The Power of And
The winds are starting to shift direction and the weather is unpredictable: snow in the morning, sun in the afternoon and overnight- well, it’s anybody’s guess what we’ll wake up to find. This is a good time of year to be reminded of the power of “and”.
Last week, I attended the Transpartisan Citizens Summit here in Denver (http://www.transpartisan.net). The essence of the sessions was learning to dialogue and collectively create an inclusive, multi-faceted and multi-sourced form of government. Participants represented a diverse group, from Greens and Libertarians to self-identified Conservatives. The power of the conversation was impressive, especially in those sessions where shared values far outweighed partisan differences. (visit www.transpartisan.wikispaces.com for more about the sessions and tools.)
At the same time the summit was taking place, Fast Company’s March issue appeared, highlighting the magazine’s pick for this year’s 50 most innovative companies. Here, too, the power of “and” is evident. The number one pick was Team Obama. We are all aware of how the now-president’s campaign team used cutting edge technology and media to reach out across the citizen spectrum and win. The number three pick, Hulu, offered an intriguing corporate example with NBC and Fox- theoretically rivals- joining forces to win a big segment of the on-line television viewing audience. The magazine notes “At a time when auto, banking and newspaper industries, among others, are facing problems too complex for any one company to solve, Hulu is a model of what’s possible when rivals work together and embrace disruptive technology.” (pg. 59). Other corporate innovators included Cisco, which is sharing leadership across the corporate sector and supporting individual units to act like start-up entrepreneurs. The reinvented IBM was applauded for its “Smarter Planet” vision which links a trillion networked objects worldwide to create “just in time solutions for major global challenges from energy to transportation, food, water, even health care and finance.”
The world is becoming more complex and, as Einstein noted, we can’t solve old problems with the same consciousness that created them. It’s time to move out of the rugged individualist model and start to put the power of “and” to work. This may require coming face to face with our own inner competing commitments (for example, to be the hero and to be part of the team). It might be fun to give up the fight and use the energy to generate a bigger solution.
