Accompanying thoughts

What can man comprehend, and what represents the greatest attainment in this respect? Baha’u’llah states:

“Wert thou to ponder in thine heart, from now until the end that hath no end, and with all the concentrated intelligence and understanding which the greatest minds have attained in the past or will attain in the future, this divinely ordained and subtle Reality, this sign of the revelation of the All-Abiding, All-Glorious God, thou wilt fail to comprehend its mystery or to appraise its virtue. Having recognized thy powerlessness to attain to an adequate understanding of that Reality which abideth within thee, thou wilt readily admit the futility of such efforts as may be attempted by thee, or by any of the created things, to fathom the mystery of the Living God, the Day Star of unfading glory, the Ancient of everlasting days. This confession of helplessness which mature contemplation must eventually impel every mind to make is in itself the acme of human understanding, and marketh the culmination of man’s development.“

Baha’u’llah, Gleanings LXXXIII

Since each snowflake follows a different path to the ground, no two are ever the same; likewise, no two paths through time are ever the same. So with humans as well: an individual's identity is shaped by the unique path he/she follows through life; each an exquisitely shaped 'snowflake' - or 'flower' if you will - formed by heaven's gentle caress.

"Dost thou reckon thyself only a puny form When within thee the universe is folded?"

O SON OF MAN! Rejoice in the gladness of thine heart, that thou mayest be worthy to meet Me and to mirror forth My beauty.

A well written piece (below), premised on the idea expressed by 'Abdu'l-Bahá about diversity being beneficial on the condition that it be governed by a single, indivisible and unifying Spirit:

"When these different limbs and organs come under the influence of man's sovereign soul,...then difference reinforceth harmony, diversity strengtheneth love, and multiplicity is the greatest factor for coordination."                                  (Full quotation at bottom of post)

  BILL WIBERG, GENERAL PARTNER

Great Minds Think Alike and Fools Seldom Differ

Great organizations thrive on diversity of thought and ideas.  Stating the obvious? You’d be surprised.  Human nature has a way of congregating like-minded individuals with similar backgrounds. 

I was reminded of this recently when speaking at a university event that was explicitly targeted at encouraging students from the business and engineering schools to network with one another.  I wanted to get a sense of the audience at the outset and asked how many people were from the engineering school.  The show of hands indicated that about half the students were engineers, but interestingly, they were almost all on the one side of the auditorium while the business students were on the other.  There’s a strong natural pull to remain around those with whom you share similar perspectives and philosophies.  When building a company this is a pull that you must work to resist.

Assuring diversity of thought is a crucial, commonsense strategy that frequently is overlooked in businesses.  This can be especially true among early-stage companies where the founders - often former colleagues with similar backgrounds – are creating the underlying foundation of the company and outlining its strategies for success.  

Successful companies create a culture in which embracing a variety of perspectives and ideas is an integral part of the business, from strategic planning to daily decision-making. Having a staff as wide as it is deep in perspective with varying backgrounds and experience enables companies to embrace a multitude of voices and, in the end, make better decisions.  This is true across all the market sectors in which we invest – IT, healthcare and cleantech.  

Strong, confident CEOs engender spirited discourse that challenges every aspect of the company, from product development to market selection to strategic partnerships.  Andy Ory, CEO of Acme Packet, is a great example of a CEO who thrives on strategically aligning a variety of perspectives and backgrounds at the leadership level. Andy bristles at the idea of leading a company with a management team of “like-minded souls.”  He knows that sales and marketing executives view a challenge much differently than a CFO (Chief Financial Officer) or a technologist.   Yes, the founding team may have a passion for pure technology, but there are those that are better suited to evaluate the reality of that science or technology for the marketplace. Keep in mind, once you step outside the front door, the marketplace is sure to be more ruthless on you than your team, so better to have those reality checks internally first, and make sure your sales team’s voice is being heard.

The challenge lies in balancing many viewpoints while ensuring the team is working with a common set of assumptions and toward a common goal. Should the chief scientist be revered and lead all decisions?  Should the sales & marketing head dictate company strategy?  What role does your Board play in all of this?  The best CEOs know how to knit it all together.   As Andy Ory has said, “It’s crucial to always have a compass.  Know who you are; what you’re about; and what line you, as a company, want to travel.  Always.”

Source: http://www.atvcapital.com/technology-blog/great-minds-think-alike

Full quotation of 'Abdu'l-Bahá's statement:

A critic may object, saying that peoples, races, tribes and communities of the world are of different and varied customs, habits, tastes, character, inclinations and ideas, that opinions and thoughts are contrary to one another, and how, therefore, is it possible for real unity to be revealed and perfect accord among human souls to exist?

In answer we say that differences are of two kinds. One is the cause of annihilation and is like the antipathy existing among warring nations and conflicting tribes who seek each other's destruction, uprooting one another's families, depriving one another of rest and comfort and unleashing carnage. The other kind which is a token of diversity is the essence of perfection and the cause of the appearance of [heavenly blessings].

Consider the flowers of a garden: though differing in kind, color, form and shape, yet, inasmuch as they are refreshed by the waters of one spring, revived by the breath of one wind, invigorated by the rays of one sun, this diversity increaseth their charm, and addeth unto their beauty. Thus when that unifying force, the penetrating influence of the Word of God, taketh effect, the difference of customs, manners, habits, ideas, opinions and dispositions embellisheth the world of humanity. This diversity, this difference is like the naturally created dissimilarity and variety of the limbs and organs of the human body, for each one contributeth to the beauty, efficiency and perfection of the whole. When these different limbs and organs come under the influence of man's sovereign soul, and the soul's power pervadeth the limbs and members, veins and arteries of the body, then difference reinforceth harmony, diversity strengtheneth love, and multiplicity is the greatest factor for coordination.

How unpleasing to the eye if all the flowers and plants, the leaves and blossoms, the fruits, the branches and the trees of that garden were all of the same shape and color! Diversity of hues, form and shape, enricheth and adometh the garden, and heighteneth the effect thereof. In like manner, when divers shades of thought, temperament and character, are brought together under the power and influence of one central agency, the beauty and glory of human perfection will be revealed and made manifest.

On the benefits of experiencing hard times, and regarding Irish "independence" - the author argues convincingly that (economic) sovereignty is a chimera (which goes for any nation, actually)!

"Austerity is good for the soul and bracing for the character: it also enhances compassion, because hard times help you to identify more feelingly with the needy. "And charities such as the Society of St Vincent de Paul have attracted more donations since the austere times began: more people now identify with those who have lost their jobs, or lost their homes, or gone through the sorrow of seeing their children emigrate – frequently to Australia and New Zealand, where there is a demand for workers in the building trade." "I don't believe that it is the austerity programme that disturbs the Irish collective psyche. It's the loss of sovereignty that triggers the most passionate debates. "Yet whether a small state can ever be truly independent or autonomous is questionable (with today's globalisation, that may also apply to larger states). Sovereignty was the key to Ireland's national vision but, in reality, it was a fragile kind of sovereignty. "The republic of Ireland affirmed full "sovereignty" in 1949, but all through the 1950s Ireland remained greatly dependent on the British economy. .. eventually, a small state always gets drawn into the magnetic field of a greater empire, and this is what has occurred with the European Union. "The austerity we can live with: it's the evidence that sovereignty is a chimera that troubles the soul."