What Do YOU Expect?

tonyb · Joined: 04 Jan 2004 Posts: 17 Location: Montgomery, PA

CBS's 60 Minutes II aired an interview 3/30/05 with famed CEO Jack Welch and his wife that seemed to validate his "winning" philosophy without any mention of the downside. It was especially one sided considering his wife also shares the same Harvard business mentality.

In sports, politics, card games and now business we are taught to capitalize on the opponent's weakness. The object is to win and the opponent to lose. However, this indoctrination causes an assumed righteous attitude with a great downside as it pervades our thinking in nearly all human interaction. Expediency rules over a society at its own throat. We are headed for disaster and are no better off for defeating others than the reverse which will come to pass. The more we conquer the more we divide, and the more we teach the law of putting the other person down in order to lift ourselves up. The "loser" of course then can't wait to reciprocate--to reverse roles and carry the message forward to the next loser, and so on. . .

"When virtue is lost, benevolence appears, when benevolence is lost right conduct appears, when right conduct is lost, expedience appears. Expediency is the mere shadow of right and truth; it is the beginning of disorder." --LAO TZU

A friend of mine said, "I would rather have a Harvard professor on my side anytime than a public defender." His comment had to do with the inequity of the "haves" affording the best attorneys while the "have nots" have less than expert counsel. I replied, "Not always. Let me show you something from an insurance claims manual. It was written with the counsel of a Harvard professor who counselled many large insurance companies as well as many other major industries in the art of 'winning' in dealings with the public." After reading some passages he said, "That can't be right." This coming from someone not sophisticated in insurance matters, but nonetheless he saw the obvious--the attitude is clearly to win, not to find common ground. It is also clear that the company feels their behavior is fair and just, and of course legal. The point is that even the best counsel can be led astray by the pervasive "winning" philosophy. This beguiling policy is narrowly focused on short term self-interest and ignores a basic consideration: the view from the other side--a rather large oversight that can and will come back to deliver retribution.

Full article: http://www.disasterprepared.net/time4.html

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