Change is Possible, But We're Doing It Wrong

There is a great outpouring of emotional messages here on LinkedIn since Putin decided to attack Ukraine. Many beautiful messages of moral support for our fellow humans, and also fundraising and other initiatives to help the families caught up in this latest drama. It's crazy after everything we've been through over the last two years, to watch fathers saying goodbye to their families fleeing the country. We can see very clearly how we've become far more caring and sensitive than we were before the pandemic. We have definitely begun a very significant new stage in our human evolution.

We can see very clearly how we've become far more caring and sensitive than we were before the pandemic.

But a few weeks ago none of us were thinking too much about the people of Ukraine. Look what a dramatic event we need to think about the wellbeing of others somewhere on the other side of the world. This is precisely what's wrong with our world. We need these major external events force us to come out of our shell.

We talk about conscious leadership so much on this platform, but right now we're getting a live example. The silver lining of this disaster is definitely Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a leader with an exceptionally high level of emotional intelligence that we've never seen in a politician before. This is true leadership in action.

Change is Possible Yuval

Yuval Harari's commentary on the situation introduces a 'fundamental question' about the nature of humanity - IS CHANGE POSSIBLE?

"AT THE HEART of the Ukraine crisis lies a fundamental question about the nature of history and the nature of humanity: is change possible? Can humans change the way they behave, or does history repeat itself endlessly, with humans forever condemned to reenact past tragedies without changing anything except the décor?" Yuval Noah Harari, The Economist

Yes Yuval, change is possible - but we're doing it wrong. We wait for these disasters to come and shake us out of this illusion that nothing is required of us. Whether it's the virus, a huge natural disaster somewhere in the world, or this attack on neighboring country. Why at this point in our evolution do we need these wakeup calls? Why can't we actively work on boosting our emotional intelligence i.e. caring and sensitivity for the rest of the world, on a regular basis? Why don't we understand that this needs to be embedded into every aspect of our society? There is so much talk but these changes need to take place on us - and I mean all of us.

A war is the most extreme example of a lack of connection. So we need to strengthen the connection between us to put out the fires of hate and division between us. If we really want to we can put out the fire of war everywhere. That is something worth fighting for.

From this point forward, instead of sitting and waiting for the next big wakeup call, we can all begin to consciously improve how we think about our fellow man - whether that's a co-worker, a neighbor, or a total stranger on the other side of the world. We're starting to understand that we're all in this together and need to care about everyone to have a good life here. We've all gotten a lot smarter about how interconnected our world is, but now we need to accelerate this learning process we're all going through together - and we need to be fully conscious of this process. The most important point here is that none of this will come naturally because our ego is always pulling us in the opposite direction. So we're going to have to keep each other focused on this common goal. There is a method for that - the integral method based on examples from nature.

As we progress in this direction we'll start to understand how the only purpose of this war and all the other disasters is to awaken us to fix our broken connections in society.?

As we progress in this direction we'll start to understand how the only purpose of this war and all the other disasters is to awaken us to fix our broken connections in society. We'll start actively participating in events that strengthen our connection on a daily basis and watch everything around us calm down.

The Real War

The real culprit in this sad situation is the growing human ego in our time. We still don't understand how it works and what its purpose is. There’s no problem with the growing ego. The only problem is that we don’t have the positive force to counteract it. We don’t know how we can use good and bad forces to balance each other out. Until we get on board with this learning process we're all still at the mercy of the untamed ego, which knows no bounds.

There’s no problem with the growing ego. The only problem is that we don’t have the positive force to counteract it.

Fear of Losing Ourselves in the Process

We think that letting go of our 'I' will be the end of us, but we're going to have to learn to get over that together. Because just the opposite is true. Once we break free into the vast space beyond the ego, we'll discover additional emotional influences in our environment that can enrich us. This is precisely where we find our true selves, by learning to connect with others in an optimal way. We'll actually discover our 'I' in general mutual framework. But in the meantime all our additional skills (beyond the 3-4% of our brain that we're using) are dormant and waiting to be released. We all have the power to enrich each other but we won't get that daily boost of EQ until we let go of our old ways. I know it all sounds very scary but it's really only a psychological shift, from focusing on ourselves to thinking of others.

I know it all sounds very scary but it's really only a psychological shift, from focusing on ourselves to thinking of others.

We keep insisting on focusing on our own pleasure - this is simply a childish attitude causing all the problems and wars in our world. Thinking about how to please ourselves all day long is no way to truly succeed and develop in the 21st century. We're running in circles all day and getting nowhere. Leaders have to answer employees' needs and questions, have to figure out how to operate in this new hybrid stage, have to worry about cyber attacks, adjust their whole business to suit government guidelines, and the list goes on and on - running a business these days is like walking a tight rope. And we all agree to this state of affairs. Don't we ever stop and think that maybe there's more to life? And if the answer is yes, where is it?

This whole situation should awaken us to the fact that we can all do better. The only solution to this war between Russia and Ukraine is to rise above our egos and unite. Since at the end of the day, it is only the ego that sets the tone in this conflict. Some VIPs sit in a room deciding the fate of others and cannot hear anything apart from what their ego desires - power and control over others. Opening ourselves to others goes against the ego, and we still don't understand how beneficial this is for us. Because it is not revealed. We need to reveal it by ourselves through applying the integral method.

War On All Fronts

A war is a terrible state - it shows how outdated our human relationships are.

The business arena has become a war zone in our time where we're gradually wearing each other out - we're politely calling it the Great Attrition. Clearly this whole system needs a serious upgrade - ideologically, strategically, technically, all forms of promotion and communication - all of it needs an overhaul.

In this "war zone" we're continuing with the same attitude and old way of thinking - buying employees' loyalty rather than earning it. All people want is a pleasant environment to come to, where they can express their creativity. Young people especially have a point in them that already belongs to the new development, but it's only a point full of potential. It requires being developed in the correct manner. We need to create the right conditions for them to conquer new frontiers together. We still have no idea what they're capable of.

Transition of Economy From Negative to Positive

Most importantly. it will be impossible to have a thriving economy in an unstable world. At the moment we have an 'economy of crises' where we're all taking advantage of these disasters to make money. We're leveraging these negative phenomena such as hurricanes and wars to make more money. We need to switch the economy to a positive track. We don't need wars and natural disasters to boost the economy. It's fragile enough as it is, which indicates that it's not very healthy. A healthy economy is a stable economy. We're still hanging on to our old ways of doing business, even though we see it's causing major problems. So now is the time to reflect if it's really worth it.

Change is Possible

A war is the most extreme example of a lack of connection. So we need to strengthen the connection between us to put out the fires of hate and division between us. If we really want to we can put out the fire of war everywhere. That is something worth fighting for.