The future is in our hands.
The first of a series of articles exploring tools and mindsets adopted by Resourceful Humans.
How the heritage of humanity and pluralism can help guide us into the unknown.
As we approach new horizons to deal with Covid -19 and other known unknowns, as well as challenges completely unknown, and in a state of societal shock; critical decisions are being made by policy makers, corporate, institutional and political leaders as well as citizens- some are willingly made others are forced. Some will choose to deploy resources in one direction over another to deal with a post Covid-19 reality, just as they have with Covid-19 itself. Perhaps you are one of these leaders? Or you might be resigned to be the eventual recipient of the effects of those decisions as a citizen. Or you feel able to act and are deciding what exactly to do as a citizen.
What follows is a reflection on the significance of where we find ourselves and what we can do to navigate forward wisely. This is part of a series of articles on this newsletter aimed at leaders and citizens identifying tools and frames that we collectively need to keep in mind to make sure we don’t increase the dangers ahead through our own actions.
Trillions of dollars and human hours are being committed within a very short space of time by organizations that span all sectors and scales. These decisions will determine what our collective vectors are going to be for a number of generations. Decision makers and perhaps you, have a choice in this moment; deploy resources according to tired ideologies, and listen to counsel that preaches the ways of yesterday or make the pieces of this broken world fall where they must and decide the vector (magnitude and direction) by drawing the very best of what we know from the heritage of humanity and integrate it with a pluralistic mindset. Both are critical tools and mindsets that guide Resourceful Humans.
The Resourceful Humans will draw on pluralistic principles, making sure a diversity of thought and perspective feeds into the process to prevent GiGo (Garbage in and Garbage out) and ensure good decisions are made. Pluralism, that idea of expecting, including and making sure diverse voices are listened to leads to more robust processes in the face of the unknown. A good process is important since Covid-19 has been proven to be an accelerant for a number of trends as well as a disruptor in a way that was un-anticipated. Are you as a leader or as a citizen making it a cornerstone of your actions to insist on diversity in those surrounding you and your leadership teams? Are you also insisting on deep knowledge of the human story and past lessons as a fundamental check to inform decision making? By doing so you are buying insurance that the decisions being made will be better because different perspectives always lead to dialogue which leads to critical thought and better decisions.
The wise citizens and leaders amongst us will by adopting pluralism will be insisting on drawing on the heritage of humanity. The heritage of humanity can be thought of as the entire remembered and known legacy of the billions who have come before us over thousands of years from all over the world. This is at once a painful and glorious story on a grand scale. It is full of stories that can help leaders and citizens from all walks. The problems we are meeting today can be informed by how humanity has coped with challenges in the past.
At the risk of sounding dramatic, this is a singular moment in the human story. The same virus challenges us all. Albeit in different citizenship contexts and different leadership regimes. Some leaders and citizens are awake to the moment others are not. Some are in contexts where whey can have a semblance or illusion of control and others are completely at the mercy of dynamics beyond their immediate ability and aware of it or may not even be aware of it.
Responsible political, corporate and civic leaders as well as citizens feel the weight of this moment. Irresponsible leaders can be found out by the fact that they believe that things will go “back to normal”. However things are not going back. We are like a spring that has been stretched beyond its tolerances and it is deformed. Leaders who insist on making decisions with homogeneous teams that look, and think the same way are setting up their communities for failure. The world was as simple as it was ever going to get yesterday, today and tomorrow are going to be infinitely more complicated. Diversity and dialogue will allow for the possibility of good decisions in the face of volatility, complexity and ambiguity. Pluralism is the value claimed by true leaders where there is no precedent. They are acutely aware that diversity will lead to the appropriate humility that will allow the integration of the total heritage of humanity in a way that will allow us all to deal with unknowns. The road ahead is challenging.
A wise friend and a fellow Canadian -Camille Weleschuk- put it simply to me recently. “We can recover, rebuild, reimagine or we can recover, reimagine and rebuild.” This subtle difference has profound implications. Much in the same way that Human Resources vs Resourceful Humans are all about.
Did you catch that language play? Within it are dramatically different worldviews and perspectives. In this moment are you or or our leaders Human Resources yearning for known problems or Resourceful Humans boldly charting a path to understand known as well as unknown challenges ahead. If enough become of us adopt the ways of Resourceful Humans then we have a hope or building even better.
Found this useful? There will be more articles exploring this notion of a Resourceful Human and many others drawing on the vast heritage of humanity in the weeks and months ahead. Some will be part of a series others will be more contained. Think of this as a live and endless book unfolding before you. The heritage of humanity is full of wisdom past and present. Be sure to sign up for this newsletter and thank you for recommending it to others. Resourcefulhuman.substack.com thank you for reading.
Image Credit: Rahim Sajan. Canoe on the lake of all lakes. Lake Superior. Canada.