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There’s a magic trick that’s going to get played on us every day during the 2020 election cycle. It’s a fairly simple trick, once you see it.
I’d like to talk about leadership and governance.
And the compass, the navigation, the travel, and the corrections.
(thread)
I’d like to talk about leadership and governance.
And the compass, the navigation, the travel, and the corrections.
(thread)
By the way, this is a long thread, so I'm going to experiment. Rather than spam everybody's feed, I'll just post a bit at a time.
If you want the whole thing immediately, here: http://www.armoxon.com/2019/02/the-compass-and-navigation.html
If you want the whole thing immediately, here: http://www.armoxon.com/2019/02/the-compass-and-navigation.html
Let me begin by proposing ‘movement’ as a metaphor for coordinated human activity.
Sometimes the metaphor actually involves movement: Humanity moved from the earth to the moon.
Sometimes the metaphor is figurative: The United States "moved" from legal slavery to abolition.
Sometimes the metaphor actually involves movement: Humanity moved from the earth to the moon.
Sometimes the metaphor is figurative: The United States "moved" from legal slavery to abolition.
When people decide to leave the place they are and move to a different place, there’s an observable order to it.
The order is very important.
The order is very important.
So, in movement, there is the moment of arrival at the destination.
But before that moment, there is the actual trip.
We began HERE. We moved until we got THERE. One foot in front of the other. We set sail and kept going. The aircraft cut its way across the sky.
The travel.
But before that moment, there is the actual trip.
We began HERE. We moved until we got THERE. One foot in front of the other. We set sail and kept going. The aircraft cut its way across the sky.
The travel.
But before the movement, there was a plan.
We ARE here. We WILL GO there. Here, after study and research and consultation and testing and training, is how we’ll do it.
The navigation.
We ARE here. We WILL GO there. Here, after study and research and consultation and testing and training, is how we’ll do it.
The navigation.
But even before that, there was a determination to move in the first place.
We ARE here. We SHOULD BE there. We will go there, in that direction, as opposed to all other directions.
The compass.
We ARE here. We SHOULD BE there. We will go there, in that direction, as opposed to all other directions.
The compass.
Coordinated movement begins with a determination to move in one direction over all other directions.
Then comes the plan.
Then comes the actual trip.
But the trip may turn out to be something quite different than the plan.
Then comes the plan.
Then comes the actual trip.
But the trip may turn out to be something quite different than the plan.
Sometimes the trip is smooth and easy, and goes exactly to plan.
More often, esp. if the destination is an ambitious one, or the path long, there are challenges and setbacks and unforeseen difficulties, requiring delays and divergences and detours.
Corrections.
More often, esp. if the destination is an ambitious one, or the path long, there are challenges and setbacks and unforeseen difficulties, requiring delays and divergences and detours.
Corrections.
We thought we would be HERE. Instead we are HERE. But we are still going THERE.
A successful correction requires the same tools that motivated the original trip: the determination to arrive at the destination, then the plan to do it, then the actual travel.
In that order.
A successful correction requires the same tools that motivated the original trip: the determination to arrive at the destination, then the plan to do it, then the actual travel.
In that order.
The compass determines direction.
The navigation determines the route.
The route leads to the destination.
In that order.
The order is key.
The navigation determines the route.
The route leads to the destination.
In that order.
The order is key.
As long as you have these steps, and put them in that order, your original plan can absorb any number of corrections.
You may even learn of a better destination on the way.
But first you have to actually decide to move.
You may even learn of a better destination on the way.
But first you have to actually decide to move.
You wouldn’t make a plan before you knew where you were going.
You wouldn’t begin travel before you’d figured out how to get there.
It wouldn’t work.
So now let’s talk about leadership and governance, and the magic trick that gets played on us over the difference.
You wouldn’t begin travel before you’d figured out how to get there.
It wouldn’t work.
So now let’s talk about leadership and governance, and the magic trick that gets played on us over the difference.
Say we humans have a problem. It could be anything.
Like 50% of the wealth in the hands of a few hundred people among billions. Or a medical system that only cares for those who can pay. Or millions of people without homes in the world’s richest country.
It could be anything.
Like 50% of the wealth in the hands of a few hundred people among billions. Or a medical system that only cares for those who can pay. Or millions of people without homes in the world’s richest country.
It could be anything.
But I don’t want to be controversial, so let me make up a more sci-fi premise.
Let’s pretend there was a climate disaster that threatened extinction of life on the planet.
Say the evidence was incontrovertible.
Say early effects were present and observable.
try to imagine this
Let’s pretend there was a climate disaster that threatened extinction of life on the planet.
Say the evidence was incontrovertible.
Say early effects were present and observable.
try to imagine this
Now, let’s say the remedies were known, but very challenging. Let’s say real solutions would require major global restructuring of the political and economic and social order.
And let’s say as a result, there were a lot of people who didn’t want to do it.
Again, try to imagine.
And let’s say as a result, there were a lot of people who didn’t want to do it.
Again, try to imagine.
Let’s pretend that the people most resistant to changing the world order were the people who had gained the most power and wealth within that world order. Let’s pretend the next election would be about whether or not to even respond to the threat.
Hard to imagine, right?
Hard to imagine, right?
Let me locate us within this scenario:
We’re not yet at the point to start enacting a plan we haven’t yet decided to make.
We’re not at the point to argue about the specifics of the plan—though we need a plan!
What we need is the determination to move.
We need the compass.
We’re not yet at the point to start enacting a plan we haven’t yet decided to make.
We’re not at the point to argue about the specifics of the plan—though we need a plan!
What we need is the determination to move.
We need the compass.
Leadership is the compass. Leadership is the thing that says, without fear or equivocation: “even though it is controversial, even though it is disruptive, even though it is hard, we ARE going to move from here to there.”
Leadership statements are compass statements.
Leadership statements are compass statements.
“The Green New Deal” is a leadership statement, not a governance statement.
It’s a compass statement. It’s a declaration about direction for coordinated human movement.
You might disagree with this statement. If so, you have some options regarding how you might respond.
It’s a compass statement. It’s a declaration about direction for coordinated human movement.
You might disagree with this statement. If so, you have some options regarding how you might respond.
You might claim that there is no reason to move. You’d say something like, “this is a hoax.”
You might claim that it’s too early to move. You’d say, “the science is uncertain.”
You might claim it’s too late to move. You’d say, “human activity isn’t causing it.”
You might claim that it’s too early to move. You’d say, “the science is uncertain.”
You might claim it’s too late to move. You’d say, “human activity isn’t causing it.”
Those are the direct responses.
But remember: there’s a magic trick.
But remember: there’s a magic trick.
Some might realize that the danger is real, and the moral call toward movement is absolutely uncontestable. They might decide the best way to oppose is to perform some slight-of-hand.
They’d say things like “The Green New Deal is unrealistic.”
They’d say things like “The Green New Deal is unrealistic.”
Unrealistic?
That’s a matter for the challenges of navigation and travel. We’re not there.
We’re making compass statements.
Nothing is more "unrealistic" than something we've decided not to do.
And we've done any number of unrealistic things, by deciding to do them.
That’s a matter for the challenges of navigation and travel. We’re not there.
We’re making compass statements.
Nothing is more "unrealistic" than something we've decided not to do.
And we've done any number of unrealistic things, by deciding to do them.
“The Green New Deal is unrealistic" *sounds* like a governance statement. It’s not. It’s a leadership statement. It’s a compass statement. It says “actually, we will stay where we are” as much as “climate change is a hoax” does.
It says it w/more subtlety, but it still says it.
It says it w/more subtlety, but it still says it.
I want to be careful, because even as we talk compass, we want an eye on navigation.
And it’s OK to point out that the navigation is off.
But when one does so to close off or delay the compass, then it’s the magic trick. Leadership disguised as governance.
And it’s OK to point out that the navigation is off.
But when one does so to close off or delay the compass, then it’s the magic trick. Leadership disguised as governance.
If one wants to critique the GND policy, it needs to be within the larger context of a firm commitment to a robust and prioritized response to climate change, and a willingness to engage in the significant disruption that will cause.
Else, it's an opposing compass statement.
Else, it's an opposing compass statement.
One of opposition's slyest tricks is to deny a clearly needed solution to an obvious problem, not b/c a solution isn't needed, but b/c the route hasn’t been charted thoroughly, b/c all potential problems haven’t been identified, b/c every last correction hasn’t been made.
You can hide a morally unsupportable leadership statement by disguising it as a governance statement.
You can use the enormity of the challenge of the problem facing us as a reason not to start.
Abracadabra!
You can use the enormity of the challenge of the problem facing us as a reason not to start.
Abracadabra!
But leadership comes BEFORE governance.
The compass determines the direction.
The direction determines the navigation.
The navigation determines the travel.
And corrections can be made on the way.
The compass determines the direction.
The direction determines the navigation.
The navigation determines the travel.
And corrections can be made on the way.
Fixing the thread. https://twitter.com/juliusgoat/status/1097152961455755264?s=21
