealing quality, to some, is that he is rich and arrogant.  There is no consistency in any of his political points of view.  He was for universal healthcare before he became against it.  He was for marriage equality before he flip-flopped  He called George W. Bush the “worst president in history” before he decided that President Obama deserved the title.  Hasn’t the man ever heard of videotape?  This is a man who attempts to appeal to social conservatives after a lifetime of philandering.  A person who, Carrie Prejean claimed, insisted that participants in the beauty pageants he was running parade before him so that he could separate those he found sexually appealing from those he didn’t. 

What does it say about American culture and American politics today that a person of this caliber is considered a serious candidate (by some) for the presidency of the United States?  What is the mindset that allows this to happen?

Back in 1999, I was hired by the Atlanta Braves to help them deal with the infamous John Rocker incident.  For those of you who don’t remember, Rocker was a Braves pitcher who, in an interview with Sports Illustrated reporter Jeff Pearlman, made insulting comments about a broad range of people, including people of color, immigrants, single mothers, and gays and lesbians.  After he came back from his suspension, he was met with a strange reaction.  Many people expressed their dissatisfaction with his comments by booing him. But a significant group of people in every ballpark turned him into a cause celebre.  He was greeted often with rousing cheers.

There is something in our cultural psyche that vicariously lives through people whose vulgarity allows our deepest, darkest thoughts to emerge.  And when those thoughts are about subjects that are politically incorrect to talk about out loud (sexist, racist, and homophobic thoughts), we seem even more interested in those very people.  After Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was shot in Arizona, people understandably called for an end to rifle targets on pictures of politicians.  Yet, why is the media feeding rather than ignoring the “rifle targets” in Trump’s charges?  I’m not suggesting censorship, I simply asking why a bloviating entertainer is given so much airtime?  Why is he being fawned over and desperately sought for interviews?  And what is the impact of this inordinate amount of attention on our national discourse?

I have little hope that NBC will make the same call that they did when Charlie Sheen became so offensive that they no longer wanted him representing them.  “The Apprentice” is too popular, I suppose, for standards of decency to derail it.

But it is time for people who stand for a more civil discourse in our society; who do not want to live in a society of coded racism and sexism, to let Trump and NBC know that, in no uncertain terms, we desire a higher level of discourse in our politics, and in our society.  It is a relatively simple act to begin.  Whenever you see him on TV, change the station.  When The Apprentice comes on, turn it off.  And let people know about it.  This is a man who feeds on attention.  Like a vampire, it is his lifeblood.  Starve him.

Just keep a simple thought in the mind.  Whenever he comes on your screen, change the channel and simple say, “You’re fired!”

The Revolution Within: What the Tea Party, Egypt, Wisconsin, Facebook & WikiLeaks Can Teach us About Communities of the Future

by Howard J. Ross, Founder & Chief Learning Officer

We are experiencing a fundamental revolution in how people see their world and how that impacts the nature of organizations, communities, government and leadership.  We are just beginning to see what that revolution may mean, and both the possibilities and the dangers it presents.

Tea Party Movement, rising in a flash to dramatically impact the mid-term elections and the way we are being governed. WikiLeaks splashing thousands of secret documents around the world. “Instant rebellions” springing up in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya and throughout the Middle East. Facebook hitting its 500 millionth member (approximately 1/13th of the people on the planet are now members!). Tens of thousands of citizens mass in protest of budget cuts in Wisconsin.

Each of these is a distinct event. Yet, in many ways these events are not unlike other protests, uprisings, or even leaks of the past.  I am definitely not comparing the protests in Wisconsin to Libya or anything of the sort.  But I have long been a believer in systems thinking and I don’t believe much in coincidences. (Coincidences do happen. But far more often things are connected in ways that we don’t see).  So, if we look at all of this collectively, could it be telling us something about the world that we are living in? More significantly, can these events tell us about the world that we can anticipate?

There are a number of significant trends that are coalescing in the appearance of all of these activities:

•    Collective Stress – created by both the prolonged economic crisis and tension in the world about security. We are feeling this stress in a different way than we have experienced it before.  It seems like entire countries (including the U.S.) are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

•    Technology – now allows us to transmit information faster, broader, and deeper than ever before.  Across our current technology tens of millions of people can be mobilized within days, hours or even minutes.  I remember when we were organizing rallies when I was a young social justice activist back in the 60’s, staying up all night printing flyers on an old mimeograph machines and then scouring the community putting them under windshield wipers of cars, in mail boxes or stapled to telephone poles.  It took dozens of people hours or days to reach 20-25,000 people.  Now in one push of the button, a viral message can be transmitted to the world (“Rally at Tahrir Square at noon!!”) over the Internet, through Facebook, by Twitter or by whatever new communication technology will be invented and be in use by the time this blog is two days old!

•    Information – which supported by technology, is disseminated faster and broader, and deeper and, as in the case of WikiLeaks, respecting very few boundaries of privacy or secrecy.

•    Globalism – An increasingly greater sense of ourselves as interconnected world citizens, impacted by what’s going on in other places that used to feel much farther away.  The whole world is watching.  In some cases we welcome that connection, in some cases we try to resist it (as when we attempt to “wall off” our country to immigrants), but either way it looms large in our consciousness.

•    Media and Communication – which now constantly blares at us, and, even more significantly pre-sorts the news we see.  (Watch the same story covered on MSNBC and FOX and see if you can even recognize them).

•    Generational Shifts – that have produced younger people, who are inherently more diverse, more informed, more connected, more independent in their thinking, and more prone to think of themselves as global citizens.

At the nexus of all of these trends we find a world in which people are increasingly less likely to defer to the power of authority figures to tell them what to do. Today people are more likely to instantly react and respond, more likely to find like-minded souls to respond with, and less likely to be “patient” about waiting for change.

What does this say about the organizations and communities of the future?  I recently heard it said that things that are top-down driven are slow and dull. Things that are bottom-up driven are fast and exciting.  But, of course, exciting can have both a positive and negative side to it.  The same energy that can inspire us when it coalesces to create positive change can also create anarchy.  Imagine, if we were to shift –- as some have suggested and as is now technologically possible –- to a system in which citizens directly vote on legislation, rather than go through elected officials.  An exciting prospect if one believes in “government by the people.”  Yet, how informed might they be?  How susceptible to the kind of demagoguery we have consistently been seeing?  How likely for a majority to dominate a minority?

For those of us in leadership positions, it calls for a significant reinvention of how we go about leading.  It requires constantly giving up control and encouraging autonomy.  It requires recognizing that the people we are leading may know more, more often, about more things than we ever have experienced.  It means that the “command and control” structures of leadership we have been mostly raised to admire must be replaced with more inclusive forms of stewardship, in which the role of the leader is one of facilitation even more than directing.  After all, what happens when leaders shove their decisions down the throats of those who are being led?  Do we think in this day and age the dissension will just go away?  Or will the spark be fanned on a computer discussion group somewhere and pop up on another day, in another way?

We have an opportunity to learn to create a greater sense of Organizational Community within our businesses, schools, community structures, and governmental institutions.  A true appreciation of the interconnectedness of the various stakeholder groups that we interact with, and a greater sense of inclusiveness so that all people can contribute to the greater good.  More and more people, including some of the clients we’re working with, are proving that these kinds of organizations can thrive, even while others are struggling.

The world will not be “quieting down.”  In fact, it is likely to continue to become more chaotic.  Those of us who lead organizations and governments will have a hard time letting go of our habitual ways of leading and interacting.  Some of us may fall to the wayside.  Some of our organizations and governments may do the same.

But those who survive will have to decide how we manage that chaos.  Do we fight against it and create upheaval and more conflict, or do we take more of an Aikido approach, creating “chaordic” structures that provide just enough order around the chaos to keep us focused on the needs of the future.  How well will we be able to internalize the revolution that is happening outside of us?

It is not too grandiose to say that the fate of humanity may rest in the answer to that question.

Uniting in Community and Commonality to Fight Oppression

by Howard J. Ross, Founder & Chief Learning Officer

Last week I was in Copenhagen to give a diversity related speech about the impact of globalism and culture on our future. My 16-year-old son Jake joined me. We arrived for the weekend and our friends, Buffy and Jacob Illum, took us to a little town called Gillileje, north of Copenhagen on the northeastern-most shore of Denmark.

In October of 1943, Gillilje was one of the key places where the Danish rescue of the Jews began.

For those who are unfamiliar, Denmark was the only country in Europe, with the exception perhaps of England, during World War II, in which the populace collectively conspired to resist oppression, and protect their fellow citizens from the Nazis. With the results that while 60-70% of European Jews were killed, 99% of Danish Jews survived.

The key element of this was the boat lift. In October of 1943, the Danish resistance found out that Hitler had ordered the Danish Jews to be arrested and deported. In other words, exterminated. In a matter of days, Danish citizens hid their Jewish neighbors, and then organized a rescue in which 8000 Jews were taken safely to Sweden over the Oresund Strait in everything from fishing boats to kayaks.

In Gillileje, where 80 people were killed by the Nazis while attempting to escape, we saw one of the boats that has been preserved as a monument, and in it mannequins to represent the people. Tucked into the hold, or huddled on the deck. Carrying their entire life’s possessions in a small suitcase. Having to leave everything they have known. As I stood on the shore, my feet on the very spot that some of them may have stood as they boarded a boat to their safety, I was struck by two things.

The first was a profound sadness that we as human beings are capable of hurting and being hurt so much. That we have a capacity for true darkness. And that darkness has regularly descended upon us throughout history, in Nazi Germany, but also in Rwanda, in Turkey, in Cambodia, in Bosnia, in the Middle Passage, and on the North American Continent. We have to always remember what we are capable of.

And yet, the second thing that struck me was far more impactful. Look what good we are capable of. A community of people comes together in defiance of, arguably, the most frightening military presence of the 20th Century, to protect their neighbors. They did it because their neighbors were a part, not an adjunct, to their community. It is said that when the Nazis approached King Christian X and pressed him on his plans to deal with “the Jewish problem,” the King responded, “we have no Jewish problem.”

What else are we capable of if we see ourselves as a true community instead a collection of separate people?

One Dream Fulfilled, Another Dream Deferred

by Howard J. Ross, Chief Learning Officer

There are times when history takes simple acts of decency and pragmatism and, because of the context in which they happen, frames them as courageous and momentous. Such was the case when slavery was finally outlawed. Such was the case when civil rights were finally legally granted in the 1950’s and 1960’s. It is times like before those events that we often look back at from the future and say, “What, on Earth, were we thinking?” This afternoon we passed another such moment when the United States Congress finally passed a bill repealing Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.

The rationale for overturning this disastrous policy is obvious. Aside from the clear moral inconsistency of asking men and women to fight and die for our country but not be able to be honest about whom they are, and of asking them to overtly lie while also taking an oath of honesty and integrity, the policy has been terribly unpractical.

As a result of it, the military has lost more than 14,000 soldiers, pilots, medics, translators, engineers, scientists, etc. at a time when we desperately need qualified, committed people in the military. Repealing this law was just logical. And freedom and equality, despite John McCain’s demagoguery, is not a “liberal issue.” But, of course, this law never had anything to do with logic. It was about fear and hate. That’s what inspires people to ignore data, ignore military leaders’ recommendations, and to lead a filibuster against the entire military funding bill rather than to grant basic rights to “those people.”

And, lest we rest too easily, we were reminded of that same kind of thinking when, on the same afternoon, the Senate refused to pass the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act (the DREAM Act) which would have provided the opportunity to earn conditional permanent residency to some deportable students who arrived in the U.S. without documentation as minors but have been in the country continuously and are of “good moral character,” if they complete two years in the military or two years at a four year institution of higher learning.

In other words, because this bill was filibustered, a baby brought here by his or her parents, who has grown up here, went to school, pledged allegiance to the flag every day, has been a good citizen, a good student, and a good neighbor, can still be deported, even though he or she has never known another home.

We still have a long way to go. The DADT law still needs to be signed by the President and enforced throughout the military. Remember, it took years before the Brown vs. The Topeka Board of Education ruling actually became operable throughout the United States.

But for tonight let’s celebrate one more step in the right direction. Let’s lift a glass in appreciation and gratitude to the legislators who refused to quit, and, to activists like my friends at the Human Rights Campaign, PFLAG and others who have relentlessly pursued the American Dream for ALL people.

Most of all, let's salute all of the soldiers who have been so deeply patriotic and committed to their country and our safety and freedom that they have continued to serve in the face of overt, legalized bigotry. And then tomorrow, how about a conversation about Marriage Equality?

When "They" Becomes "We" -- The Human Spirit Triumphs

by Howard J. Ross, Chief Learning Officer

 

In times of tumult, how wonderful it is to have a remarkable story to celebrate. But the rescue of the 33 Chilean miners, particularly over the past two days, is much more than a simply story of beating the odds.  Faced with insurmountable obstacles.  Buried deeper than any other miners in history.  Left for 17 days with three days of food before they were found.  Stuck for 70 days in 90-degree temperatures in the middle of the earth.

Their families moved into the desert for 10 weeks so they could be nearest to their loved ones.  Rescue workers and support came from around the world.

The miners survived because they pulled together.  They survived because they remembered that they were not individuals but a community.  They survived because their families, their country, and, in fact, the whole world refused to give up on them. 

They survived because for this brief period of time, “they” became “we.”

They survived because when human beings put aside our selfish pursuits and pull together it is astonishing what we can accomplish.

Let’s hope that this time that lesson lasts for more than a few days.  Heaven knows that we can use it.

Yes, of course there are issues that demand action.  The lack of safety in the mine is indicative of how loose and callous we can be with the lives of the people who do the most dangerous work for us.  That reality will still need to be addressed as this incident is analyzed.

But for now, let’s celebrate this triumph of the human spirit.  A reminder of what is possible when we remember that we are “we.”

Chi! Chi! Chi! Le! Le! Le!