Man’s Search

(from V. Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning)

Viktor Frankl relates his experience while surviving the harshness of Auschwitz:

… We stumbled on in the darkness, over big stones and through large puddles, along the one road leading from the camp. The accompanying guards kept shouting at us and driving us with the butts of their rifles. Anyone with very sore feet supported himself on his neighbor’s arm. Hardly a word was spoken; the icy wind did not encourage talk. Hiding his mouth behind his upturned collar, the man marching next to me whispered suddenly: “If our wives could see us now! I do hope they are better off in their camps and don’t know what is happening to us.”

     That brought thoughts of my own wife to mind. And as we stumbled on for miles, slipping on icy spots, supporting each other time and again, dragging one another up and onward, nothing was said, but we both knew: each of us was thinking of his wife. Occasionally I looked at the sky, where the stars were fading and the pink light of the morning was beginning to spread behind a dark bank of clouds. But my mind clung to my wife’s image, imagining it with an uncanny acuteness. I heard her answering me, saw her smile, her frank and encouraging look. Real or not, her look was then more luminous than the sun which was beginning to rise.

     A thought transfixed me: for the first time in my life I saw the truth as it is set into song by so many poets, proclaimed as the final wisdom by so many thinkers. The truth – that love is the ultimate and the highest goal to which man can aspire. Then I grasped the meaning of the greatest secret that human poetry and human thought and belief have to impart: The salvation of man is through love and in love. I understood how a man who has nothing left in this world still may know bliss, be it only for a brief moment, in the contemplation of his beloved. In a position of utter desolation, when man cannot express himself in positive action, when his only achievement may consist in enduring his sufferings in the right way – an honorable way – in such a position man can, through loving contemplation of the image he carries of his beloved, achieve fulfillment.

 

For the first time in my life I was able to understand the meaning of the words, “The angels are lost in perpetual contemplation of an infinite glory….

If Viktor Frankl found such beautiful meaning under Auschwitz conditions, it seems that our own search for meaning can succeed as well.

 

Eye On the Prize

I’ve been so consumed with election crap and bare-knuckles battling over political issues that it took far too long to realize I’ve lost sight of two of my most important personal values, operating principles, whatever you choose to call them:

1. People before process. Without solid people, processes fail. Phrased differently…when we lose sight of our humanity we’re nothing but a go-through-the-motions shell.
2. Focus on the front end, and control the integrity of the production processes.

Following:  a short list for each. Raw, needs your input.

Short List: Solid People (please add!)

• A mountain of private sector and academic research has pointed out that personal well-being drives performance and achievement, in the workplace and the classroom. Reference “engagement theory”.
• Social-emotional development: kindness, compassion, understanding and appreciating differences (demographic and belief systems).
• Civic Savvy / Global Citizenship: globalization, current affairs, why democracy does / doesn’t work, making intelligent decisions; volunteerism / being involved and informed.
• Responsible consumerism—environmental / save the planet issues
• Spiritual well-being: purpose, values. Something to believe in. Community, family.

Short List: Focus on the Front End and Processes (this could go on forever! Please add)

Stemming from earliest process control / quality management tenets, fine-tuned by the six sigma community and systems thinkers. Quality of outputs is determined by quality of inputs, and by the consistency and capability of the realization processes.

• Understand the systemic interactions among the various processes, and the systemic connections among allegedly “local” beliefs, actions and practices. Butterfly effect or ripple effect.
• Kid development, specifically helping our kids to understand what it means to be human (see #1). Example is a great teacher, and it’s more than parenting at home. We’re all teachers of human values and social norms. Parents need surrogate help from the community and especially the education system.
• Education reform (another humongous area!). How do humans learn best? What do we need to learn about? Who is best equipped to teach what? (loosen the restrictions on who provides learning in the classroom. We could gain a good deal by utilizing subject matter expert adjunct. And education could use the help!) Why do we focus on “process” stuff and ignore human development?
• Practice what we preach. It’s not enough to espouse a whole bunch of really cool stuff. Reality has to match or it’s meaningless.
• Election / political system / democratic integrity (many, many sub-thoughts on this!)
• Media integrity: people need trustworthy information to make intelligent decisions. When real information is withheld people are easily manipulated and make poor decisions.

That’s a decent start, and it’s plenty from me for now. Please offer your thoughts—am I missing the mark? What else can be added?

And, HOW can we do this stuff?