They were the Aycliffe Angels. Munitions workers dressed in distinctive white turbans to keep gunpowder from their hair. Engaged in dangerous work, subjected to air raids. They manufactured munitions for their men on the front. Tirelessly. Continuously. With pride passion and purpose.
He was a Jewish chemist enslaved in Auschwitz. A chronicler of the outrage, of man’s inhumanity to man. A survivor who through will and fortune lived to note succinctly that “The aims of life are the best defence against death.”
He gave us “that definition”. He talked about the ultimate subjective truth; Religion. He described it famously as taking a “leap of faith”. He argued that even if the “enemy” proved overwhelmingly that the Bible was not accurate, that should not undermine belief in God for the Religious.
Individuals. People. Groups. Causes. Purposes. All different.
The individual, persecuted and racked with emotion for being alive but driven by a raw desire to live. The Movement, fighting for each other, themselves and their beliefs. The Community, a collection of individuals but an entity in its own right, with a common purpose.
All capable of transformation, of amazing feats, achieved over time, through toil and persistence. Through satisfying both individual and group needs, through harnessing collective desires.
All capable of living with conflict; inner and communal. Of disaffection and possible disintegration. All equally capable of cohesion or of blaming someone or something else.
Three such different scenario. Each with clear commonality.
In each case, the desired outcome was transformative, honed from or built upon a resolute personal desire or through harnessing individual will into collective force.
The transformation of hope into reality through the power of a vision, of a belief.
The need for democracy to prevail. The need to survive. The need for faith.
Conversely, those without a clear belief, even a negative one, or where alignment is fractured, rarely succeed.
Clearly extreme examples, used to highlight the common link. That is in each case the transformation, the survival, the adherence, was to a cause. The “aim” became the strength.
The clarity that X action could lead to Y outcome.
The hardships, the setbacks, the isolation and even the ridicule. All worth it. Because of the belief, unbreakable, the link, known, the knowledge, sacred.
The resolve that every personal action, however seemingly mundane, was an important step in the delivery of the ultimate vision. Survival. Victory for democracy over evil. Eternal life.
Simple, clear, cause and effect.
More mundanely, anyone who has ever rowed in an eight knows the extraordinary power of unity. When individuals become a collective. The boat rises. The speed increases. The eight transforms into one.
But equally well known and probably more prevalent is the opposite. Disintegration. Despair. Blame. Missing a training session. Blaming the coach. Lack of belief in the cause. Someone else’s fault.
Some call it a belief system. Others the “theory of change”. It is in all cases a direct nexus between action and outcome. A spine of values to which all actions adhere.
Coalescence can be achieved through meditation or prayer, according to prescribed doctrines. Others mortify new recruits, shaving their hair, reducing their personal identity, only to rebuild them based upon a pre-determined collective system of values.
Transformation of individuals or businesses or society into a high performing unit requires – relies upon – a clearly understood outcome and an embraced vision. One that is believed as true or vital by the majority. One that is believed to be delivered by adherence to a system of procedures or ways of behaving. Proscribed actions that are followed and respected and which, by so adhering, will achieve the outcome.
Individuals can challenge and wrestle with the detail, but must share the unshakeable belief about how their own actions build towards the inevitable outcome.
Clearly defined outputs, derived from clearly articulated processes, delivered by belief in a vision, resulting in a transformation.
If I want to become the best in the world, from merely very good (vision), I have to believe that I can, if I train hard (belief), in accordance with a regime that I admire and respect (structures), then the outputs will be proven (medals).
If I want to go to heaven for eternal life (vision), I have to believe that my God exists (belief) and adhere to proscribed rules, prohibitions and rituals (structures) and the output will be proven (after I die).
If we want our company to be better than our bitterest rival (vision), we have to act as a high performing team (belief) by adhering to the modus operandi that we subscribe to (Values/structures/ways of behaving) and the outputs will be proven (Key Performance Indicators).
All rely upon a clearly articulated and believed vision. Only once this is embedded and respected will individuals, teams and communities understand how their own actions cumulate to deliver the required outcome.
Through this adherence, tough decisions can be taken. We don’t ever eat pork, we are open and honest with each other at board meetings, we never skip training.
Because we all know why the sacrifices are worth it and we all believe that by doing our bit we, as a collective, will deliver outcomes and ultimately the vision.
Without the vision there remains uncertainty. With uncertainty comes doubt.
But Sarah did not turn up for fitness training last week, so why do I need to. The boss told us the required standards but I heard her complaining about her colleagues at the water cooler. No one has ever come back after death so where is the proof of an afterlife. I don’t know how my task helps deliver the vision, so I’ll just do as little as possible. My peer is not delivering and I want their job, so I will talk behind their back rather than be honest and constructive.
With vision comes certainty. Challenges are welcomed, but constructive ones. Collective decisions can be made for the greater good.
Peter has let the side down by his training, so we tell him and expect better. I have faith and belief in my religion. That is all the proof I need. If I work harder than others and act decently, my approach and skills will be duly recognised and the organisation as a whole will benefit.
From bullets to democracy.
I know why I am in this factory, ten hours a day, in fear of air raids. I know why I never produce sub-standard munitions. I know how my task cumulates to help the war effort. I appreciate my role and the role of others. I know that every time we have a success in battle or a townsman comes home safe, I helped deliver that output. Above all, I believe passionately in democracy.
All transformation starts with a vision. One that the individual, group, community or society can believe in.
Only then can the processes, procedures, ways of behaving and milestones be established.
Without clarity of the vision, the “I know how what I am doing is benefiting the cause and why I am doing it…”, there will only ever be limited alignment.
This vision has to be lived. It has to be believed. There has to be a “leap of faith” that if I act accordingly, the desired outcome can happen. A belief is not enforced or hoped for; it lives and is embedded.
Personal transformation depends on visualisation of understood goals. Team transformation depends on collective desire and the sum of the parts acting to become greater than the whole.
Alignment of actions based on a simple clear vision. From Bullets to Democracy. The Transformers’ alchemy.
Al Insky
Easter 2017