9 Reasons; 1 Choice

Like passing to the hot hand, The Jenius goes back to Dave Pollard's How to Save the World blog. In this case, Nine Reasons We Don't Do What We Should. Although the list has extensive commentary (as does the entire post), The Jenius will focus only on the list's items:

Fear
Lack of Self-Confidence
Lack of Knowledge
Trying to Do Too Much Alone
Trying to Do Too Much
Loss of Self
Lack of Energy
Lack of Reward
It Can't Be Done

The list is targeted at the individual, but it also applies at the level of society, specifically Our Society.

Fear: We are risk-averse.

Lack of Self-Confidence: We focus on style (music, sports) rather than substance (education, technology).

Lack of Knowledge: We are insular and know little about the rest of the world.

Trying to Do Too Much Alone: We criticize Cubans for coming here, helping each other and becoming successful. There's strength in unity...but We don't seem to know that.

Trying to Do Too Much: We are overwhelmed by what "We don't have" rather than focusing on "what We do."

Loss of Self: We never had a "self", which comes from deep knowledge and respect for Our history and culture. That comes from the educational system, so We're screwed.

Lack of Energy: We like to take it easy; all humans do. We just make a fetish of short-cuts, where short-term gain becomes long-term loss

Lack of Reward: We think "reward" is external, ignoring that true rewards are internal. See "Loss of Self."

It Can't Be Done: Almost always modified to "It Can't Be Done Here," for whatever fatuous "reasons" Fools and their followers can spew.


The Jenius is not down on Puerto Rico; anything but. However, not seeing what ails Us undermines any true search for solutions. None of the items listed above is impossible to overcome, but maybe it would be easier to tackle what faces Us if We take another perspective.

According to leadership gurus, there are really only two reasons people don't do big things: Lack of Knowledge and/or Lack of Commitment. On that basis, the challenge is certainly easier. What We don't know how to do, We can learn or find who knows. As for Commitment, well, that's not as easy. It requires vision and courage, often linked to leadership. But understand: leadership is an individual choice. We can't decide for anyone but Ourself. The sum total of these individual choices based on vision and courage will--must--eventually change Us as a whole.

The Jenius Has Spoken.