Mind-sets are key to adapting to global change
June 4, 2009
By Joe van Staden
The current economic recession might turn out to be severe enough to force us into a long overdue mind-set shift about our world. Imagine going to Rome in 400AD. There you meet Claudius at the Colosseum. You get talking about the state of the Roman empire.
At some point in the conversation, you say to him: "In case you haven't noticed, the fat lady has started singing."
In puzzled tone, he asks what you mean, to which you reply: "I mean Rome, the empire, it's coming to an end."
At first he thinks you are joking, then he realises you are serious. "Where does this guy get such a ridiculous notion?" he mumbles as he turns his back on you.
Back in the 21st century, the response from the average citizen in Western culture is likely to be the same if told that our way of life was on its way out. Yes, people will admit that things are tough and likely to get worse before they get better, but to say it is the end of Western civilisation - isn't that going a bit far?
Simple question: why should Western civilisation be any different in this regard from all the great civilisations which have gone before? It isn't. Great empires of the past were just as caught up in their own accomplishments as we are today in our unprecedented technological achievements.
Whether the global economic collapse signals the end of a lifestyle we are accustomed to is debatable. But technology on its own is not the elixir many believe it to be, nor will trillions of dollars thrown at the problem solve it. Neither addresses the actual cause of our troubles - mind-set.
Many would say it was impossible to predict that the Titanic's course would be fatal. This view can be compelling. Others would argue that such a probability could have been foreseen.
Whatever the view, mind-set plays a determining role. In other words, it was the mind-set of the Titanic's builders, its owners, the captain and crew members that primarily led to the disaster. Mind-set was behind all errors in judgment, beginning with the belief that she was unsinkable. Then there were the design and safety features (too few lifeboats), interpretation of the environment and evaluation of other information. How those in charge interpreted their world was the actual cause.
Out of touch
The degree to which mind-set is out of touch is the degree to which it is dysfunctional. There would have been no Titanic disaster were the mind-sets of all those concerned adequately in touch with prevailing circumstances.
Events leading to the current recession are the result of actions taken by people responding to their world as they saw and experienced it, which, was in turn, determined by their mind-sets.
The prevailing mind-set determines how we see our world. How we see our world determines how we experience it, which in turn determines our behaviour.
Generally speaking, great civilisations and empires (empires of the imperial as well as corporate kind) are created, they endure and then decline. Empire builders are responsible for creation; consolidators see to sustainability; and the heirs of empire, more often than not, bring about its decline.
What distinguishes each group is a sense of ownership. Builders and sustainers of an empire tend to have a greater sense of ownership and responsibility. Those who merely reap the benefits tend to take their inheritance for granted.
In the end, an empire's creation, endurance and decline is a matter of attitude.
It's not inevitable that people who inherit the family business, for example, will run it into the ground. There are many instances where the next generation takes the enterprise further than its founders imagined. But this requires the heirs to adopt the perspective of builder or consolidator.
Typically, heirs take more than they give. To be a builder or consolidator requires that one gives more than one takes, which is not limited to material things. Giving can be as complex as finding a cure for HIV/Aids or as simple as making those we come in contact with feel good.
A most relevant question humanity needs to answer today is: do we want to sustain Western civilisation? Maybe, deep down, humanity simply isn't motivated to save a world in which the main benchmark is money. The point is, no amount of money will significantly improve matters. What happens depends on how we view our world.
As American essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson said: "Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything."
Stuck in the box
Considering how often people are told to change their mind-set, one would think there was a clear description of what mind-set is. When people describe mind-set they refer to the symptoms of a particular type of mind-set, without saying what it is.
Mind-set is essentially an orientation mechanism of the mind. People are often advised to "think out of the box". However, in practice, this isn't possible. We may shift to a different box, a bigger box or more comfortable box, but a box - a point of view or a frame of reference - can't be escaped. A box or mind-set is fundamental to being in touch with a changing world.
Centuries ago, sailors used the position of the sun and the stars to guide them. Without points of reference, they could easily get lost. So it is in life: without values, beliefs, identity, we become disoriented. The purpose of mind-set is orientation.
Adequate orientation is essential for us to focus and function. However, in a changing world, no frame of reference can be relied on indefinitely. Where the benchmarks or beacons are held on to beyond their "use by date", the mind-set becomes dysfunctional. Sometimes it's difficult to let go of beliefs, values and assumptions confining us to an outdated mind-set.
The world as we know it will inevitably change. The North Star served as a beacon to mariners in the northern hemisphere. Once they ventured south of the equator, they had to let go of the North Star.
The information age has made us info dependent at the cost of intuition and direct contact with the world. Some of us Google the weather rather than stick our heads out the door and see for ourselves.
We are in a time where to undo, unlearn and let go is fast becoming a greater virtue than doing, learning and acquiring. The deluge of information rooted in materialistic realism, in spite of having opened many doors, has shut quite a few - not least of which is our connection with our intuitive and spiritual self.
Information begins to age the instant it is conceived; intuition is always new and now. We need a balance between the two.
People who changed our world for the better weren't held captive by the information to which they where exposed. Invariably, they were astute observers, undoubtedly well informed and highly intuitive.
From humanity's current perspective, the problems facing global society are daunting. Yet, ironically, our morbid view of our world is largely responsible for the world being the way it is. By changing the way we look at it, we can change our experience of it and how we respond to it. But before we can do that, we need to let go of certain fixed assumptions and ideas. Had we been in touch with the world, we would not be in such a pickle today.
We, the heirs of the modern world, have a choice. If we want this civilisation to not only survive but become more than its builders ever imagined, a global mind-set shift is required. A functional mind-set and not trillions of dollars will develop a sense of ownership and responsibility for our world. This will take exceptional leadership.
We can proactively begin to change how we see our world by focusing more on what we want rather than on what we don't want.
Joe van Staden is a Mindset Management consultant
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