Shifts in Thinking continued
Today, in talking with a couple of clients, I know that we are at the beginning of transformation in thinking differently in the West. This either/or thinking has reached its own "Peter Principle." One could only think like this and survive in a simplistic world. The complexity, ambiguities and the uncertainties we face today require greater understanding of paradox, strategic agility and other skills that are not taught in most American schools. In Asia, this is common place as evidenced by yin/yang analogies. Everything is both/and not either/or.
What caused this simplistic view? Is it simply because we are a young country? Is it because we are economically driven as a culture which makes us think in black and white and quantitative terms? Or was it that we started out in survival mode through revolution and our natural tendency for flight or fight has remained even though the external environment has changed. What embedded systems prevail in America that makes this shift in thinking so radical when in other parts of the world, it is so common place?
posted by nancywolfberg @ 1:55 PM
1 Comments:
Nancy, your passion for thinking in ways that makes the world (and of course business) work shines in this post. I particularly appreciate your reference to yin and yang in the Asian perspective, knowing that yin matures into new yang. I look forward to your continuing thoughts about how our thinking patterns can change.
Do you know any examples in the U.S. that can serve as models for thought that deals well with complexity?
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