Reboot Alberta

Friday, November 20, 2009

"When Was the Last Time You De-Learned?"

Thinking about leadership and how different the challenges of the 21st century are from the 20th. Here is a piece I ran across from the Harvard Business Review that made me think even more. We have a vacuum in wise political leadership for sure in so many ways and at so many levels.


We also have a vacuum in business leadership too as elites become more distant and disconnected from the daily reality of ordinary people.

We need a renewed sense of citizenship and leaders with skills to deal with a more integrated consciousness so our institutions, society and culture can begin to cope with the complexity and growing urgency of the human and ecological condition.

Our institutions are anemic and we are dragged into diversions like the circuses of celebrity culture and the stylized rituals of reality show silliness. This is what our culture is offering us as a substitute and distraction so we can avoid facing up to the serious challenges of being human.

I am haunted by Chris Hedges words in his enormously provocative book "Empire of Illusion" when he says: "A culture that does not grasp the vital interplay between morality and power, which mistakes management techniques for wisdom, which fails to understand the measure of a civilization is its compassion, not its speed or ability to consume, condemns itself to death."

How much will we have to de-learn about the modernist and traditionalist mindset of our conventional culture before we can begin to grasp these progressive imperative for survival not merely sustainability?

Jared Diamond in his book “Collapse” list many contributing factors to social decay but what resonated with me was the dislocation between the short term interests of elites and the longer term concerns and needs of a society. Albertans are seeing a general rise in casual corruption, mismanagement and political inertia in the business and political elites in the province. Be it resource royalties or reclamation resistance by the energy sector or the indifference and ineptness of government to have the political will to enact and enforce laws for the greater good with a long-view politically.

Hedges notes these conditions, that are prevalent in Alberta today, “…almost always result in widespread cynicism, disengagement, apathy and finally rage. Those who suffer the consequences of this mismanagement lose any loyalty to the nation (province?) and increasingly nurse fantasies of violent revenge.”

One has to wonder just how far the average American is from this latter stage when you read headlines in the Globe and Mail Report on Business today “U.S. Housing Crises Hits New Levels.” Almost 1 of every 7 home owners in the States faces foreclosure, including many with good credit ratings.

This is happening while the Wall Street elites are back on the bonus track, gorging themselves using borrowed taxpayer money to pay the bonuses. Labour is still shedding jobs on Main Street. Politicians act like they are immune for a few years, until the next election. And companies like Goldman Sachs are on “image-repair missions.” They cancelled their Christmas Party this year to show their sincerity.

Such futile superficial gestures will do nothing to stop the criticism of Wall Street or to mitigate against the image of pure greed that still seems to be the primary motivation for the elites of the US financial sector.

According to Hedges this “…collapse is more than an economic and political collapse. It is a crisis of faith.” I wonder how this reality will play out in Canada and in Alberta in particular.

7 comments:

  1. In 1969, Kohlberg postulated the "Theory of Moral Development", based on his extensive research into how children, adolescents, and adults developed values of "moral responsibility". There are 3 levels of "moral development", each with 2 stages, and they are as follows:

    Level 1 - Pre-Conventional, which is focused on acting in response to punishment (or avoiding punishment)and is characterized by instrumental hedonism ("What's in it for me?" Or, "What will happen to me?") A totally egocentric approach to decisions and actions.

    Level 2 - Conventional, which is focused on actions based on the approval (or disapproval) of others that are important to me and is characterized by expecting authority to establish and maintain moral boundaries ("What do others expect of me?"). Decisions and actions based on what others will think of me.

    Level 3 - Postconventional - wherein decisions and actions are based on domocratically accepted law and principles of conscience ("What is best for all?". Decisions and actions based on principles of universality and the community good.

    According to Kohlberg's theory, most children, adolescents, and criminals, are at the preconventional level of moral development, most "respectable" adults are at the conventional level of moral development, and only a very few enlightened individuals reach the postconventional level of moral development.

    My experience and observations suggest there is considerable merit in Kohlberg's theory. And if one applies it to the current political/economic situation, one arrives at the same conclusions you have pointed out, Ken.

    It certainly appears that those on Wall St (and Bay St) are at the preconventional level; most of our political leaders (but certainly not all) are at the conventional level, and scattered throught this "wilderness" are those postconventional thinkers who see things in a much broader context.

    Certainly, as a follower of this Blog for a year or two now, I can see that you, Ken, are clearly attained a postconventional level of moral development (and likely did so many years ago). Reading the responses to many of your posts I see the same in many of the responders. And reading the posts on Reboot Alberta and the responses to most of them, I see that there are lots of folks out there (albeit still a small minority) that have achieved this level.

    But given the reality that the vast majority have not developed beyond conventional morality, the challenge is finding a way to achieve the level of authority (and moral suasion won't do it) to have a positive impact on the conventional and preconventional decisions and actions.

    I've come to the conclusion that my generation (baby-boomers) exemplifies some of the best, and most of the worst in terms of moral development. The egocentrism and hedonism has been unabated for 50 years. My only hope is that our children will be either rebelling against those preconventional and conventional morals, or (in those cases of having postconventional parents) and adiopting postconventional morality.

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  2. Just a thought about the great point Brad brings up on what is the way to have an impact on conventional and preconvential thinking? Maybe this is initially a marketing question rather than an issue of moral growth. Maybe a better word than "moral" should be used to describe the concept given how the word has been used in the past. In "Sibling Society" Robert Bly calls it being an adult.

    With the growing awareness that the traditional left/right political model is meaningless, multi-dimensional models are being developed by political scientists. Maybe another component should be added into how society evaluates people. Right now it is primarily wealth accumulation and power (or the illusion of it thanks to celebrity television) and then maybe academic or athletic accomplishment. Perhaps a third component should be added, the level of moral development.

    I don't know how one would make this attractive, because you usually don't make money trying to do what's best, if you are successful there is usually no recognition, and some people just think you are misguided or a troublemaker. I don't think it is impossible though. Our suvival as humans depended on living in tribes. We have a survival instinct to do what is best for the tribe, we just have to spark that instinct again. This brings up the need for an education system that stresses literacy and developing critical thinking skills.

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  3. Hi Albertagirl46, I am Kenchapman46 on Twitter. Are we related ;-). Thx for your comment and Brad's too. I strongly suggest you start reading the Reboot Alberta blog too.

    It is a gathering place for progressive thinking Albertans. www.rebootalberta.wordpress.com

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  4. You may be interested in this recent video of Chris Hedges, which is based on "Empire of Illusion":

    http://essentialdissent.blogspot.com/search/label/Chris%20Hedges

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  5. Thx Essental Dissent - I will definitely watch it. I appreciate the connection.

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  6. Anonymous10:44 pm

    I delearned, dejobbed and detoried when that dingdong Stelmach was elected. Why the PC Party backed that stumbling fool is beyond me.

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  7. Anonymous2:27 pm

    The last time I read your self-serving e-drivel?

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