Is there an elephant in the room?

Maybe it’s the experience of getting older, or maybe it’s the heightening complexity and ambiguity all around us. Perhaps it’s my own growing allergy to the strident certainty we see in so many walks of life. Whatever the reasons, I do find myself turning to the parable of “the blind men and the elephant” with increased frequency lately, as so many people proclaim answers from their particular vantage point of a given situation: the trunk (“it’s a snake”), a leg (“it’s a tree”), an elephant side (“it’s a wall”) or a tail (“it’s a rope”).

Many of our problems, in business and in life at this moment, appear to stem from failing to recognize that our own lens is often limited and seldom “the complete truth.” There’s almost always a part of the picture that we may not be seeing or understanding. Many answers that are conceived with conviction fall short because they are addressing only one aspect of the broader situation. 

Perhaps some of this is merely because people tend to fall in love more easily with “certitude” than “humility,” or with their own ideas versus being open to the potential wisdom of others. Part may be that attention spans are more on the look-out for the short-term fix than ready for the deeper work of forging more complex and robust solutions. 

All of this is just another affirmation of why leadership matters so much, and why essential elements like self-awareness, humility and adaptability are so important to getting us to a better place. Every day, all around us, we can all see that more effective leadership is a critical ingredient in making the difference that we all need.