MEMBER MONDAY

Let’s start with the optimism captured in America’s informal motto – E Pluribus Unum – i.e. One from Many (as expanded from its original reference to the thirteen colonies). Some would argue, yes, but only if the Pluribus is somewhat aligned in vision.

They see a Pluribus beset by snarling parties who'd just as soon tear each other apart. Not since the Civil War of 1860, it seems, has the country been so divided. Some even regard the event of January 6 a year ago to have been a mere dress rehearsal for what might come. A dysfunctional Pluribus, they would say, portends, not Unum, but Bellum.

Talk of civil strife, even war, has now moved from backroom conspiratorial whispers to the edges of the mainstream as evidenced by the work of a member of the C.I.A. advisory committee called the Political Instability Task Force (The New Yorker: Is A Civil War Ahead?). The cited book takes pains to avoid fear-mongering but the message, while couched in clinical terms, is clear: we now hang in the balance between democracy and autocracy. The author foresees the real possibility of a future – while perhaps not one of the symmetrical conflict that played out on the battlefields of the Civil War – marked by acts of scattered violence including bombings, political assassinations, and other asymmetric types of warfare.

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This session is about a Norwegian photojournalist's compelling book, The Book Of Vales, though not for the reasons you may think. The book promises, in its introductory essay, to tell the truth about the source of so many fake news stories that have flooded Facebook and many other social media sites.

The book features dozens of first-hand reports from the most successful scammers. You get to read why they engage in such practice, what drives them, what their goals are.

Then there are the haunting images that provide the answer. You bear witness to operation ground zero, a small impoverished North Macedonian city. You see the dreary surroundings – the soldiers smoking behind a barbed-wire fence, the large apartment blocks, the bear drinking from a dirty stream. No wonder these young people resort to producing fake news stories. It’s clearly driven by the lack of alternative means of support.

But that’s not what our session is about. Nor is it about the fact this so-called Book Of Vales . . . wait for it! . . . was itself entirely fabricated, all the way from that introductory essay, to the made-up reports, to the doctored pictures.

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That arbitrary, capricious, whimsical force called luck visited Boulder County last week in the form of patchwork destruction. Up to a thousand homes and buildings in a single day were reduced to rubble, the result of some combination of a bone-dry prairie, a hurricane-force wind, and a spark from who-knows-what. Some homes managed to escape the fire's ravages even as neighboring houses were completely obliterated, the tell-tale mark of that invisible, otherwise undetectable, force known only by its works, luck.

One might plausibly argue that the enormous damage was actually a reflection of man's hubristic desire to domesticate nature. After all, grassland fires have visited the prairies somewhat regularly over the centuries such that the wanton construction of suburban housing therein quite literally "tempted fate." It is here where luck intersects with prudence.

Our focus, however, will be less on any lack of prudence at the wholesale level than on the role of chance at the individual level. For instance, what accounted for the micro-wind patterns that determined such a seemingly-random selection of targets.

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Four seconds. After that, Americans facing silence in a conversation tend to feel rattled, rejected, or insecure. Research suggests Japanese, in comparison, remain at peace in the stillness of the quiet for twice as long. In fact, silence itself is an integral part of their communication pattern (Being Comfortable With Silence Is a Superpower).

Such is its power. We once discussed Thoreau’s attainment of peace, even transcendence, by means of his escape from the chattering society into the refuge of that tiny cabin in 1845 Massachusetts (MM 4/1/19 Solitude (Nature). Behold the simple life in the trade of city convenience for the sublime lightness of being.

We shall experiment. The “trade” in our next session will simply be the offer of silence in exchange for even deeper reflection. Some may view the prospect as uncomfortable, a reaction which itself says something. The little downside would seem minimal compared to the potential upside of an “extra” ordinary experience, literally extraordinary.

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Daniel Patrick Moynihan knew something about deviancy. The U.S. Senator from New York some three decades ago wrote a classic essay “Defining Deviancy Down” (Pdf attached below) with its underlying thesis that America, as a society, has been “re-defining deviancy” i.e. exempting conduct previously stigmatized to such an extent that it risks obliterating standards altogether. Beware of the encroaching numbness associated with normalizing bad behavior.

One can only imagine how he might have reacted to the case of one Darrell Brooks who last week intentionally plowed his SUV into the Waukesha holiday parade killing six and injuring dozens. The “suspect” had been a repeat offender with his numerous felony convictions and had just been arrested for trying to run over his ex. But the point here is not even about Mr. Brooks. For the record, he feels “demonized.”

The real point is about the District Attorney for Milwaukee County who, in response to questions about his judgement in granting an essentially free pass after that days-prior arrest, told a reporter, “Is there going to be an individual I divert (i.e. release back into the street) or I put into treatment program, who’s going to go out and kill somebody? You bet. It’s guaranteed to happen. It does not invalidate the overall approach.”

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The session begins with the thought experiment we left off with some years ago (MM 8/27/18 Get Over Thyself):

It's a pre-dawn morning and you're lying quietly in bed. There's virtually no sensory input, no sound. The mind is clearer in that darkness than it ever is during the day as your thoughts survey your universe in the manner and scope of your choosing.

Then the perspective changes. You are now on the outside looking in and realize that this survey of infinite vastness is nothing more than an illusion produced by three pounds of wetware. Is there any doubt you are, at that point, lord of your skull-sized kingdom?

That illusion, for purposes of our discussion, is labeled the Ego. You still remain lord of your kingdom -- overseeing this deep, unconscious, and literal self-centeredness -- even after you then awake and add sensory input. There is no judgment here. Buddhist scholars might weigh in saying the ego -- this “sense of a different self” -- is a mental construct with which we need to navigate the world (The Illusion Of Self).

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As the co-host of our previous MM 11/1 Applying "Good To Great" session, I was pleased with our discussion linking Jim Collins' Good to Great to my experience in the professional sailing world, applying many of Jim's principles to the teams I worked with then, as well as what I see with clients I work with now as a business coach and Professional EOS Implementer.

During that discussion we talked about what makes a high-performing team, starting off by looking at Jim Collins' approach to first get the right people on the bus, and then figure out where to drive it. The counter point was: with the right product in the right market, any team can do well, so that's where to put the focus. Finally the discussion came around to one of the most basic building blocks of a high-performing team, which is to start by building trust.

On November 29th we will continue the discussion from there, bringing in Patrick Lencioni's framework from 5 Dysfunctions of a Team. The opposite of a dysfunctional team is a healthy, cohesive, functional team, which starts by building trust, then leverages that trust to bring passionate, healthy debate to the table, and once the debate has been resolved, to bond together and commit to the decisions that have been made, hold each other accountable and put aside politics to focus on results.

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Of course there are countries. There are, in fact, 195 of them (all but two recognized by the United Nations), each with its own flag, border, and sovereignty. We all know that. Questioning the notion of a nation-state is akin to challenging the laws of gravity.

But question it we will. Or, at least, we will discuss, qualify, and reimagine the idea of a nation-state with the help of two articles. The first (click: The Attack Of The Civilization-State ) might be summarized by this one whispered Asian truth, "Always remember that China is a civilization rather than a nation-state."

And so it is with another Asian civilization-state, this one the parliamentary democratic republic of India. Prime Minister Modi’s victory arose, in part, by convincing voters to reject the very idea of a nation-state, which he characterized as an invention of the West. Any tolerance for a philosophy that embraces Western-style alternative political systems, you see, itself represents an underlying contempt for the Hindu civilization-state. Long live the civilization-state, the alternative to the West.

So, the point is that “we” might be a bit presumptuous in thinking our concept of the nation-state is consistent with, or shared by, two civilization-states with a combined population eight times ours.

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“Bobos In Paradise” was written by David Brooks some two decades ago to advance the notion that a new group of social animal, the so-called bourgeois-bohemians (“Bobos”) -- those who arose from the affluent educated class blending with the counterculture values of the 1960s -- would power the entrepreneurial energies of an ever-ascendant America. A paradise, indeed, as the culture would represent the ultimate meritocracy such that “Anybody with the right degree, job, and cultural competencies can join.”

Well, how did that work out for ya’? In a recent article from The Atlantic (click: How The Bobos Broke America) the bloom is off the rose as Brooks now maintains, “The bobos have coalesced into an insular, intermarrying brahmin elite that dominates culture, media, education, and tech.” So there, as he reflects on that earlier sunny quote to helpfully admit, “That turned out to be one of the most naive sentences I have ever written.”

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"A farmer got so old that he couldn't work the fields anymore. So he would spend the day just sitting on the porch. His son, still working the farm, would look up from time to time and see his father sitting there. "He's of no use any more," the son thought to himself, "he doesn't do anything!" One day the son got so frustrated by this, that he built a wooden coffin, dragged it over to the porch, and told his father to get in. Without saying anything, the father climbed inside. After closing the lid, the son dragged the coffin to the edge of the farm where there was a high cliff. As he approached the drop, he heard a light tapping on the lid from inside the coffin. He opened it up. Still lying there peacefully, the father looked up at his son. "I know you are going to throw me over the cliff, but before you do, may I suggest something?" "What is it?" replied the son. "Throw me over the cliff, if you like," said the father, "but save this good wood coffin. Your children might need to use it." (Zen proverb)

So who exactly is that, making this "light tapping" sound? It's you, of course. No, it's certainly not me -- I'm the guy out there working the farm. I'm the startup guy looking to score big, the guy bump-skiing the moguls, the guy raising two kids. No, no, it is indeed you, your future self -- a few decades means nothing within the vastness of time and space.

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In the world of organizational development, figurative lightning has stuck Highland twice. The first was the choice by Jim Collins to write his seminal book Good To Great right here at Highland. The second has been the club's great fortune to welcome new member Steve Morris whose life, work, and profession is all about peak team development, applying many of Jim's principles.

Steve knows of what he speaks, having been on the performance team competing in what could be the oldest (first contested,1851), most demanding, unforgiving sporting competition in the world -- that pinnacle of yachting known as the America's Cup.

Join us as Steve shares his expertise on the value of building high-performance teams -- arguably more important for organizational success than money, individual talent, or initial success -- applied to virtually any startup, from coffee to crypto. Per Steve:

"I was amazed at seeing what I regarded as huge investments being made to try to win the America’s Cup, with over $100M being spent each round. Yet that figure is dwarfed by the investments made in startups-- over $75 billion in the second quarter of 2021 alone.

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In his novel Humboldt's Gift, Saul Bellow described the onset of fame, "I experienced the high voltage of publicity. It was like picking up a dangerous wire fatal to ordinary folk. It was like the rattlesnake handled by hillbillies in a state of religious exaltation."

Our MM 2/15/18 Glory Days discussion centered around MM lunch guest Brad Lidge -- the close-out pitcher to win the final game for the Phillies in the World Series on October 29, 2008 -- who so ably managed to handle the rattlesnake as he parlayed his fame (most certainly in Philadelphia) into a solid career and the pursuit of studies and interests far afield from that which had made him famous. More often than not, though, are the stories of those athletes, rock stars, starlets who succumb to the addiction, alienation, depression, and self-destruction under the glare.

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(This is an experiment, of sorts i.e. the selection of a discussion topic that floats outside the mainstream but of possible interest to a subset of participants who might bring their expertise and/or independent research to the table . . . . if there is such an interest, we will look forward to an enlightening discussion; if not, I’ll enjoy the lunch hour talking to myself)

The so-called Triffin paradox: a national currency that additionally functions as a global reserve will inevitably lead to a conflict between that country’s short-term economic interests and long-term international objectives. Stated differently, no country whose currency is the global reserve can pretend to operate as a closed domestic system.

The fact we have pretended otherwise may be key to unlocking the mystery why so many things have seemed off-kilter…

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Some years ago, Member Monday took a deep dive into the world of Psilocybin, particularly its non-recreational application to substantially reduce the anxiety and depression attendant to the terminal patient’s impending death. As we discussed at the time:

Psilocybin -- the psychoactive compound in magic mushrooms -- is enjoying quite a rehabilitation of reputation these days. Once the subject of Timothy Leary's counterculture playground and Nixon's anti-drug vendetta, it has found its way into the research labs at Johns Hopkins, NYU, and the Imperial College in London (MM 7/24/17 Hallucinogens).

Our upcoming discussion will go beyond the confines of the strictly medical world as we open ourselves up to investigate what might be termed the whole-life application, which will include the very recent experience of our lead participant, fresh off a guided Psilocybin event of his own. This member’s identity will be revealed at our session, along with his motivation to embark on the experience in the first place, how he navigated any tricky legalities (note: psilocybin therapy was decriminalized in Denver through a 2019 ballot initiative), what he learned in the process, and whether/why he might recommend it to others.

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Edmund Burke cast a skeptical eye across the English Channel at the French Revolution and wrote sarcastically: "Amidst assassination, massacre, and confiscation, they are forming plans for the good order of future society."

One might apply the same skepticism to the present-day anarchical impulse despite it being something less than a movement, let alone a revolution. Perhaps it is best regarded as a kind of formless sentiment.

Our (very first) MM 7/5/16 A People's History of the United States featured a book authored by Howard Zinn, a self-professed anarchist who, in a 2008 interview, sought to disassociate "real anarchists" from the popular conception of it as inherently violent and predisposed to disorder and chaos.

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Spend just two minutes. Dedicate two full minutes to really look at, even meditate on, this picture.

The picture, of course, is of the plot bounded by the Boulder turnpike and Table Mesa/South Boulder Roads. There at the bottom left is Table Mesa Park-N- Ride. Just below that and outside the frame is the major intersection with the Foothills parkway. In the middle of the picture you'll see a larger body of water along with two smaller ones all fed by South Boulder creek. Now imagine the view of this same property from the vantage point of one driving from Denver, cresting the turnpike at Davidson Mesa, then dropping down for the first view of the city. Wow, you say, this seems to be more of a town than a city, all nestled cosily within natural beauty. This pictured plot, of course, is what's known as CU South.

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A kerfuffle of sorts broke out with the publication of "A helpless giant, led by buffoons," the lead introduction to last week's Weekly. Its lament for the late, great grand experiment called "American Exceptionalism" drew fire (e.g. see "Another Angle" appearing above), not so much for the asserted emasculation of it through our loss of resolve and moral ballast, but for heralding that very phenomenon in the first place. Exceptionalism suggests hubris. Hubris smacks of imperial overreach. This point-counterpoint is the topic for our MM discussion, centered around the focus article The Myth of American Exceptionalism.

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Member David Bright does a splendid presentation on the subject of Multi-Dimensional Wealth. At the center of his talk is the illustration, real or imagined, of Da Vinci’s famous Vitruvian Man, the one depicting a man in two superimposed positions with his arms and legs apart and inscribed in a circle and square. Think of wealth, David explains, in terms of the body’s extremities, the man’s two legs, two arms, and then the head.

In essence, starting with the arms and legs, each representing one of four aspects of wealth…

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It had been described as "a device of such monstrous efficiency that it left no room for humanity." The referenced "device" was an institutional building and system of control designed in the eighteenth century by the English philosopher and social theorist Jeremy Bentham. The so-called panopticon, from the Greek word for "all seeing," was devilishly simple.

A prison consisted of individual cells arranged along the circumference of a multistory rotunda, each cell facing inward. An inspection house sat in the middle. The efficiency allowed a single unseen guard in the inspection house to watch over hundreds of inmates. The power lay in the fact no prisoner was ever aware at any particular time whether the prisoner was being watched. This asymmetric viewing system served as the model for fifty-four prisons in Victorian Britain.

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Our own Bob Davis led his response to last week's introduction with "we are all ignorant, just ignorant about different things." So well said and the perfect segue to our next session. Our discussion will be centered around Against Persuasion and its theme that the pursuit of knowledge requires a radical collaboration: the openness to being persuaded as much as an eagerness to persuade.

The genuine desire to know through honest inquiry, an aspiration of Member Monday, is certainly nothing new. Socrates sought to map out the terrain of his own ignorance through the dialogues with others, seeking clarification and refuting views, all in an attempt to acquire the knowledge he so desperately wanted. No interlocutor was off-limits as most people put forward claims. His ultimate high wire act must have been seeking to refute the proclamation by none other than the Oracle at Delphi that Socrates, himself, must be the wisest of men.

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