Reality-Based Community: Do Our Strengths = Our Downfall??

[pat_k]

Are you suffering from Foley fatigue? The following can provide a little break -- and hopefully some food for thought.
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A person's greatest strength can also be their greatest weakness. The same can be true of groups.

So, what about the reality-based community? (aka "our side," anti-fascists, or whatever your preferred label).

We value reason and rationality. We pride ourselves on being realistic and pragmatic. But as we fight for the soul of the nation, too often it is the things we consider our greatest strengths that render us impotent.

The Reality-Based Community's
Top Five Losing Tendencies

1. Pragmatism and "realism" that blinds us to the reality of infinite possibility;


2. Assumption that the limited resources we typically see in action are all we've got -- an assumption that blinds us to the nearly infinite resources we can tap into;


3. Focus on implementation and programs rather than broad principles and goals;


4. Idea-centric rather then people-centric thinking. Focus on systems, not people; reluctance to accuse/punish wrong-doers (and by extension, the groups those individuals represent); reluctance to personalize (condemning ideas, not the people who have adopted those ideas);
   
   Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people.
   -- Eleanor Roosevelt


5. Reluctance to assert absolute knowledge when we actually have all the facts we need;

To effectively re-claim our constitutional democracy and create a more perfect union, we must recognize how these tendencies immobilize us and undermine our efforts. When we understand the traps, we can strive to keep our counter-productive tendencies in check and to develop new perspectives and habits.

Saving Ourselves from Ourselves
Top Five Winning Habits:

1. Instead of only going for what our pragmatism and "realism" tells us we can get (and achieving far less than that), we need to cultivate the habit of going for the whole shebang. We need to take up the good fights, even if we "know" it will just be a "charge of the light brigade" (claiming to "know" the outcome isn't "realism" -- it is not rational to believe in our own omniscience);


2. Instead of believing we must be miserly in allocating resources from a limited "pot," we must recognize that the pot is effectively infinite. We can inspire countless individuals, countless conversations, and countless actions large and small when we are passionate in fighting for http://www.wordspy.com/words/BHAG.asp">BHAGS (big hairy audacious goals) and principle;


3. Instead of getting lost in "how to do it" and on "educating" the public about program details, we must back up and get clear about the broad principles and goals we are passionate about -- principles and goals that are reflected in those programs. It is principle and broad goals that inspire and drive a nation to find the means. We can keep our particular "hows" in our back pocket, but it is the "whats" that must be front and center.


4. Instead of focusing on "fixing the system" so it "doesn't happen again," when wrong-doers betray the public trust we must be willing to go after them personally. Government is a system, but it is a system driven by people. We will never "fix" the system if we don't back up words with proof that "this behavior will not be tolerated."


5. Instead of inserting unnecessary qualifications and caveats to every assertion, we need to boil things down to simple truths and moral principles; We must understand that there are in fact absolutes in life. More often than not, we know all we need to know, even if we don't think we know all there is to know.

A Message for Those Who are Thinking "Yeah, but. . . "
As you read the "Top Five Winning Habits." some of you thought "Yeah, but chaos will reign if we give up our strengths" or "Yeah, but we have to balance bold action and cautious realism" (or some similar worry that cultivating these winning habits would be a problem).

Those who have "Yeah, but. . ." worries need to remember this: Our strengths are deeply ingrained. For many of us, these tendencies are built into the fabric of our beings. The "beliefs" that guide our actions are, and will always be, theories we are constantly testing against reality. We will always evaluate the facts on the ground as we decide where to apply our efforts. We will always tend to be pragmatic and realistic. We will always tend to jump past broad brush strokes and zero in on details.

Because these tendencies are so deeply ingrained, the only way to "balance" them is by making a conscious effort to hold them check and to cultivate bolder ways. Our deeply ingrained tendencies will ensure that we don't "go too far" and start going off half-cocked.

[AX10]

1. Kick for others to see.

[pat_k]

2. Thanks! Kicks and Rec's much appreciated.