By Jim Selman | Bio
I have been making the
case that our country is trapped in a vicious cycle, analogous to
alcoholism or any addictive spiral that inevitably leads to ‘hitting
bottom’, and that we need a rigorous ‘recovery’ program. Our
Constitutional Democracy cannot work if our founding principles, the
Constitution itself , and the institutions responsible for sustaining it
are not aligned and functioning as a whole. In the ‘recovery’
literature and all 12-Step programs, the first and primary question to
resolve is “Where is the bottom?” Have we had enough of having enough?
Are we ready to acknowledge that the system is broken and we are
powerless to fix it? If we are, then we can begin the real journey to
recovery.[ Read More]
Written by eldering at Wisdom in Action
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 By Jim Selman | Bio
Anyone familiar with 12 Step programs knows that the literature generally characterizes the ‘ism’ or addiction as a disease of ‘self-centeredness’. This is basically a way of saying that the behavior (that is, the alcohol, drugs, gambling, sex, etc.) are symptoms—not causes. The nature of the problem is that people become trapped in a ‘self-referential’ relationship with the world, live in various states of denial, and pursue increasingly self-destructive behaviors until they ‘hit bottom’. At that moment, they can begin the process of recovery—assuming they will take the first step—to acknowledge that they are out of control and powerless and that their life is ‘unmanageable’.[ Read More]
Written by eldering at Wisdom in Action
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By Jim Selman | Bio
I work with organizations that are attempting
to change. At the beginning of working with a new client, I point out
what’s missing for any organization that has recurring or seemingly
intractable problems: what’s missing is a different way of observing.
Whether we’re talking about a company, a community or a continent, a new
perspective always gives us an opening to create new possibilities,
have new choices and take new actions: a new way of observing the world
effectively gives us a different future than some variation of ‘more of
the same’. We need to stop asking what the problems are and start
asking why they persist. When we do, we begin to realize that we
have a paradigm problem. Until we deal with that, none of our seemingly
intractable problems—from staggering debt to unending war, climate
change to the underlying causes of the mortgage crises—can be solved.
Albert Einstein expressed this concisely when he said that sometimes our
problems cannot be solved by thinking the way we thought when we
created them.[ Read More]
Written by eldering at Wisdom in Action
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 By Jim Selman | Bio
It’s been a long 8 years and now we begin
again, but with a lot more on our plate. The list of challenges grows
daily, the costs keep rising, the numbers of jobless and homeless
Americans and others throughout the world are growing. And yet, the
mood today is very festive and enthusiastic. I am in Buenos Aires and,
judging by the mood in most of the coffee shops, you’d think that
Barack was their new president. I cannot remember an inauguration with
so much pageantry and expectation. The planners have outdone themselves
to create a sense of inclusiveness, even at the risk of pissing off[ Read More]
Written by eldering at Leadership
Tagged with:
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