Thursday, July 19, 2012

Apparently we don't really want freedom of opinion

Freedom of Speech, Expression and Opinion is something mankind seems too ill-equipped and too immature to have.

We will shout what we think, and pan widely all which does not agree, never opening up a fair discussion. 
We mistreat our freedom, by insulting, threatening others with different opinions, dismissing their arguments, basically taking away the freedom of opinion from our opponents. We actually are not interested in freedom of everyone’s speech, just our own. We want the certainty that other people hear us and do as we say accordingly.

We also apparently are not interested in taking responsibility for what we say. What we say is more important than what (bad) things might happen after. And if something bad does happen, suddenly we marginalize what we said in the first place: we didn’t expect things to escalate in such a way, or it wasn’t meant this way, or it was misinterpreted etc. 

We don’t take the time to form well-formed arguments. A tendency that grows, the more information we have to digest on a daily basis: there’s simply less time to think about and verbalize an argument. Some discussions touch real fundamental topics, which require a significant amount of time to fully constitute. However now we can hardly spend 140 english alphabet characters to form an argument. So the only thing people can do now is 1) make statements instead of arguments, and 2) make ‘em loud and controversial in order to stand out among the myriad other messages that are launched into the ether.



True freedom of opinion means having the opportunity to form your own opinion and continuously do so. The objective is not to convert as many people to follow your opinion, but to gather and exchange as much information, experience, and opinion as possible, arguing fairly, justly, with dignity and class to shape yours accordingly. 


True freedom means not being forced into having one or another opinion, but getting to one naturally through your own thought process and/or value system. True freedom is also growing, maturing, contributing, experiencing and living lives, and all the while having opportunities to change minds, yourself and others.


Until we understand freedom of speech, expression and opinion in this way, and remove ourselves from the damaging behaviours we exhibit (not taking responsibility, not opening discussions, not having good and fair discussions), I don't see we are mature enough as a species to have this at all. In fact, we probably don't want it in the first place.

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Personalities I'm looking for in my team

The personality traits I seek (and gravitate towards) in people are very much the same as those that I seek in athletes: class, dignity, and sportsmanship; gratitude, humility, and the ability to display confidence without showing arrogance. I very much like athletes who understand their place in the big picture, appreciate it and embrace it. I like athletes  fighting back in the face in the face of adversity, I like scrappy.


Now of course there are athletes that are better than their peers by miles. The Michael Jordans, the Roger Federers, the Tiger Woods's, the Michael Schumachers, the Lance Armstrongs of the world. Superstars with laser-like focus on perfection, religious dedication to their craft, and supreme superhuman talent. In short, excellence and dominance beyond belief. 


I recognize this kind of excellence, but only the very elite few will ever reach it. These are the people whom you expect will succeed, and win all the time. These are the people who set the example, who blaze the trail, who take the lead. But these are not the people that make up the bulk of your team. 


Call me charitable, but I am a bigger supporter of the scrappy athlete, because the general population can relate more to him. And a victory seems to mean more to them than to the superstars (even though that might not be true), because they can only get so many opportunities to get one.


And in work and in life, I think it is the same. I know the people who are truly masters and zealots of their domain win more often than not, but I will never have a team consisting of only Steve Jobs's. These people are singular for a reason and therefore not hard to find. It's the dignified, quietly confident, humble, and scrappy people that you need in your team, but take the longest to find and the hardest to develop.