Dupa o tacere care incepe sa creasca ca si perioada intre momentele publicarilor a diferite articole, am hotarat sa revin.

Recitesc ultimul articol si vad ca a trecut exact o luna de cand nu am mai contribuit cu un articol. A fost o luna foarte plina. Luna Iunie va fi si mai plina.

A inceput focul organizarii editiei de vara a GROW. Multa munca de coordonare in tara. Multa activitate de promovare. Continuam intalnirile cu companiile. O parte sunt bucuroase sa ne insoteasca in activitatea noastra. O alta parte este circumspecta.

Avem momente unice de satisfactie: spoturile radio au inceput sa promoveze proiectul in tara, comunicatul de presa a fost preluat de publicatii on-line, de website-uri si chiar presa scrisa. Am avut prima companie care ne abordeaza direct spunand ca ei vor sa colaboreze cu noi. Am avut primul jurnalist care ne contacteaza pentru a ne cere mai multe detalii pentru un articol intr-un editorial de seara. Am avut prima profesoara (de limba engleza) care la indemnul propriilor elevi ne-a contactat pentru a gasi o maniera in care sa ducem proiectul GROW si in Suceava, in afara oraselor predefinite de noi. Nu pot sa exprim in cuvinte cat de multa energie iti pot astfel de experiente. Construim aliante cu organizatii si oameni care sunt dedicati, la fel ca noi, sa aduca o schimbare pozitiva in societate. Participam la evenimente. Si cat de multe evenimente au fost in perioada asta: Conferinta CSR10, Business Hall of Fame – proiect al celor de la Junior Achievement, Gala Premiilor Societatii Civile, seminarii si intalniri. Invatam in fiecare zi ceva noi, invatam despre organizatii din Romania, despre organizatii educationale din lume – pornind din Statele Unite si pana in Australia, despre organizatii care nu fac educatie, dar contribuie la o lume mai buna. Am avut al doilea workshop intern de valori. Ne infioara de fiecare data cand lucram asupra noastra cu cea mai importanta parte a organizatiei noastre – “Valorile”.

Avem mult de lucru. Si e o veste buna faptul ca in fiecare saptamana ni se alatura oameni noi care vor sa ne ajute. Luna Iunie va fi una dificila, pentru ca o parte din membrii isi finalizeaza examene si proiecte mai mici. Abia astept luna Iulie cand ne vom strange toti din nou. Pana atunci muncim in fiecare zi si noapte.

Cu atata munca am uitat de revolutiile interioare. Pur si simplu ele s-au intamplat. Simt cum devin alaturi de alti oameni, cu fiecare zi care trece, ceea ce avem nevoie sa fim pentru a duce la bun sfarsit demersul nostru. Prima schimbare este capacitatea de a munci. Chiar si mai mult decat pana acum. Nu mai numaram orele investite in organizatie in fiecare zi. Stim doar ca sunt foarte multe. Le balansam cu lucrurile care pentru noi sunt importante si cu celelalte valori personale. Ne uitam cu incredere la viitorul care ne va putea oferi suficienta finantare incat sa sprijinim salariile echipei nucleu, pentru ca un numar mai mare de oameni sa poata functiona permanent in cadrul organizatiei. Cu siguranta acesta este dezideratul tuturor initiativelor civice. Insa suntem convinsi ca vom avea o vara excelenta.

Am inceput sa atingem sute de vizite zilnice pe www.growedu.ro si pe www.scoaladevalori.ro , chiar daca mai avem de lucru la ele. Mai avem pana la cele cateva mii de vizitatori unici zilnici, dar ne miscam in directia potrivita.

Probabil ca am in aceasta noapte cea mai tehnica contributie ca articol, dar ultima mea luna a fost una tehnica si mai putin filozofica. M-am gandit insa sa mai ofer ceva celor care citesc. Un articol scris de un American pe care eu il admir foarte mult – Robert Fritz. Ii voi prelua articolul in intregime. Este in limba engleza, dar sper sa va placa la fel de mult cum mi-a placut mie. Promit sa revin in timp cu articole si materiale interesante gasite.

Scris Vineri 4 Iunie 2010 12:29 AM

Philosopher King
Robert Fritz

Thinking about Plato the other day, I realized how much I hate his idea of the philosopher kings.  In case you haven’t read Book VII of the Republic recently, Plato thought that only those who had mastered philosophical wisdom have the right perspective from which to lead.

When I was at the Boston Conservatory, my composition teacher said that composers Karlheinz Stockhausen and Pierre Boulez could run Germany and France because of their ability to be organized.  This is a variation of the philosopher king, except this is the artistic king.  I suppose every profession thinks that only those who are in the trade should be in charge.  So we can have the film director kings, or the computer programmer kings, or the bus driver kings, or the hairdresser kings.

The trouble with the notion of philosopher kings is in the philosophy bit.  Whenever we begin with a philosophy and try to apply it to practical things, bad things can happen.

I love philosophy as an intellectual discipline and a creative exploration of ideas.  But, since there isn’t a method to prove or disprove philosophic theories, there isn’t a lot that can be said as to their validity.  Some philosophers use higher mathematics to delve into higher levels of philosophical thought, but the math doesn’t prove the reality of the philosophy, only the wonders of mathematics.

Composer Paul Hindermith (1895-1963) wrote his most inventive music before he wrote a book on music theory (this is the music worlds version of a philosophy book.)  After that, he rewrote many of the pieces of his earlier period to be consistent with the book, making them less interesting, less expressive, less dramatic, stiffer, and less fun.

This is the limitation that comes from ideals imposed on life, on art, on government, on education, on human beings.  Consistency to the ideal thwarts the creative spirit of innovation.  It limits the imagination.  It puts the mind in jail.  It imposes a synthetic construct on real life.

In the creative process it is sometimes important to break all of the rules that have been established by years of traditions or rulebooks.  The reason one would do this is not for revolution itself, but because, to reach a new and original vision, the confines of traditional thought makes it harder or impossible to accomplish.  You can’t get there from here.  First you need to go somewhere else.

What is the use of having philosophic ideals anyway?  Like any ideal, they are imposed on life.  Here is how you should live, here is what you should think, here is what it means, here is what to like and what to hate.  Ideals try to place order where we are unsure there is order.  Yet, rather than an exploration of pattern recognition, which is the discipline of discerning order through rigorous observation and understanding relationships of similarities and differences, ideals come prepackaged, ready to be force fitted into any situation.

Okay, so my advice is to rid yourself of ideals, philosophical or otherwise.  At least, don’t use them within your own creative process, and if you are using the creative process to create your life, then don’t let ideals in the door.

Some people think that they would be lost without ideals.  “How would we know what to think, how to act, what to do?”

By real things, such as aspirations and values.  These are the best organizing principles for creating what you want.  Aspirations and values do not come from an idealistic context.  They are real.  For example, ethics and morals are simply ideals of real values.  A value, which refers to measurement, is the ordering of what is more important and what is less important.  If, for example, you value both truth and kindness, and you attend your sister’s concert debut who loves to sing but is tone deaf, one of these values will become more important than the other.  If it were kindness you might say, “Sis, you were great.”  If it were truth you might say, “Sis, you were terrible.”  And if you tried to balance these two competing values you might say, “Gee, Sis, for a woman who can’t carry a tune in a basket, you sure sounded great.”

The most important questions in life cannot be answered by ideals.  These are questions like what do I want to create?  What do I care about?  How do I want to live my life?  Who do I love?  What matters most to me?

So, while students study Plato’s notions of how philosophers should run the world, thankfully, they don’t.

©2010 Robert Fritz – For more information about these courses, and about our work in general, call the office at 800-848-9700 and visit our website at www.robertfritz.com