2020 has been a tough year for everyone. In looking forward to a better 2021, I recommend the movie “Safety“. The movie did a great job of showing us how we are always stronger together. The movie shows how the Clemson family came together so all could do better. The team and the community came together to help a player and his brother have a better life (selfless), so the player could get a good college experience (Selfish) so we help all do better (Synergy). #SelfishSelflessSynergy
We all can help make 2021 better. The paneugenesis process is about how to create more good. I look forward to hearing how you start a cascade by engaging in the paneugenesis process to generate comprehensive improvements by creating, pervasive, reciprocal, selfish, selfless, synergistic interactions so everyone and everything benefits. Please share how you took action to help everyone and everything benefit.
Money and profits, over the long-term, are the result of providing value and benefit to individuals, organizations and communities. Fortune 500 companies change often because, according to many experts, quarterly returns, rather than valuable service or product delivery becomes their focus. This even happen to Toyota when they focused more on becoming the “biggest” auto maker rather than the “best”.
Money follows, it cannot lead.
The “Best” following Toyotas work with Dr. Deming meant producing the highest quality automobiles. As Toyota discovered, bigger and higher profits was the lag indicator of having the highest quality. This means being the “Best” was the lead indicator and being the “Biggest” was” the lag indicator.
Processes, or our actions, are always leading indicators. Results, or products, such as satisfaction, profits, value and other outcomes are the lag indicators. As noted from research, Moral licensing is a cognitive bias that occurs when a person uses their prior “good” behavior to justify later “bad” behavior, often without explicitly using that logic. In other words, good processes do not need to be upheld because of past processes done well. The result of moral licensing is very much like risk homeostasis theory.
As I noted in Expectationism Over Engineering-Education-Enforcement “…when cars have anti-lock breaks, air bags or because drivers have additional driver training, their general response is to drive more recklessly, possibly because of overconfidence, and this behavioral compensation maintains them at their static target risk level. Risk homeostasis theory explains that people have a set level of risk they are willing to take. If they do something very safely, they take more risks in other areas. In other words, driving processes are leading indicators for lagging safety outcomes.
I was reminded of how the process determines the product while watching the Netflix’s Social Dilemma movie.
The movie made a big deal out of the fact that social media company processes are manipulating behavior to get more advertising dollars. Our behaviors have always been manipulated. Cities built green areas to get people to move to their cities, and to encourage play. Walking downtowns were built to encourage more people to go downtown. The concern with social media is its ubiquitous presence for so many people and because its primary motive is for money, rather than the common good.
Everybody is trying to manipulate behaviors. Even with our friends and family, we attempt to manipulate their actions. I also have been attempting to manipulate your behaviors with my posts. My goals have been for you to engage in Selfish, Selfless, Synergistic actions because if you do, I get to live in a better world. In other words, if you I can encourage you (selfless action) to take action to help yourself (selfish), such as walk with friends, grow your own food, develop more competence, and eat more plants – we all benefit – synergy. I get to live in a better world. #SelfishSelflessSynergy
If health promoting actions are taken, such as eating more plants, making gardens, engaging in physical activity, having fulfilling vocations, having beneficial communications with others, and learning more, the businesses that provide these products and or services become more profitable. If done right, this also means we will help generate a circular, regenerative environment that can help everyone and everything thrive.
We have a tremendous opportunity to use the wonderful social media tools available to all of us to encourage, and support the generation of comprehensive benefits by helping to create pervasive, reciprocal, selfish, selfless, synergistic interactions so everyone and everything benefits. We are all in this together so helping anyone benefits in these ways helps everyone and everything benefit. According to Robert Putnam in his new book Upswing, this is how the Great Convergence in the early part of the 20th century happened. We focused on mutualism and helping each other. The great convergence improved the common good. Please share how you use your social media accounts to improve the common good by contributing toward generating comprehensive improvements so everyone and everything benefits.
The past is the past. It cannot be changed. It also can only hurt to feel bad about what happened. There is nothing that can be done to change anything that was done. We can, however, improve and do better. We want things better for ourself, selfish, that also helps others, selfless, so society is better, synergy. Taking actions to help others makes us feel good, enables others and ourselves to be more capable and builds a better society. #SelfishSelflessSynergy
As noted by Robert Putnam in Upswing: how America came together a century ago and how we can again, Tocqueville’s review of the American experiment in the 1830’s indicated he believed that American’s were pursuing “self-interest rightly understood” because it created a better society.
He also noted, the past may set the agenda, but it is about a choice going forward. The past does, however, prepare us for the future. It prepares us by knowing what could be and how to make better choices.
We all want a better future. To have a better future, we have to think about what could be and then work to make it so. It cannot just happen. The Paneugenesis Process is about how to create a better tomorrow.
Greg Satell, in Cascades: How to create a movement that drives transformation change suggests building support so the change can cascade from multiple areas. The Paneugenesis process is a way to build a cascade of transformational change as it works to generate comprehensive improvements by creating pervasive, reciprocal, selfish, selfless synergistic interactions so everyone and everything benefits. It can happen by taking these steps:
Operationalize an Idealized Outcome -make it clear to you and others what a better future could be. It needs to be clear and understood so it will motivate people to take action to make it happen.
Discover the Precursors – by describing what will have to be in place. Who will be your Spectrum of Allies and Pillars of Support needed to bring your new reality into existence. Make sure you explain to them how their support will bring related benefits to them and society so they become supporters.
Optimize the Process – take action, do what needs to be done to build support, build a team, and make good things happen. Don’t just stop bad from happening, cause good.
Plot Progress – as you make progress, note and celebrate successes that you can build upon to make it even better.
Building a better future isn’t just about fixing or making it less bad, but about creating more good. The paneugenesis process is about how to create more good. I look forward to hearing how you start a cascade by engaging in the paneugenesis process to generate comprehensive improvements. Please share how you took action to help everyone and everything benefit.
I learned the truth of Beverly Sills quote while I was doing the Ropes Course at the US National White Water Center in Charlotte, NC. While on the course I attempted to follow my daughter through the advanced path on this course. I wasn’t planning on doing the advanced course but I was doing well and she said there is only 3 more stages. I got on the advanced course and although challenging, I was progressing. Then I got to the most challenging last section of the course and I was tired. This part required us to walk over swinging wood boards.
Swinging boards on rope course
As I got to about the middle, I selfishly thought, I need a break. I then thought it might be easier to take a shortcut by sitting on the boards and scooting over the boards to the finish.
My attempted shortcut caused me to get my cord tangled and required me to do several extra boards to be able to complete the course. The shortcut I thought I was taking was really a long cut.
This was an analogy to life. Evidence from research indicates that shortcuts supposedly designed to create a better life may produce short term gains but most times result in poor long-term outcomes. Many, such as Martin Seligman, PhD, in his book Authentic Happiness, attribute our desire for shortcuts to a better life to be related to the increases in depression.
As Dr. Seligman demonstrates, happiness, progress and success must be earned. Rewards cannot be given to us. If they are given to us, what is being rewarded? Value generally becomes associated with price. The cost in life is not money but time, effort and diligence. Paying with personal effort enables us to purchase a better life, a valuable commodity.
Life often teaches us that what appears to are shortcuts are not faster or more efficient. Vital to this approach is perspective. It is not that life has to be hard, it is the best and most rewarding way. It is not the required path, but choosing to do things better can be rewarding.
Today I learned that the interaction which appeared to be the long cut because it required me to work harder to exceed expectations and finish the ropes course, was actually the shortcut. Using this harder path was the only path that could allow me to earn a glowing sense of accomplishment. As it turns out, the harder path was the fastest way and it was worth the effort.
In life I choose to make the effort needed to generate comprehensive improvements by creating pervasive reciprocal, selfish, selfless, synergistic interactions so everyone and everything benefits.Please share the benefits you experience by making an extra effort to exceed expectations.
P.S. If you are interested, John Rosemond’s linked 12/7/2020 column. This column provides a long cut that is really a shortcut for parenting:
Positive Health Leadership 