All tagged Belief systems
Structure, rules and constructs can be useful mechanisms and when we're growing up, they're usually unavoidable.
At the same time, they can be both good and bad and, as we grow older, it's worth questioning many of them. Both in terms of what they mean for us but also, as importantly, what they mean for others we live and work with.
I’ve always held to the view that the root cause of poor behavior (towards others) is low self-esteem. That’s always made sense to me: if we don’t have enough self-confidence or belief in ourselves, how can we expect to accept others’ (differing) perspectives - and not react in some way?
Well, Adam Grant posited a somewhat different - perhaps a more nuanced - point of view, based on research published in journals such as Psychological Review.
Ideologies are a useful mobilizing force. They rally our communities and allow resources to be effectively deployed towards a common goal.
Everyone involved knows exactly what they need to do and the ends towards which they’re working.
Is it still breaking the rules if everyone knows you’re doing it?
My kids’ High School has this tradition near the end of Senior Year called “Senior Ditch Day”, where kids skip school and just hang out. Now, this was never a thing when I was growing up (I didn’t grow up in the US) but it seems to be here.
I don’t know how much is actually within our control.
I know many of us like to think everything is, even as there are others who think nothing is, that we’re all simply subjects (victims?) of fate.
If I had to choose, I’d put myself more in the former camp - that we can indeed make of ourselves and our situations what we will.
I think the problem begins when we subscribe solely to a specific point of view, a particular doctrine.
This is what I believe in. These are the truths about this or that and they cannot be compromised.
We’ve learnt (been taught/taught ourselves) these doctrines over the years and have chosen to accept them as the path forward - the only path forward. And, we’ve galvanized the ‘opposition’ into a defined doctrine of its own - the other, that against which we must fight, come hell or high water.
Culture, in all its forms, plays such a strong role in our lives that, for the most part, we don’t really even pay attention to it or realize it.
It’s formed through years of experience, understanding and shared experiences. This is the case at home, in our communities, with our friends and with our colleagues at work.
In fact, Trevor Noah once referred to culture as “an operating system that you have, that you didn’t even realize you had”. That captures it perfectly for me.
This month's topics focus on personal war stories and observations.
Today's episode discusses how, in our quest for 'more', we’ve confused learning, knowledge and credibility with degrees, diplomas and doctorates. We need a reset in our collective thinking and biases on the subject of education.
Bruce Lee’s philosophy when it came to learning was that there was no single best way to learn.
He didn’t prescribe to the idea of fixed patterns and approaches to education, rather he believed that real education is unique to the individual. It comes from absorbing what’s helpful (in your own judgement) rejecting what’s not and then defining your own ‘truth’, your own path forward.
This month, I'd like to speak to a few fundamental ideas about how we work and the implications of our behaviors when we work.
Specifically, in today's episode, I speak to the idea of belief, and the fact that it's our belief in ourselves that drives our ability to achieve, excel and become who we truly are.
This month kicks off 2021 with a few thoughts on mindset - and specifically getting our heads straight as we look forward to our goals and what we want to get done over the next 12 months.
Today's episode focuses on our belief systems, the boxes we tend to put ourselves in and how an interview with a famous classical musician reminded me of the need to think differently.
