No. 564, April 2, 2007

Good relationships give a better action plan

One afternoon I found a quote which caught my attention. The same evening I went to a meeting about a school in my area which our politicians wanted to shut down. But they also wanted to listen to the opinions of the local people.

Our local government had found that our local schools had more space than was needed. They wanted to close one of the schools. But they were open to alternative suggestions from the local people.

I found instant use of my insight from the quote the same afternoon. The quote from spiritual teacher Jiddu Krishnamurti (1895–1986) was as follows:

Action has meaning only in relationship and without understanding relationship, action on any level will only breed conflict. The understanding of relationship is infinitely more important than the search for any plan of action.

The meeting was predictable. The economists of the local government had found an excess of floor area in our local schools. They wanted to close one school and move the pupils to other schools. But the people in our area wanted to keep their school. Closing it would break many relationships between class mates, school staff and parents. The children would get a longer and more dangerous walk to school. The local government was talking about money and the local population about relationships. I had the sense I had heard it all before.

We have previously written in Strategies about how successful companies are great at caring for relationships. This way they keep their customers and get loyal employees – in analogy with the quote from Krishnamurti.

In our rational age it is all too easy to find solutions behind the spreadsheet on our computer. But without knowing the relationships involved, change is not possible without conflict and frustration. This is equally true for work places as in society and families. What can be done?

• "Ownership" of the change is crucial for success of the change. A change which takes both economy and relationships in consideration is easier to "own". This can create a true win-win solution which can be acceptable to everyone involved.
  
  
• An effective way to create such a win-win solution is to ask those affected to come with suggestions which both solves the financial dilemma and cares for relationships in a satisfactory way. Great solutions will be created in this way and also "owned" by the people affected.

Involuntarily broken relationships costs money. It costs motivation, stress and in worst case health. Politicians may also pay a price at future elections. Most likely we will more and more be asked to come with our own suggestions to change. This is a positive development.

Creative regards! Jonas Himmelstrand

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