My Personal Vision & Values

Enabling humanity to undertake the work they care deeply about and building healthy communities worthy of their inhabitants, is my personal vision statement. It is founded on several core assumptions and values and takes mankind as a whole into account as the primary
stakeholders.

Although it is difficult to be aware of all the underlying assumptions and values that serve as the foundation for a vision, I have tried to outline the few that I consider most influential.

Reality is Flexible: I often try to share this assumption with others by stating that, “Reality is our mutual misunderstanding.” Most times this is ill received, perhaps because the words are very strong, but basically it is my belief that nothing exists in a permanent state and that all possibilities are an option. Margaret Wheatley writes about discoveries in quantum physics that allude to this as a possibility. "Structure is temporary, as these fields interact, particles are instantly brought forth into reality, and then they vanish as quickly as they were created.” (para-phrased, p.xx)

This underlying assumption leads me to create three values. The first is that change is good, and that we should embrace it as a means for actively transforming our current realities. Second, our intentions are the foundation of our influence on this change and we should consider them similar to the fields that Wheatley refers to, which interact to create structural reality. Third, that active reflection and the pursuit of self awareness is what enables us to have clear intentions.

Sustainable Quality of Life is the Measure of Success: I like being happy and enjoying life. I also would like the certainty that I will be able to continue to do so. This conflict between enjoying the present and securing the future can be resolved by placing meaningful work at the forefront of one’s priorities. Meaning is what allows work to be engaging, productive and enjoyable.

Additionally, we should also make time to celebrate our achievements and play in the presence of the moment. Balance between work and play is essential to maintaining happiness and a high quality of life.

Collaboration not Competition is Human Nature: I strongly believe that human nature takes different forms under different circumstances. Debates about whether human nature actually exists and what it is have occurred since ancient times. It is logical to assume that humans will fight over a limited quantity of a required resource to insure their own survival.

However, there a myriad of examples that demonstrate how by working together, people have been able to overcome the scarcity of a resource. Primitive man hunted together to create greater access to food. During the industrial age the collaboration of men on assembly lines delivered goods in greater abundance and with greater cost effectiveness than ever before. Today, the benefits of our current society’s collaboration are evident across the internet where vast amounts of information can be obtained simply and easily.

This assumption, that collaboration is better than competition, leads me to embrace three additional values. First, in order to counteract an ineffective competition reflex, we must embrace stewardship as our primary relationship to the world. We must view ourselves as stewards of resources (including our ideas and creativity) not owners of it. Our role as a steward will result in a caring relationship that will prevent abuse of our environment and each other, and we will only engage in the pursuit of meaningful endeavors.

The pursuit of abundance will make it ever easier to embrace stewardship. When people perceive the possibility of scarcity, either by circumstance or coercion, they must work harder to foster collaboration instead of succumbing to rivalry. Oddly enough, people seem to collaborate best when they are either very secure and thus do not fear loss, or in a complete state of despair and have nothing left to lose. It appears that it is somewhere along the continuum that collaboration becomes the most difficult. Of all these choices, I believe the pursuit of abundance is the most beneficial path to embracing stewardship and collaboration.

Community is the expression of collaboration and stewardship and the most promising path to sustained quality of life and abundance for all. Community provides support and partnership in actualizing change and love and companionship in celebrating achievement and life.

(c) Stavros Michailidis 2009