Glue or Dynamite — You Choose

Let’s not kid ourselves: We humans are social beings who depend on society to thrive. Each and every one of us relies on the community for survival and for their well-being. Here are the facts: We cannot give birth to or even raise 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 are old and become obviously dependent on society once again. It is this working period of 30-40 years and the beliefs we hold that shapes the future of our businesses and 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 nor the clothes we wear. People all over the world are engaged in such productive tasks to support us. Few of us build their own roads, houses, and hospitals. And we hardly know how to teach ourselves without drinking in the current pool of knowledge that has been provided by others. And in, many cases, we do not how to heal ourselves from injury either. But all that is OK, as long as we have each other.

And yet, it is at this high point of human success and collaboration that we tell ourselves misleading stories in which financial success is based solely on the achievements of a few individuals and must therefore not be shared with society. We see an increase of 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 society 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 who inherit their fortunes from the time when society was still functional than for those who need to make their living based on society in its current, fully individualised form, in which everyone is asked to fend for themselves and has less time and resources 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 our jobs in the very near future. The effect of such sad narratives is a feeling of loneliness, helplessness, and, if not addressed, social and political radicalisation.

None of this is 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 they had a lot of cleaning up to do.

Let’s not wait too long. Here is what you can do now: Bring your staff together in training sessions held on a weekly basis that show them you care and give them a 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 your world.” By establishing regular language training in your business 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 a benefit to all parties involved. Based on a huge network, we team you up with excellent local trainers, and we pay them well on your behalf. All our training processes are monitored on our own locally hosted software platform. This keeps your 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.