Action Is Eloquence

"For in such business
Action is eloquence"
CORIOLANUS
Act III, scene ii

Heraclitus wrote “We cannot step into the same river twice” 2500 years ago.

Did he mean that the water we stepped in is now gone, long since become the ocean? Or was it that the next time we step into the river we will be a different person?

Nature is in a constant state of flux. The only constant is our illusion of perfection and permanence.

We fix names on things and people to create an illusion of permanence. Constructs like 'river' allow us to possess or control reality on our own terms.

Whether it is cleaning dishes or altering the culture of society around us, our contribution to the world and people around us is the only true measure of our existence, the rest is all only so much talk that will vanish back into the same thin air from whence it came.

I am working with a small group of quiet revolutionaries. I call them the Omega’s because they are both the beginning and end of change that is underway in a major organization in America. When they buzz, the change flows, when they become mortal, the change evaporates into the sky.

Collectively, these six passionate, visionary individuals are the hub of a movement, a deep rooted change in an iconic organization, whose name I cannot share I am bound by client - consultant privilege.

The Omega’s power source is not in the formal delegation of authority by their collective boss, it does not come from their job titles or even the consultants that pursue their charge. Their power resides in their unified, fearless sense of the present moment and a shared sense of mission. Their power springs from the engagement of the hearts and minds of the people all around them.

The Omega's have created a trusted space to help hundreds of people to fashion a future in the new high tech, multi-media environment.

Like the rest of us, the Omega’s have their good and bad days, but when they set aside any vain pre-occupation with position power, titles and the temporal reputations that so often consume men, this is when they flow, this is when they reign supreme.

The Omega's disappeared for 7 weeks, melted away as mystically as they appeared. Suddenly, there they stood alone, six lonely, fragmented, powerless mortals consumed in their positions and roles. This was a temporary slide, thankfully they have found their voice once more in the past few weeks.

The Omega's power rises when they forget their individual power and forge a new reality through each other.

The Omega’s shift to a whole new level when they create a space to enable hundreds of people in their industry to find their own voice.

It is stirring to watch their individual intelligence flow through each other to create an ocean of energy and power. They grow as they wrestle and struggle through each others truths. I sense the pain as they they hit boulders and river banks of chaos, only to find a new reality rise out of the confusion. They become ordinary when they take themselves, their positions and titles seriously.

The focus on a new reality, the open engagement and genuine collective inquiry leading to rapid action through expeditions and initiatives has provided this small, conspicuous group the opportunity to do something that no individual genius or hero could dream of.

Victor Frankl reminds us in“Man’s Search For Meaning”

"We can discover this meaning in life in three different ways, through our deeds, experience of a value and finally through suffering…. Everything can be taken from a man but ...the last of the human freedoms - to choose ones attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose ones own way. What matters most, therefore, is not the meaning of life in general, but rather the specific meaning of a person's life at a given moment.

He goes on further to say:

“What man actually needs is not a tension-less state but rather the striving and struggling for some goal worthy of him. What he needs is not the discharge of tension at any cost, but the call of a potential meaning waiting to be fulfilled by him. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life - daily and hourly. Our answer must consist, not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual."

Every thought feeds an action. Every action create a new thought. This is the self-perpetuating water mill of life, the energy that flows from and through our nature, into and out of every precious moment that we are alive.

The Omega's are a temporary construct, they are imperfect and impermanent, but as they change, they change the world around them. That is what makes them the 'Omega'. As they grow, so does everything around them, including me.

The moment they combine their diverse experiences, strengths and styles through each other, they alter the path of the very river that they stand in. The Omega's embody the notion of moving from 'having', to 'being' to 'becoming'. Every time I step into them I am renewed.

“We, which now behold these present days
Have eyes to wonder, but lack tongues to praise”
SONNET CVI (106)

Comments

[ellenweber]

You open many possibilitis here for growth in the human soul and in business. How do you reconcile these practices with basic beliefs of people who differ from your beliefs and yet who still want to learn from all the wisdom you offer here?

[Kashmir Birk]

Such conflicts are a rare and raw condition that sparks us to life. Such conflicts are an invitation to an awakening. Why would we want to reconcile when we can garner so much more from the creative tension that resides in true differences?

[Roselyn]

This is a great tip.
http://www.rapidsharemix.com