It seems to me that this new title, "competing, cooperating, and
morality," really gets to the heart of the issue of when we use competing
and when we use cooperating. Any time someone else is willing to engage
in dialog and true learning, then cooperatiion is the preferred way to
proceed. When someone is not willing or able to so engage, and
furthermore, when your individual values are at stake, and when you remain
convinced of their inherent validity, then competition is the only route
forward.
For me the examples of Martin Luther King and Gandhi exemplify this
distinction in action. Neither of them could live with their own values
and simultaneously with the values of their competitors. Both of them
chose to put their values into competition with opposition values rather
than compromise or cooperate. King, for example, could only compete with
the police and the firehoses and the dogs. There was no room for dialog.
There was no room for compromise. Only in retrospect are we able to say
he was right. Few people in the beginning were speaking up in support of
his values, but support grew, precisely because he chose to put his values
on the line in a dramatic, no-compromise fashion. He changed -- improved
-- the values of most thinking people in this country.
Behaviorally -- that means without trying to deal with subtle distinctions
in definitions -- this is how Doc, Roxanne, and Ben seem to approach life.
Compromise and cooperate wherever possible, but don't give an inch on
closely held values. Personally, I believe this is the highest form of
behavior, and I admire it in all people who display it.
Along with that, goes the responsibility to constantly reassess personal
values, and consider how they might change and grow in the light of new
information or new points of view. Life is not black and white, but by
constantly clarifying and challenging our own values, and by fighting for
them where we believe we must, we edge ever so slowly toward greater
clarity. MLK did that for all of us, and we can provide the same service
for others.
--Rol Fessenden
Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>