A Cry for Change

Many years ago a painful divorce taught me that the last thing I want in my life is someone who doesn’t want to be there. In the words of the song ‘You can’t play on broken strings’. However, no matter how it comes about, change is difficult. Depression seems to be inversely proportional to the degree of control one feels in the change situation. Today the Scottish referendum result has delivered a mandate for change. The union continues but can never be the same. During the campaigns many promises were made which must now be enacted and it is my belief that, when the dust settles and the negotiations are complete, the union can be stronger than before. The crucial element is that a true dialogue emerges that engages all regions of the UK in a respectful appreciation of their uniqueness so that the desire for unity moves beyond left brain protectionism toward a right brain longing to merge in a collective sense of purpose. Similarly in a corporate environment a unifying sense of purpose is necessary for the organisation to be truly healthy. When an organisation loses its way it is evidenced by loss of trust between corporate management and operations staff. Tensions can only exist for a short period before staff start to vote with their feet and the organisation starts to disintegrate. Just as in the human body, an acute stress can be resolved quickly and prevent disaster but a chronic stress leads to corporate failure. Western medicine has established a cultural expectation that there is a pill for every ill or a surgical procedure for serious conditions. The corporate parallel is the hero figure consultant who is parachuted in to solve a crisis. Often from an accountancy / left brain background, headcount cuts are made, stores closed and books balanced so that their fees can be paid. In their wake they leave a trail of broken dreams and a stunned workforce trying to put the pieces back together. There is a ‘Shit happens; deal with it’ detachment from the scale of their intervention. Every day diabetics have limbs amputated in order that the sufferer can survive. Indeed, diabetes accounts for more amputations than warfare – the chronic disease causes more disability than the acute situation. Some years ago my own life was saved by the skilful intervention of a surgical team and I am forever in their debt. A year passed however before I came to the realisation that my acute situation was the result of systematic neglect of my body over several decades. I’d scored an own goal. My focus on nutrition in recent years has vastly improved my health and the likelihood of further surgery has receded far from view. In most areas of my life I have replaced the dogmatic certainty of my youth with an openness and dialogue which enriches my experience and brings healing and growth. Sadly my new perspective did not emerge in time to affect my marriage. Organisations need not wait for the receivers to divide up the body. By engaging in genuine dialogue to build a shared sense of purpose, trust grows, cooperation breaks out and the need for strict regulation recedes so that common sense prevails. Acute crises are often a cry for change brought about by years of chronic misdirection and diverging expectations. Thankfully high risk surgical solutions can usually be avoided when we listen to our bodies – personal, corporate or national and engage in the necessary changes to restore health naturally. © Paul Curran, September 2014