The Conversation

The Conversation

Whats more important at a given moment, keeping the conversation going or stifling it?

If the constitution were to be interpreted as the framers intended, then you would know that they were all about keeping the conversation going. Not about stifling it. However, the constitution speaks about ling term social issues not immediate crisis. In those instances more direct action is required.

The framers knew all to well that they could never solve all the problems we have today, but what they could solve was whether or not we talked about them. Examining problems. Debating. Bringing new information to light.

Even scientists fell into the religious trap in that late 1800s early 1900s when they began to claim something was correct because it was common sense. When Einstein released his proof on General Relativity, Special Relativity, and it lead to the discover of Quarks, the doctrine of common sense was thrown out the window. The conversations had to start again about, "Gaud playing with dice!" And, "Fuzzy action at a distance."

Some say that leadership is situational, because there are times that the conversation must go forward, or during crisis decisions must be made and executed. Do not mis interpret one situation for another. Nor, disown the conversation because it doesnt affect you. You may see things from your status as an observer very differently.

An example is the caravan walking through Mexico. Whether you think they should or shouldnt be let into the country, have you considered whether these people should be given food, aid, and shelter? And, should the US apply diplomatic pressure to the countries that they are fleeing from? And / or ask the UN to send in troops to stabilize the region so that people can conduct their daily business in peace?

A leader knows how to drive a conversation, bring people to consensus through mutual goals and motivations, and execute a plan.

But, if the constitution were to be amended do you think you or I would ever have a say in the process? Maybe a obligatory vote to appease us, but framers would do what they wanted and sell it to use with lots of promises, and then go back to the courts to interpret it.

1600 breaths continuous Breaths .. 100, 1600, 200 Speed .. 3.5, 6.0, 3.5 Bpm .. 86, 110, 165, 132 Miles .. .41, 4, .4, .5 ... 5.5 Time .. 7, 50, 9 Incline .. 2, -1.5, 0 Weight .. Bmi .. Muscle .. 35 Ive been eating more animal protean lately. Like 1 lb per meal. Im finding that my happiness comes more easily. This is probably due to less sugar diet.

Playing Till You Win the Game

The Super Mario Effect - Tricking Your Brain into Learning More | Mark Rober | TEDxPenn

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vJRopau0g0&t=331s

The clip above talks about reframing the problem into a game, and keep trying after every failure because you learned something. How many times does it take to win Super Mario, or some other game.  Getting a job is the same way.  With every job you apply for, what do you learn when you don’t get a response to your cover letter, or don’t get a call back for an interview, or fail a technical interview, or on and on and on ... 

What did you learn?

Diversity Statement

In reviewing diversity statements from individuals, universities and corporations, there was no common understanding of what diversity is, means, or accomplishes. Individual statements talk about their childhood experiences and struggles - poverty, alcoholic parents, single parents, poor schooling, poverty, … [Things described by the ACE test] Universities desire to make everyone feel safe and comfortable on their campuses. Corporations, focus on:

Leading and managing inclusively – embracing different cultures, ethnicities, genders and sexual orientations

Creating a work environment that fosters growth and advancement

Engaging with our audiences in a way that reflects and respects their unique perspectives and experiences

These descriptions provide no understanding of what the purpose of diversity is. This general lack of understanding and its importance by the populous as a whole leads me to believe that diversity is currently a buzz word used to placate, patronize, and segregate people through underhanded techniques of bait and switch.  

Charles Darwin’s, definition and purpose of genetic diversity, is:

[It is] important because it helps maintain the health of a population, by including alleles that may be valuable in resisting diseases, pests and other stresses. Maintaining diversity gives the population a buffer against change, providing the flexibility to adapt.

Does this definition apply to the human population?  A simple test using entropy would indicate that humans should be randomly distributed for the best genetic diversity.

Entropy states that given a random distribution in a closed system, the distribution will reach equilibrium [or equal spacing].

However, every random group of people will choose to clump together based on their similar and individual characteristics – gender, height, weight, eye color, hair color, ethnicity, speech patterns, personal habits, deformities, occupation, shared interests, and private classifications, like: orientation, history, upbringing, living environment, and learning disabilities.

Thus, humans don't follow the laws of ThermoDynamics. Nor, do they follow the laws of Genetic Diversity. Instead they tend to group based on the various characteristics described above.  Which allows a 3rd actor to engage the groups fears about "Others".  That "Others" are to blame for their unhappiness. That "Others" are affecting their inability to achieve their goals. That “Others” are taking their resources! And, that YOU!!! are better than the “Others”!   We have documented how 3rd party instigators glides between us in books and movies, to achieve their goals by dividing us through distracting us.

This 3rd actor doesn’t have to be the Devil.  For systematic discrimination to occur, it just needs 3 things: 1) human who feels that they are better than others, 2) a group of followers, and 3) for others to be to afraid to speak against the leader for fear of being labeled “Other”.

Systematic discrimination advances through majority approved measures, artificial boundaries and private agreements.  Schools can only receive funding from their districts. Poor neighborhoods will receive poor educations and have fewer chances to network, because they have to work harder to earn the same amount of money for the same benefit that those in better neighborhoods recieve. In addition, due to the stress of living in a poorer neighborhood the generational habitual habits of punative reward system will be passed down, creating inappropriate behaviorial responses to situations.  Roads, railroads, highways, water ways, or natural barriers are used to keep groups of people separated.  People of specific ethnicities are encouraged to group together into ethnic towns, and discouraged from migrating into other groups through peer pressure.  

Everyone considers this the norm, since it’s your choice to live and work anywhere you want.  Communities are supported with businesses catering to their specific needs and targeted marketing campaigns. It’s all well and good until it isn’t.  When someone chooses to break the social norms, self segregation and systematic discrimination fail the outcast.  A group of people who were favored but rejected and became “Other”.  These fallen angels move into poor neighborhoods and begin demanding that their children to have the same opportunities they did.  Then they sue to reverse the discrimination. Eventually the neighborhood is revitalized, gentrified, and occupied by the chosen, as this helps raise the property values for land owners, and pushes subversive elements farther from the chosen.

The problem with these two examples - Charles Darwin and Entropy – is that entropy assumes that a system stays in equilibrium as long as it is a closed system.  When Darwin looked at finches on various islands he found varieties of them, which raised a question, “Why?!?  What caused these different varieties to arise?”  His answer was that natural selection allowed the strongest to breed and reproduce, thus producing off spring that were better suited to the conditions of their environment.

What should have brought us closer to having equality, justice, and fairness, has been warped into meaning that the financially successful are the naturally selected superior beings, and thus should inherit the fruits of their forefathers.  While the less financially successful should wallow like pigs in what ever scraps the wealthy deem to leave us with. A few phrases the successful use, are: Divine Right of Kings, Gaud favors the fortunate, Gaud only helps those who help themselves … Or, Information is Power.

Thus neither of these definitions lead to the purpose of why diversity is needed.  If we assume that everyone is unique, then diversity is nothing more than a random sampling of the human population in a location, at a specific time, for different reasons, for the sole purpose of being breeding stock, and ignores all other external factors, because it’s a closed system.

Is it a closed system?  Another interpretation of Darwin’s answer concerned the problem that the finches were trying to solve. Their environments were moving, changing, evolving.  And, thus they needed to adapt or die out.  So, the finches without thinking about it, followed Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs:

Physiological: Oxygen, Food, Water, Sex, Sleep, Warmth

Safety: Protection, Security, Order, Law, Limit, Stability

Belongingness / Love: Family, Affection, Relationships

Esteem: Achievement, Status, Responsibility, Reputation

Self-Actualization: Personal Growth, Fulfillment

While these are individual needs, here are the corporate needs, where groups form and dissolve daily:

Physiological: an Employee, Product, Business Strategy, Funding, Work Space, Media

Safety: Revenue Streams, Employees, Steady Retention Rate, Office Space

Belongingness / Love: Employee Relations, Investors, Clients

Esteem: Brand Recognition, Partnerships, IPO, Press Coverage

Self-Actualization: Corporate Citizenship, Corporate Social Responsibility

While people form and dissolve groups regular in corporations, the major impediment that corporations face is communications.  Communications is how people talk about problems, share ideas on solving the problem, and reach consensus.

Elon Musk, discussed communications throughout Tesla (paraphrased):

Anyone at Tesla can and should email/talk to anyone else according to what they think is the fastest way to solve a problem for the benefit of the whole company. Moreover, you should consider yourself obligated to do so until the right thing happens.

Any manager who … [encourages the chain of command], will soon find themselves working at another company.

Jeff Bozes, discusses meetings:

If you've ever been in a meeting with too many people, you can understand the wisdom in [the two pizza meeting]. The larger the team, the greater number of opinions--and the more difficult it becomes to reach conclusions and make decisions. And if some of those many people just like to hear the sound of their own voice, your meetings are bound to be time-suckers.

What these two men are addressing are the reasons why people come together - problem solving!  If you’re not there to solve a problem, then you’re a 3rd actor. You are unnecessary to solving the problem and just taking up time.  What these two men don’t address is how diversity is used within their companies to improve problem solving.

In Ratatouille, by Disney and Pixar, Ego states, “Not everyone will become a great chef, but a great chef can come from anywhere!”  This, is similar to another statement, “The solution to a problem can come from anywhere and anyone!” Entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley are constantly disrupting what was considered traditional business practices, forcing large companies to rethink their business strategies.  These people are coming from all walks of life, and taking on the power elite corporate titans and forcing dramatic changes in established industries, that were well protected by laws and regulations.

Communication is both the key and the impediment to cooperation. In order to get rid of the 3rd actor and let the “Other” fade away, we need to change how we communicate with each other.

One of the earliest recorded actions of the 3rd actor is this:

And, Moses asked, "Gaud, how will we know thee, when you return?"  Gaud, responded, "You will know me when ... "

Why would Gaud choose to say this, “You will know me when ...” vs “Thou shalt not ...”.  The edit is no mistake, nor is it mine.  The second phrase implies how humanity should govern itself, and avoids answering Moses question.  The first version states how humanity must act before Gaud will return.  The edit was made by a 3rd actor because if everyone where to follow the 10 commandments as originally written, then the 3rd actor would be unable to manipulate groups of people, since there would be only 1 group of people.  Thus, by imposing rules, the 3rd actor, is able to bend people to his will through blame, shame, and guilt.

Treating each other respectfully though is not taught.  Whenever our Hero is triggered by their Protagonist, the Hero is told to take their problems through the chain of command, and that they will resolve the issue.  This however, disempowers both parties, and places the 3rd actor back in power.  Under traditional Human Resource Management protocol, both parties are separated, interviewed, and a resolution is brokered independent of each other.  This method disempowers both individuals because it doesn’t allow the Hero to stand up to and share how they were affected by the Protagonist.

Safe spaces are created when Protagonists are made aware that they are being watched, and that people they affect will be empowered to face them and share through reflection how the Protagonist affected the Hero, and what they wanted instead.  The Hero is encouraged to confront not only the current Protagonist of their story, but also the past Protagonists. In this situation, the Protagonist is made to face their actions directly, and see the costs directly.

In addition, a person has to become a Hero to themselves, before they can model the path to becoming a Hero to others.  When a Hero sees someone misbehaving, they ask them to reflect on their behavior and how it is affect others.  A Hero lets the Protagonist know what the consequences of these behavioral problems are.  And, when a Hero slips up, as they do,  they listen to what was wanted instead?  

You will know me when …

When you believe in yourself

When you remember that hard work hard requires rest

When you honor each other

When you don’t need to take life to feel safe

When cravings secede

When the distinction of “Other” fades away

Until then we will need to enforcing diversity.  Though, as I mentioned above, “diversity is currently a buzz word used to placate, patronize, and segregate people through underhanded techniques of bait and switch.” That bait and switch is executed in Human Resources, where the chain of command is followed out of fear of further legal retaliation and / or loss of future employment.

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Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) Questionnaire

https://www.ncjfcj.org/sites/default/files/Finding%20Your%20ACE%20Score.pdf

News Corp - Corporate Diversity Statements

https://newscorp.com/corporate-governance/corporate-diversity-statement/

Genetic Diversity & Evolution

http://maize.teacherfriendlyguide.org/index.php/genetic-diversity-and-evolution

Entropy

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entropy

Maslow's hierarchy of needs

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow%27s_hierarchy_of_needs

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Corporate Needs

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/abhishek-seth/maslows-hierarchy-of-corp_b_3756841.html

Elon Musk Describes What Great Communication Looks Like

https://www.inc.com/justin-bariso/this-email-from-elon-musk-to-tesla-employees-descr.html

Jeff Bezos Knows How to Run a Meeting.

https://www.inc.com/justin-bariso/jeff-bezos-knows-how-to-run-a-meeting-here-are-his-three-simple-rules.html

Ratatouille final taste

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kuyUKdJccgM&list=FLPTcFR3Pcd4xRjgxApFTSzQ&index=50&t=5s

Team Building

To be a team requires studying the repetitive motions the team must execute to be effective and productive.

Making the World a Better Place

While I could share my trails and tribulations of bouncing through several groups, I think you will be better served by my wisdom: 1) A Leader’s motto is, "To make the world a better place one man at a time!" 2) Everyone has an expectation of how we wish to treat each other. 3) Everyone has the right to demand an apology. Every group creates a set of rules that the members are expected to follow.  We hold each other accountable when the rules are broken. These rules even apply to how people interact with each other.  Communities at all levels have rules, expectations, values, cultures, and moralities that strive to encourage proper behavior .. households, apartment complexes, farming communities, cities, counties, states, countries.  We have expectations on what is considered proper behavior. When I see another man break these rules, I have an opportunity to look at myself and determine why this triggers me.  It is also an opportunity to help everyone involved reflect on the event, understand how it affected me, how it is affecting them, how it makes this man look in my eyes, and how it looks when other men support this behavior. It is behavior that we are actively working to change.  We do this through reflecting / reflection. We help other men see how their actions / choices are affecting others around them. When that behavior is repeated without conscious or consequence, the behavior is considered normal, even if it disparages another man or group.  It is here, where men have to build their courage, practice speaking up, and stand against inappropriate behavior, and demand a change. That change comes in two forms, the first is an apology, and the second is a change in the rules, habits, expectations, values, morals, and/or culture. A true apology uses the words "I'm Sorry!" in a way that ensures that the bad behavior is going to be corrected.  They are not a phrase that begs forgiveness. They are not used flippantly in a way that demeans their value. They are powerful. And, when used properly, will release the emotional energy in both parties because 1 party wants to see real change, while both parties want connection. Unfortunately, when we don't know how to ask for an apology, or ask men to adhere to the rules, or have vague undefined expectations, is when men feel powerless to demand an apology. For this, I suggest looking at your own mission statement.  When you are asked, "How will you make the world a better place?" What does a better world look like to you, and what is needed to achieve your version of a better world.  For me, it is helping men reflect on their bad behaviors and choices when they act out.  And, it can be as simple as asking, "How does this help you make the world a better place?"