This year’s Mission Exchange conference is all about the need for and process of deep change. The trend of Israeli-Palestinian Peace is an example of the issues surrounding deep change.
US President Obama says achieving this peace will require “wrenching compromise.” Unfortunately, there are many players involved in the process—and none see the the need for compromise, or even think that a compromise would be right. Every side responds to this situation simply by saying “in principle, I’m willing to seek peace—but they aren’t.” Each points the finger at the other and says that the other is the hold-up.
Worse, they really don’t have to compromise: the ships haven’t burned. There is no compelling reason at this point to do the hard work of finding a workable compromise. The status quo is violent—but only occasionally. The status quo has the possibility of severe violence—but everyone has lived with the possibility for so long that the odds of it not actually ever happening seems to be significantly higher.
So, the challenge in the case of Israel—and in any case involving deep change—is this: (1) they have to see the benefit or the case for change, (2) they have to think that change is both right and possible, and (3) they need to change (or die?).
In the case of Israel, I have no idea what the way forward is. It will be interesting to monitor the trend and see what happens.
But in the case of your organization, and your vision… is there a way to burn the ships and force yourself forward?
Additional reading
- Seth Godin, “Looking for the right excuse,” explores how we begin every project with the excuse for its failure.
- Leadership Blog, “Got drama?”, reviews a book that helps deal with change-based drama in the work place.
- Thomas Friedman, “Lessons from Tahrir Square,” eloquently examines the same challenges and presents one potential solution for the Palestinians and a warning for the Israelis.
- Chris Guillebeau, “The Need for Change,” in The Art of Non-Conformity, asks, “Why is it so hard to break free of a life that’s good enough to pursue the life we truly long for?”
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