The Year in Conflict. . . (No Really)
Overwhelmed yet with list upon list of the BEST of 2009? the Worst? Seen enough photos of those who have left us? Or those who have simply left us less well off – be they politicians, business people, celebs or sports figures?
Because of my few years living in Japan, I have always had a slightly more reverential relationship to the New Year than many of my friends and colleagues. Today at around 11:00 AM I realized the gongs of the Temples in Japan were beginning their 108 soundings to conclude at Midnight. This drove me again to sit and think…about what I do and why…and also what I do not do…
And once again…the filter, or focusing lens of conflict came to me…
Thinking about the conflicts that emerged over the last year that mattered and impacted me – some well dealt with, many not, and others still beyond my capacity to effect – it became clear to me that I have much to do in the New Year. Wonder if the exercise of examining your year from the veiwpoint of conflict would be of use?
A year ago, one relatively orderly competition/conflict had ended, and while it offered great promise to many, it also clearly lead to significant enduring conflicts that have not gone well throughout 2009. I am of course referring to the election of Barack Obama and the year in politics that has followed. It is no secret that I was a supporter of Mr. Obama, was active in the campaign and even considered joining the administration. Looking at the year in politics, and the acrimony, the struggle, and the ebb and flow, even as a supporter, it is easy to say, the election did not in anyway “resolve” a conflict of opinion. It may have in fact only sharpened the edges of it.
The performance of the Congress and Senate, the behavior of its membership – whether Joe Wilson’s noted accusation in a joint session, or the hundreds of thousands of exchanges in committee rooms and hallways that go far less reported – conflict in the leadership functions of our nation is INCREASING, and unfortunately not being well dealt with – BY ANYONE.
While there are many who would say we are becoming a much more collaborative culture, I would have to ask us to pause on that opinion and think about it. That is not what we see in Government Leadership, Politics more widely, Business, or most places I fear. Lindsay Graham, who is my Senator, but not someone I generally agree with, has been censured, cursed, and vilified in his own state, by his own political party, for fundamentally attempting to collaborate with John Kerry. I called his office for the first time not long ago to express my support for him in this regard. I for one do not see how we do not do better when we communicate, explore options, and consider ways forward TOGETHER across differences; be they political, racial, cultural, religious, or other.
Emerging from the political fracas of the year have been those voices that say competition is the right way forward. Some argue for that in the marketplace, or in the social marketplace of ideas, faith and ideology. The problem I have with that mind set is simply that competition largely is a drive to uniformity. I know I have suffered in the business marketplace because from airlines to banks and beyond competition has in fact driven OUT service and choices. And in the course of human history we have never seen competition among cultures lead to peace, productivity, or an ongoing singularity of thought. Why any one believes a “war on terror” can be won, or that a religious tradition, ANY religious tradition can be brought to secondary position of any other is beyond me.
It is my hope in the New Year, to do much more in this space to examine, discuss, and consider the concept of collaboration, and the general principal that managing our conflicts – of all levels and types – offers greater benefit than any of us know.
And with that in mind, I intend to start, with me. How can I do better with those challenges I face…
Here is to a brave new year.
John W. Zinsser
Pacifica Human Communications, LLC.
Conflictbenefit.com
