| Through an advanced understanding of different | | | | Sartre view human beings as forced to deal with |
| worldviews, you can lead the way in this time of | | | | circumstances way outside their control - and having |
| increasing globalization and diversity. Each worldview | | | | no choice but to find meaning by discovering what's |
| carries with it a specific and definable mental model | | | | truly important to each individual. One aspect of this |
| of how the world works - and how it should be. The | | | | worldview is the idea that what is important to me is |
| Western worldview schools us to look at everything | | | | not affected by what is important to you. Each must |
| rationally. When faced with a problem, our first | | | | find their path to individual truth. |
| instinct is to take it apart and devise the best | | | | The fourth worldview, the Religious, holds that |
| solution. Working on the assumption that the world is | | | | knowledge is conferred through faith, and that a kind |
| well ordered and rational, there's not much wrong | | | | of mystical power is vested in God or a system of |
| with this strategy. | | | | gods. People who follow this philosophy are drawn to |
| But the Western rational worldview is only one | | | | prayer and religious experience, and use their beliefs |
| worldview. Philosophers and sociologists have | | | | and religious traditions to influence their |
| identified at least four different worldviews: Western, | | | | decisions~People who follow this philosophy are |
| Eastern, Existentialist, and Religious. | | | | drawn to prayer and religious experience, and use |
| The Western Worldview favors the rational and the | | | | their beliefs and religious traditions to influence their |
| power of free will. It stresses individual initiative, | | | | decisions~People living according to this philosophy |
| getting things done, and tackling challenges on our | | | | allow their decisions to be influenced by beliefs and |
| own. This worldview is not comfortable with | | | | religious traditions, and are drawn to prayer and |
| uncertainty and irrationality. This explains, perhaps, | | | | religious experience}. This worldview confers great |
| the appeal to Westerners of tidy plot lines that | | | | power on religious leaders who interpret events in |
| translate so well to television. It's comforting to see | | | | the external world as the manifestation of God's |
| sixty-minute solutions, easy outs, and resolvable | | | | intent and try to impose their interpretations through |
| dilemmas. This worldview unfortunately does not | | | | religious training and teaching. |
| encourage us to open our eyes too wide, and does | | | | All four of these worldviews mingle together in |
| nothing to prepare us for the complex chaos of | | | | today's organizations. At one of our client companies, |
| reality. | | | | for example, teams of software developers from |
| Contrast that to the Eastern worldview, which | | | | the U.S., Europe and Asia routinely work together on |
| focuses on what is unknowable. It holds that intuition | | | | projects. The four worldviews are present in the |
| and insight can help us tap into deeper areas of | | | | team. Communication is the team leader's forte, but |
| spiritual meaning. It assumes that the unconscious | | | | even he falls victim to frustration as the deadlines |
| mind has access to deeper and more meaningful | | | | approach and people start to react differently. "We |
| insights than those available through rational thinking, | | | | had one guy praying, another yelling obscenities to |
| and that this non-conscious awareness can be | | | | the sub-contractors, and another merely chuckling |
| improved through training. In the Eastern worldview, | | | | away at the ridiculousness of the situation" he said. |
| people act under the influence of unseen spiritual | | | | To be an effective leader, you need to find ways to |
| forces, and their lives are suffused with this unseen | | | | gently manage the contradictions between these |
| spiritual world. People with this worldview have a | | | | worldviews. A broad sense of humor goes a long |
| deep psychological need for meditation, for quieting | | | | way. But it's also important to establish a framework |
| the rational mind, for a personal experience of the | | | | of core values that can provide people a focus and |
| unknowable. They are also wary of easy solutions to | | | | serve as a bridge between different worldviews. |
| complicated problems. | | | | Leaders must lead people in hard conversations about |
| A third worldview is the Existentialist which teaches | | | | the difference between their values and the |
| that all human experiences are unexplainable and that | | | | organization's core values (the first quantum leap). |
| the only true way to exist to learn to make the | | | | They must be prepared to teach others how deeply, |
| most of these experiences, as regards both the | | | | frustratingly complex the world is. How you decide to |
| family and the world in which we live. This worldview | | | | navigate and lead through this disparity of convictions |
| holds that the highest goal is to be authentic to one's | | | | is a test of how capable you are of engagement, |
| own beliefs, to act on those beliefs, and to create a | | | | communication and the building of a high-performing |
| life built on being true to those beliefs. Existentialist | | | | organization. |
| thinkers such as Soren Kierkegaard or Jean-Paul | | | | |