Are You Focused on I or We?

I’m in Shinagawa-ku Tokyo for a week working with some senior leaders. Walking through Shinagawa train station when I arrived from Narita Airport on Monday I was again struck by the almost universal uniformity of dress. Men and women heading to or from work were almost all in black, with white shirts and black ties. It’s like a uniform, but for the entire country. I heard that when they shutdown of the nuclear plant after the tsunami last year, they realized that electricity would be at a premium and so they told all the employers throughout the country to allow their workers to wear something other than suits. If that happened at all, it is not evident now.

In a country that imposes such uniformity, I wonder if personal greatness can resonate. There is a communication discipline here where people rarely speak about “I” and mostly speak about “we.” It is a country where community is the focus and tradition is the norm. Yet there are signs that Japanese also express themselves in unique styles and try to utilize their unique gifts. Just stopping at some of the clothing stores I found styles much more avant-garde than I typically find in the US. I assume that when they get out of work, they allow their fashion to reflect their individuality.

But aside from fashion, the focus is on the community and how each individual can benefit the community. Though it is not the wholesale focus on the self as in other countries, there is an aspect of utilizing gifts and talents, but for the larger group. That creates a drive toward excellence that embraces the whole country because if one individual lags, the rest of them suffer.

The concept, used mostly in industry but can be applied here is called kaizen, or continuous improvement. It is a deliberate focus on making things better and more efficient. I can see where this applies to their development as individuals, because by self-improvement the community improves.

Striving toward personal greatness does not create a dichotomy between self and community. The two can be developed simultaneously. In truth, if all of us unleash our personal greatness, everyone will benefit from it.  

China and US: Virtue is Found in The Middle

In Beijing our guide proudly escorted us through palaces and monuments of China's glorious past and around examples of their unlimited potential. She consistently spoke about how the government was moving to correct corruption and even referenced, though in veiled language, some of the challenges they face. Yet when speaking about the government, the country, or even herself she consistently used the pronoun "we." She embodied a "collective" mindset and provides a key learning point for all of us struggling to create a place where everyone can achieve their personal greatness.

We focus in this country on individuality. From the creation of the Constitution we emphasized the rights of the individual. This fosters an atmosphere where whatever is right for me is the most important thing. The state's responsibility is to protect my rights so that I can grow as an individual. This differentiation from others has it's place. It is part of the natural healthy psychological growth of any child. Yet have we taken it too far?

Current society offers us the iphone, ipad, moble me, (emphasis on "I" or "me"). We can eat individually by "having it my way," or with a "personal pan pizza." We are invited to create our own "personal home page" on many online sites and the news sites allow us to personalize the news we read. Mostly everything we read, eat, or do allows us to individualize in some form or another.

Yet the reality exists that we are a community. We have laws and societal standards which assist our growth, stability and functioning as a collective. This collective thinking is singularly important when developing the possibility of all people to discover and attain their personal greatness. What are we doing as a society to help all people move toward that goal? Are we willing to assist others, and occasionally compromise so that others can also succeed?

These are hard questions and they come with balance. In collective cultures, such as China, there is little place for the development of the individual outside what they can provide for the collective whole (though this is changing as I write this). What occurs is a society where almost everyone is working for the common good of all. What it doesn't foster is the development of the powers of each individual to be independently creative, critical and opportunistic. Conversely we have a society where we encourage individuality to the point that many people focus solely on their personal gain to the detriment of society.

Augustine of Hippo once stated "virtue is found in the middle." Developing individual strengths and personality is essential to the natural psychological growth of any individual and assists the whole society. But additionally it is necessary to have moments of compromise and agreement so that the society as a whole can thrive and foster each individual's personal greatness. Growth toward personal greatness cannot be found solely by focusing on "I" but by balancing our personal needs with the needs of the group and also focusing on "we." The balance is key and creates a place where everyone can grow and thrive.