The most compelling challenge of our times (Part I)

"We are all functioning at a small fraction of our capacity to live life fully in its total meaning of loving, caring, creating, and adventuring. Consequently, the actualizing of our potential can become the most exciting adventure of our lifetime" H. Arthur Otto

Realizing and working towards our purpose and true potential is the overarching and most compelling challenge of our times. People, committed to the quest of their purpose and potential, working relentlessly to achieve higher levels of self-realization, deserve to be called Exceptional People in the search for their Growing-Self.

We have reached impressive levels of technological advancements. Well-known theories have been challenged, thus creating new theories. The dismantlement of the former knowledge system and apparatus and the means to reach this knowledge have created a new set of principles and values that allow anyone, anywhere, to have access to information, and create more knowledge.

Our cities have developed at speeds never seen before. New economies have emerged and changed our approach to geopolitics. The world is changing and moving so fast that for any generation it is difficult, nearly impossible, to keep up with the latest advancements.

The big deal with this high and chaotic pace is that our brains are seeking to be more and more effective amid the gigantic amount of activities to be performed. By pursuing this highly effective tempo, our brains enter a zone in which the behaviors are more robotic, less conscious and less purpose-oriented. Charles Duhigg, in The Power of Habit considers that “one a habit emerges, the brain stops fully participating in decision-making. It stops working so hard, or divert[s] focus to other tasks. So unless you deliberately fight a habit – unless you find new routines – the pattern will unfold automatically.”

So, we are confronting the decision of either exploring, finding ourselves, our purpose and our true potential and, at the end, our Growing-Self; or keep doing what we robotically do on a regular basis and losing our true north.

If we choose the first, we are called to change our habits. Instead of spending our energy in meaningless and robotic activities, we need to invest our vitality in exploring ourselves to discover and unveil our purpose, our true potential and expressing them.

Another downside of the fast pace at which everything is happening comes at a huge price: humans are too busy, compromising, or even sacrificing, our individual space. By losing this individuality, we basically lose who we are and our vitality. We need to dedicate energy and time to exploring who we really are, discovering ourselves in the light of our past and future, and weighing our current contributions against our purpose, long term professional and personal goals.

It is paradoxical, but by having time to explore who we are and our true potential, we prepare ourselves for a reality that is characterized by constant and vertiginous changes. We don’t turn our backs to change and a fast pace moving world. On the contrary, we dedicate the energy not just to cope with change, but to be its protagonists. This requires learning and creating knowledge, which could only come in two ways or in their combination: collective growth, which occurs through collaboration, and/or individual learning, which occurs in solitude. Both are craving for time.

In our busy society, finding the balance between day to day activities and longer term aspirations (Growing-Self, purpose, and professional and personal goals) is increasingly more difficult. There is a missing link connecting the “what we do” to the “why we do it.” Even worse, there is a lack of self-awareness of whether the “what we do” is what we should be really doing. It seems that there is no time for such questions, because we are mainly focused on the short term and our perspective on the important is blurry.

At the organizational level, the problem is very similar. The question of “what we do” and the “why we do it” can also be asked in organizations that are focused on doing the things right, but don’t ask themselves whether those are the right things to do. In their book “Leaders: Strategies for taking Charge”, Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus say that “the problem with many organizations, and especially the ones that are failing, is that they tend to be overmanaged and underled. They may excel in the ability to handle the daily routine, yet never question whether the routine should be done at all… Managers are people who do thing rights and leaders are people who do the right thing. The difference may be summarized as activities of vision and judgment – effectiveness – versus activities of mastering routines – efficiency”.

How are you dealing with the dilemmas between efficiency and effectiveness? How are you working towards exploring and discovering your Growing-Self? How is your organization connecting the "what they do" to the "why they do it"?

About the Author: Enrique Rubio is an HR Professional at the InterAmerican Development Bank. He is an Electronic Engineer and Master’s Degree in Public Administration. Enrique writes about leadership and HR, and he also an ultrarunner.

Twitter: @erubio_p

Read more:

Are you and your organization in Constant Learning and Change (Part I)?

What makes a genius a genius? (Constant Learning and Change (Part II))?

Are you Purposefully Supporting and Challenging your Team?

The most compelling challenge of our times?

Breaking Frontiers: how far can we go to achieve our purpose?