Change change change. How often do we hear that these days? From a lean perspective we’re focused on continuous improvement… another form of change.
But is change truly necessary? Zen Habits had an interesting post a few days ago that calls it into question. I don’t necessarily agree, but it’s an interesting perspective.
Seriously — almost every political and religious group, every
opinionated person, every publication with an opinion, has said at one
time or another what they think is wrong with this world.Conservatives think that we’ve become a welfare state while many liberals think we’ve allowed too
much corporate welfare. Others
think that abortion is the problem, others think it’s declining morals,
others think it’s infidels, and others say it’s infidelity. Other
things that are wrong with this world, depending on the group: the
media, young people, environmentalists, McDonald’s, criminals, gays,
black people, white people, foreigners overrunning our country, bigots,
radicals, the Establishment, poor people, corporations, lazy people,
evil people, Fox News, the Internet … the list could go on and on,
obviously.
Ok, and how does Leo deal with all that?
So what’s really wrong with the world, in my opinion? Not a thing.
That takes some guts. Why does he feel that way?
It seems to be a prevailing world-view that the world is messed up,
that there are just a few things wrong with it, and if we could only
get those things to change, the world would be great. If we could just
educate people and get them to realize what’s wrong with this world,
things could change.
This type of view of the world — and like I said, I think it’s the
prevailing view — stems from an ideal that many people have in their
heads of what the world should be like. Reality and this ideal are incompatible.That’s how most people are, and I don’t think I can change that, nor
would I want to. I thought it would be an interesting discussion,
though, because I think this discrepancy between what people think the
world should be and what the world really is can cause unhappiness.When reality doesn’t meet ideals — and it rarely does — we become unhappy.
So instead of being dissatisfied and unhappy with the status quo, instead should we simply accept reality and be blissfully happy?
I’m not proposing that you, or anyone else, change your world-view.
If you, or anyone else, is happy with that world-view, don’t change it.But there is an alternative, and I’m not saying it’s better. It’s
the world-view I try to have: instead of having an ideal, stop looking
for perfection. Accept the world as it is, and love it for what it is.
Accept people as they are, and love them.
Sounds difficult.
That’s not easy, even if it sounds trite and commonplace. If you
haven’t tried it, I recommend you do, because 1) it won’t be easy; and
2) it could open your eyes to the pre-conceived ideals you didn’t
realize you had.What would be the result of this alternative world-view? Well, I
think you’d be happier, if only because you didn’t see the world as a
fundamentally flawed or evil place, and began to see the good in the
world.Does this mean that we should give up on trying to make positive
changes in the world? Should we stop trying to make the world a better
place? Nosireebob!
As I said at the beginning, I don’t really buy the entire concept. I believe you can also create happiness, and satisfaction, by improving the world. But sometimes we do need to take a step back and make sure we’re not creating change just for the sake of change.
Matt Cline says
Kevin, I think a lot of your disagreements stem from some very common misunderstandings of the Zen attitude.
Leo is not suggesting that people give up on trying to make positive change in the world. In fact, he says exactly the opposite, in text that you quoted at the end of your post.
The idea is to accept and understand the world as it is, warts and all.
A lot of people don’t seem to be able to do that. They let the world’s problems make them hurt and angry. It’s almost like they take the problems personally.
When people let the world’s problems make them angry, then their judgement gets clouded. Their attempts to change things become more about soothing their own anger, and less about solving the problem.
Effective problem-solvers stay calm by keeping their perspective.
Brian Tucker says
The issue is not whether we (society or individuals) should change; the issue is really the goal of that change. I’m not sure what Leo is trying to say nor do I claim to have an understanding of Zen (or want to for that matter); but the comment he made that “we should all accept…and love the world…and accept… and love others” is, in fact, a call to change…a change from trying to change people and society, a change that, in his own words will make us “happier”. So in this logic change is positive, because it is a change for the “right goal”.
From a Lean perspective we promote “change for the good”; or at least we should. Individually we should all “change for the good” as well. The issue then really is what is “good”? Is “good” an absolute or is it relative? We are quick to point out absolutes in the lean world (e.g. waste is bad) and just as quick to accept a relative “good” in everything else. Should we?
Leo apparently has a world view that “good” is absolute as he values “acceptance”, “love” and “happiness” as an absolute good. So, based on his own reasoning, he should agree that there is something wrong with the world, and that something is that not everything and not everyone is “good”, and that “good” is obviously an absolute, by which everything can be measured.
We should all be pointing at what is not “good” and striving to change for the good…in our factories, in our communities and most importantly in ourselves.
Tom says
Many major religions have their roots in the same realization that even though the world could be better and we need it to be better, it isn’t likely to get where we want it. This includes Zen Buddhism, Taoism and Christianity. It’s really a statement about the divergence between expectations and reality. When the disillusionment created by that divergence becomes too great, revolutions tend to happen. The effort to accept the world as it is and then make local improvement your goal (rather than targeting some ideal future state) is essentially society’s attempt to prevent violence.