Glue or Dynamite — You Choose

Let’s not kid ourselves: We humans are social beings who depend on the collective to thrive. Each and every one of us relies on the community for their survival and well-being. Here are the facts: We cannot give birth to or even rear ourselves. They say it takes a whole village to raise a child. 

It is only for a brief time in our adulthood that we can harbour the illusion of complete independence, before we grow old and become obviously dependent on society once again. It is this relatively short working period of 30—40 years and the beliefs we hold during that time that shape the future of our businesses and determine the resilience of our social fabric. In other words, the decisions you make today are important.

Being dependent on society is not a sad truth at all, but one that should be embraced and celebrated. Look at it this way: We do not produce most of the food we eat or the clothes we wear. People all over the world are engaged in such productive tasks to support us. Few of us build our own roads, houses, and hospitals. And we hardly know how to teach ourselves without drinking from the current pool of knowledge that has been provided by others. In many cases, we do not know how to heal ourselves from injury either. But all this is OK, as long as we have each other.

And yet, it is at this high point of human success and collaboration that we start telling ourselves misleading stories, in which one person's financial success is said to be based exclusively on the achievements of a few selected individuals and must therefore not be shared with society. We note an increase in private schools, private hospitals, and private yachts. And we find ourselves celebrating individual accomplishments, even if these come at a dear cost to society at large. Hyper-individualisation results in more people disengaging from social roles and choosing to live alone, working only for their own perceived benefit.

Recent studies conducted in Germany show that this new level of selfishness works better for those people who inherit their fortunes from the time when society was still functional than it does for those who need to earn their living based on society in its current state. Fully individualised, people are now asked to fend for themselves and have less time and resources available to spend for others. 

This new condition is frustrating for everyone, especially if we factor in two messages that reach us at the same time: firstly, that labour is global and is sourced from where it is the cheapest, thereby putting the whole globe in competition at once; secondly, that new technology will probably replace most of our jobs in the very near future. The effects of such sad narratives on the increasingly isolated individual are feelings of loneliness, helplessness, and—if not addressed—social and political radicalization.

We may think that this is a special moment in time, but none of this is really new: Romanticism of the late 18th century shared many of the ideas and ideals of our time, such as the belief that the best time was spent away from society, in isolation and melancholy. But the Romantics, too, had to snap out of their daydream when the social problems around them became too loud to be ignored. Not surprisingly, the next school of thought was called "Realism", and the realists had a lot of cleaning up to do.

Let’s not wait too long. Here is what you can do now: Bring your employees together in training sessions held on a weekly basis that show them you care. Give them a protected space to share their hopes and ideas. From the study of neurolinguistics, we know that language is the basis for our understanding of the world. In other words: “How you see the world is and becomes your world.” By establishing regular language training in your business today, you start the much-needed social healing process for your own benefit and for the benefit of the people you work with.

crossXculture is a great partner for your business, because we create tangible benefits for all parties involved. Based on a large network of professionals, we effectively team you up with excellent local trainers, and we are proud to pay them well on your behalf. All our training processes are monitored through our own locally hosted software platform. This keeps your important data safe and your courses fresh. Our corporate clients span many industries and have one thing in common: They believe that the future is what we make of it, and they are partnering with us to stay socially strong and healthy.

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