Thursday, July 25, 2013

II. Future vision, present action (cont.)



In a study of 21 extinct civilizations, the great 20th century historian, Arnold Toynbee, found two factors in all of them - the concentration of wealth and property in the hands of the few, and the inability to make the necessary changes in time. The world is sick and sorely needs wise and courageous leaders.
Even with all these clear warnings, many insist on applying different versions of the insufficient and old mechanistic view of reality in an attempt to evade or postpone the difficulties. This approach, however partial and limited, as theorized by such greats as Sir Isaac Newton, Sir Francis Bacon, René Descartes and more modern administration ‘saints’ as Frederick Winslow Taylor, is terribly alive. It seems incredible that 80 years later that the implications of quantum physics shattered classical thought, many still think the world of objects and people is a linear and static system made of small, solid blocks that can be observed and therefore controlled in a perfectly predictable way. The basic flaw of this old paradigm is to think that by understanding things we can impose order on them. The slightest tremor of the earth shatters this illusion.
If we stopped to appreciate the dynamic complexity of the system in which our lives and assets are invested, we could learn a great lesson, especially in these days of apocalyptic predictions: it is much better to be prepared for whatever comes than to meticulously plan for an uncertain future.
It's time to stop pretending that we can continue without being sensitive to needs of our planet. The only utopia is in fact to believe that we can move towards a better future without making fundamental changes in the way we think and do things.
Much is said about the power of thought to change the direction that the individual in a complex world, but the power of will is stronger still. When this power is aligned to our innate potential, it becomes irresistible.

(excerpt from the book "O Espírito do Leader, Vol. 1', Ken O´Donnell, Editora Integrare, São Paulo)

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