This week’s blog’s topic
centers on the 13 virtues that Ben Franklin believed were important (Twin
Cities Public Television, n.d.). Of these 13 virtues, three have been targeted
for this blog today. The reason they were selected is that they are the most relevant
in my life today and perhaps will spur your own reflective thoughts on this
topic.
Order - #1 Virtue
Order in allowing all
things to “have their places” and “each part of your business to have its time”
is listed as Ben Franklin’s third virtue (Twin Cities Public Television, n.d.).
For me, this ranks at the top of my list as it applies to my professional life
at my place of employment. Let me explain how Franklin’s order virtue fits into
my scheme at work.
My position is the lead advanced
aircraft fault isolation developer at a major aerospace manufacture. The
technological advances in data management since my arrival in 2010 has been
under the strain of constant change. One of the main reasons for this is there
are many moving parts that make our decision making system dynamic, with each
decision making component not having a clear cause and effect on components
downstream or upstream from where it was made. Working in this field could be
described as having a high degree of ambiguity, uncertainty, and turbulence and
has many characteristics of being a complex business environment where cause
and effect are not apparent (Sullivan, 2011, p. 90).
In such environments, the
temptation to fall back into a “command-and-control mode” of steering to find a
solution instead of allowing new processes to emerge can lead to a project
failing (Snowden & Boone, 2007, p. 73). Franklin’s virtue of order would
appear on the surface to be of the ‘command and control’ nature when careful
examination exposes just the opposite when zeroing in on the second half of
Franklin’s virtue “Let each part of your business have its time” (Twin Cities
Public Television, n.d.). Allowing your business to have “its time” communicates
to me to stay patient and is a point than is critical as it relates to managing
in the context of complex systems. Consider Snowden & Boone (2007), Catmull
(2014), and Obolensky (2014):
The system (complex) is
dynamic, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, and solutions can’t be
imposed” rather, they arise from the circumstances. This is frequently referred
to as emergence” (Snowden & Boone, 2007, p. 71); “Emergence is the way
complex systems and patterns arise out of a multiplicity of relatively simple
interactions” (Corning, as cited by Obolensky, 2014. p. 93); “No matter what,
the process of coming to clarity takes patience and candor” (Catmull, 2014, p.
68).
Having patience not to
oversteer and force the outcomes you want as a leader in complex environments
can, without doubt, be the fine line between experiencing success and experiencing
varying degrees of disappointment. “Leaders who try to impose order in a
complex context will fail, but those who set the stage, step back a bit, allow
patters to emerge, and determine which ones are desirable will succeed (Snowden
& Boone, 2007).
Sincerity - #2 Virtue
Without sincerity how
can a leader resonant with his followership? If one believes Boyatzis &
McKee (2005) that there are three critical components (mindfulness, hope, and
compassion) in sustaining resonant leadership, then how is it possible to
sustain your resonance if you are not sincere with your followers (p. 8)? For
me, resonating with my followership is what sustains my energy and serves as my
charging station so that my followers get the best of me on a daily basis. Caring
about others and the desire to be a resonant / interactive leader is the
primary reason why sincerity tops my list at #2. Additionally, recently I discovered that
caring about others is one of the five factors that enhance or constrain our
moral thinking (LaFollette, 2007, p. 200). In this case caring about others enhances
not only my moral thinking (which in-turn increases caring about others) but
also my ability to resonant with others.
Tranquility - #3 Virtue
Like sincerity, the
virtue of finding tranquility is a key component of being a resonant leader, in
particular increasing the capacity to be more mindful “It takes some effort to
train oneself to be mindful…There is no one way to do this…You need to focus on
yourself and spend some time alone.” (Boyatzis & McKee, 2005, p. 114).
A quick reflection of my
childhood upbringing adds to finding tranquility’s importance. My mother always
made it a point that finding tranquility for her was vitally important to her
in growing as a person and while taking longs walks by myself or before
mediating, the memories of those lessons often find their way to becoming vivid
and real in the moment.
Summary
Benjamin Franklin was a
remarkable man who had frailties; lest we forget he was human. Despite any
shortcomings he many have had, he is a great American that more people should
try and emulate, at least when it comes to living a virtuous life. Order, sincerity
and tranquility are my top three virtues that are most relevant for me today
and are part of my daily life. Hopefully this blog will have inspired you to reflect
upon your most relevant virtue(s).
References:
Catmull,
E. (2014). Inside the Pixar braintrust.
Fast Company, (184), 67-74.
LaFollette, H. (2007). The practice of ethics. Malden, MA:
Blackwell Publishing.
Boyatzis, R., &
McKee, A. (2005). Resonant leadership:
Renewing yourself and connecting with others through mindfulness, hope, and
compassion. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Press.
Twin Cities Public
Television, (n.d.). Benjamin Franklin: An extraordinary life. An electric mind.
Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/benfranklin
Snowden, D., &
Boone, M. (2007). A Leader's Framework for Decision Making. Harvard Business Review, 85(11), 68-76.
Sullivan, T. (2011).
Embracing Complexity. Harvard Business
Review, 89(9), 89-92.
