I am reminded of when our ancestors overcame the existential threat of sabertooth tigers. For a while, we arrogantly took on the tiger alone, just to be slaughtered. Alone.
Eventually, there was an awakening that empowered humans to see - to become aware of - to become conscious of - the miscalculation the ego made of the self. I wonder how we communicated these ideas back then without the language we have today. How did we convey the idea, “We aren’t going to overcome this challenge by brazenly fighting one man against one tiger. We need to come together and make a collective impact.”
Another awakening, perhaps, is found within the black death pandemic which paved the way for the Renaissance. Merchants noticed that if they worked together, perhaps they would gain liberation from that which oppressed them. Soon after the slight aroma of freedom entered the room, they began to collaborate.
Perhaps we made this existential upgrade when we became conscious of a truth that competition is actually much larger than that of our peers. Our peers are, in fact, the allies which enable the reclaiming of ownership to that which is birthright.
Here we are, perhaps, again.
How are you navigating this transition from survival of the fittest to survival of the most cooperative?
How do you overcome the obstacles that come up from within stakeholders during collective impact initiatives?
How do you know if everyone is “doing the work” internally so that past trauma does not get in the way of present-future possibilities?
