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Changes of times transform meaning

Looking back in history is convenient, because it can explain everything retrospectively. We are following a life and feel that it is conclusive. This is what makes biographies so exciting. The view behind the curtain provides explanations and makes actions comprehensible. We do not notice the careers of those, who have failed and got lost themselves in anonymity. The asthmatic child, who later finished his medical studies as a surgeon and was killed as a revolutionary in Bolivia, went through the ups and downs of life and eventually got branded as part of the worldwide memory. Ernesto went through the different phases of his life without the world being able to recognize his impact in the beginning. The same destiny is shared by those, we remember today: Jesus Christ, Publius Qunctilius Varus, Johannes Gutenberg, Leonardo da Vinci, Mao Zedong. And if they had not already died, today they would have to live with the image created by posterity. Changes of times transform meaning.

We see a more or less correctly described life of the heroes of history that ranges from meaninglessness to celebrity and is evaluated afterwards by history. Behind all judgments is a person, whose relevance changes over time – depending on the observer and its value system.

  • Before the history
    The time before its story begins is similar – kindergarten, school, university and/or profession. Everyone has its own character, sometimes more active or passive, sometimes extra- or introverted, sometimes suppressed or oppressive. Later, posterity looks at this time and interprets everyday behavior according to its significance in history – suddenly stubbornness and wild raving become the early revolutionary attitude. In retrospect, even people, who know it better, adopt this interpretation.
  • Invisible development
    At some point, a crossroad leads to one finding its vocation and to follow it. Some experience injustices and develop a shift of their mind with new values and bogeymen. Everything is still happening in secrecy. The encountered challenges are fought out internally and in the usual discussions. Not more or less, as it happens to everybody. The possibilities for action are so limited that one acts on a small scale and consciously does not sticks out yet. Viewed from the future, this consolidation of one’s own value system becomes the maturing period of the future revolutionary. Nothing happened yet.
  • Passionately put into action
    If coincidence leads you into the appropriate environment or makes you aware of something that is worth fighting for – now it starts. History begins. The first walking attempts and the first initiatives become known by the public. However, the activists develop by and by awareness for the attention, since they are so busy with their actions that they do not waste any thought on the story until they reach the tipping point. Public awareness is growing faster and faster. Now it should be designed. From the outside we do not notice the evolving propaganda. The human being is lost behind the announcements, because we are not getting unprepared private information. Now the public evaluates the protagonist according to historic criteria – for some as politician and for others as guerillero.
  • For ever history
    As soon as life is over and a certain time has gone by, the image becomes transfigured and the public interests determine, how the person has to be evaluated – a criminal for the opponents and a martyr for the followers. It is still the same person, who lived its life and now has no control over what follows. The image is turning according to the value systems and the general political situation. In some cases, the later-born try to make all traces of the protagonist disappear – the inscriptions of the Egyptians were removed and Stalin had the corresponding persons retouched out of photos. In other cases, the protagonists become heroes, who have done everything for the great cause. The changes of times alter the view of history.

Bottom line: A person is a person, is a person, … This also applies to those, who have significantly influenced the course of history. In the end, they loose control over their historical destiny. One moment an assassin and in the next a freedom fighter, who sacrificed itself for the cause. And if times continue to change, the heroes are again thrown off the pedestal, because the changes of times transform meaning – again and again.

42 – The faith in the ONE Solution

Somehow the search for the world formula, the Theory of Everything, seems to permeate Western thought. While the Greek philosophers were all about the atom, nowadays, quantum physics challenges our common sense. Deep Thought had answered after 7.5 million years the question about life, the universe and everything with “forty-two”. The answer seems meaningless, because the beings, who instructed it, never actually knew what the question was.* It could have been clear to them that ‘Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.’**

In our everyday life we are always driven by this childlike hope for ONE solution by the following aspects.

  • The Right
    Many conflicts arise when people can’t agree on what to do – What do the customers want? Where is the market going? Which strategy is appropriate? What does the product range look like? Even if a lot of parameters are considered, surprisingly this does not lead to the fact that the ideal is more crystallized. On the contrary! The outcome becomes more diffuse – perhaps because there is no such thing as the right one. In extreme cases the indication of the white rabbit applies: If you don’t know where you want to go, then it doesn’t matter which path you take.***
    Since there is no source that shows you the way, there is nothing left to do but design and introduce the right thing yourself.
  • Doing right
    Often there is also a dispute about how to implement your intentions – Which method should be used? What results are needed? How to speed up the process? Where else can you save something? This creates more and more constraints, which form an insufficient basis for the solution. Barriers on the one hand undermine good solutions on the other. In the end, the savers prevent a viable solution – and generate greater losses than they would have ever saved.
    For something to be done right, it must be fulfilled with the desired end. This is done by the people, who create the solution – and they need the necessary resources, even if they exceed, what was originally specified.
  • Best Solution
    We always strive for the best – The shortest term? The most reliable? The most manufacturable? The cheapest? The most maintainable? The most beautiful? The most manageable? In order to eventually find the best solution, everyone wants all criteria to be met – although speed is achieved at the expense of reliability or price; or maintainability is eating away beauty or manageability; and so on. The best sounds a lot like “42” – it is in the eye of the beholder, what it means.
    The common understanding of your own quality enables the brand image that customers associate with the products and services. At the very least, it should be clearly defined whether one is striving for product or process leadership or customer proximity.
  • ONE Meaning
    The first step to a Theory of Everything is to understand that a term can be interpreted in any way. Without developing a common understanding of the requirements, the participants will not be able to meet expectations – e.g. actively engage customers; openness; collaboration; adaptability; intrinsic motivation. If the structural layers remains, the efforts will not fit together.
    Words alone are not enough to convey a common understanding. It is necessary to ensure that the scope for interpretation remains as small as possible, through appropriate explanations and the practical example.

Bottom line: It is difficult to understand how clueless management is, when it comes to the fact that their messages are nothing more than a simple “42” and afterwards they are surprised that their intentions are not coming true. The belief in ONE solution prevents the more effective outcome that would be possible through the cooperation of the many. A first step is to understand that doing the right thing right, the best solution and the ONE meaning is an illusion. The basic conditions are shifting. The world of work is undergoing radical change. Mass solutions only function in cooperation with all parties involved. And they all have their own idea of “42”. If the company is to continue to exist, this can only be achieved by moving away from the belief in ONE solution and by bundling all resources in order to let them jointly determine what “42” is.

*) Douglas Adams: The Hitchhiker‘s Guide to the Galaxy

**) Ludwig Wittgenstein Tractatus logico-philosophicus 7

***) Lewis Carroll: Alice in Wonderland