The One Thing That Makes Everything Else Work

I can imagine that, as you start reading this, you’re expecting that we’re going to talk about trust. That ‘trust’ is the one thing that makes everything else work. Well that’s also true. And I want to take you deeper.

How do we get to the point of being able to trust? Why, for example, would we trust the strangers we work with? How can we trust them, when we know that they have different upbringings, different values, different ideals, different beliefs, different cultures, different education and different career aspirations. The list goes on. Maybe we don’t know that they’re different. And that’s the point. We don’t know and that uncertainty forms the basis of mistrust or suspicion. In fact, that lack of awareness also often leads us to unintentionally offend someone and trigger some overt or covert conflict. And that in turn creates mistrust.

So that’s why we create behavioural guidelines, policies, procedures and processes, lines of authority and accountability, laws etc so we can at least put our trust in the structure and the game plans. If we can just trust everyone to follow them. Of course people do and don’t, to varying degrees, and so a large organisational focus then, naturally, becomes compliance-oriented, which normally cultivates a culture of mistrust.

So how then do we trust? How do we trust our colleagues? How do we trust our leaders? How do we trust our government? How do we trust other governments?

The simple answer is higher purpose. A lofty statement if ever there was one. And so for this reason we most commonly dismiss it, because it seems too intangible; perhaps, to some, even inappropriately spiritual. But in fact it’s not. It’s just a truth.

Without a higher purpose, we’re left to try and ‘govern’ our collection of personal, intrinsically-insecure, ego-driven motivations. That’s like herding cats. I won’t say impossible but it sure does take some energy and resources that could otherwise be better invested in actually achieving something.

At this point I can imagine a few retort that “that’s what a goal is idiot”. Hang in there. A goal is probably more often ‘a wish’ to be perceived, or prescribed, as a higher purpose or, at best, a step toward a higher purpose.

Goals, just as behavioural guidelines, policies, practices and procedures etc, are all ideas that stem logically and intelligently from the pre-frontal cortex (the thinking, conscious brain). A higher purpose is intrinsically linked to the limbic brain, which is what “really” (unconsciously) motivates us. The thinking brain then has something to apply its pragmatism to.

Basically a goal without a higher purpose creates a cart before the horse issue. It doesn’t work and the horses tend to go nuts.

So rather than keeping this theoretical, let’s apply an interesting example. One that we’ve all personally experienced recently. A pandemic. Up until the pandemic, life was pretty (dysfunctionally) normal. Politicians intent on opposing and discrediting their opponents ahead of any other ‘goal’, media intent on publishing whatever sold ad revenue, most businesses trying to destroy their opposition to survive or increase profit and most individuals caught up in their own personal agenda and advancement.

Then came Covid, which threatened all of us in the same way. Irrespective of where we lived, or how much we earned, or which side of politics we were on, we were all vulnerable and our families and friends were vulnerable. It has been the great leveller. All of a sudden, we all had a higher purpose. Something that forced us apart physically and pulled us together emotionally. Once we were (limbically ... is that a word?) on board with the higher purpose, we could rationally get onboard with what we were being asked to do i.e. make every effort to create space for, and stay away from, each other, tediously disinfect and especially look out for our elders, who were most vulnerable.

All of a sudden we saw something I don’t ever recall seeing in my lifetime. Both sides of politics working together constructively to achieve a common purpose “to keep us all safe from something we cannot see”. All of a sudden the media seemed to be reporting news that was helping that purpose. All of a sudden we saw organisations communicating with genuinely caring messaging and even altruism. We’ve seen countries working together. We’ve seen scientists and pharmaceutical companies working together (WTF?).

All of a sudden we saw people caring about, supporting and educating the elderly and kids and friends and strangers and “everyone” because we were (and still are) “all in this together”. A purpose that’s bigger than our personal discomfort.

Obviously we also saw the panic buying and other disturbing behaviours initially, while people dealt with their irrational fears, until their limbic brains engaged with the higher purpose. Around the world we’ve also seen how it works when leadership don’t engage with and inspire the higher purpose, which has just been awful to witness. We’ve seen the initial contraction and then inspiring expansion of humanity that naturally occurs with higher purpose.

When we all have a higher purpose to rally behind, our own personal agendas and fears become less important. It’s not that we don’t have them. It’s that we become more focussed on what will help ‘us’ achieve something ‘more important’. And it, in this case ironically, brings us together. It enables us to trust each other more as we all have something in common that is ‘more important’ to motivate us. And when I say ‘more important’ I mean as determined by the limbic brain; the one connected to ‘feeling’ not thinking.

Probably necessary to point out that profit, profit growth, greater market share, acquisition strategies, global expansion, winning the next election, sales revenue growth, implementation of the new ERP etc etc are not higher purposes.

Solving problems in the world, enabling the disabled, healing the suffering, protecting the vulnerable, preventing depression, anxiety and global warming are examples of higher purposes.

These are things that people can really get behind and feel a part of. These are more important than personal agenda and fears. These are causes that people can willingly dedicate their highest potential to, without wanting to block or hold competitors back. These are purposes which will inspire excitement and deep fulfilment, accomplishment as well as self-esteem and respect and appreciation for the success of others.

That is an incredible possibility and one that is available to us. We just need to chose to lean into that possibility.