There is something that is even more important: we can be curious about our own dancing (alone or with one or more partners). Do we follow a standard pattern: perhaps a fox trot (for the really old folks) or a bit of twisting (for the middle aged and semi-old folks) and some “free-lance” dancing (for the young folks). Or do we just “strike out on our own’ and create our own dance. What about our dance-like engagements in our organization? Are we old-fashion, new age or improvisational in our work with other people and in our personal and collective envisioning of the future for this organization? Rosabeth Kanter (1989) believes that even the leaders of big, old organizations can dance—so can we . . .
Mysteries
We enter a domain in which problems, dilemmas and polarities seem to merge into Mysteries when we begin to address challenges associated with dancing (and even oscillating) landscapes. Mysteries operate at a different level than puzzles, problems, messes, dilemmas or polarities. First, it is important to note that mysteries are often associated with Essential issues that can be predicted. Uncertainty can be avoided when the inevitable appearance of Mystery is acknowledged. However, it is not enough to acknowledge the inevitability. Though these mysterious Essential issues may be predictable, they are often difficult to understand and are ultimately unknowable. We must also acknowledge that many mysteries are filled with complexity, ambiguity and contradictions. A specific mystery is profound. Unfortunately, in many cases mysteries reside in the world of negative apprehensive Essentials. They are “hellish.” In some cases, fortunately, mysteries reside in the world of positive, aspirational Essentials. They are “heavenly.” Thus, the Mystery is either awe-inspiring (aspirational Essential) or awe-ful (apprehensive Essential). If nothing else, this mystery is likely to be Enthralling. It is therefore hard to ignore as an “the Elephant in the room”.
As in the case of dilemmas and polarities, we anticipate the encountering of many mysteries in our lives—but also find it hard to do much about these mysteries. Like Einstein, we can be “passionately curious” about the profound mysteries we encounter. However, most of us don’t have the brainpower of Einstein to successfully confront mysteries with curiosity. We have to narrow down the mystery and deal with only a portion of its big “awe-full-ness.” For instance, we know that powerful storms will occasionally impact crops that our agri-business is raising or the tourism on which our resort depends. Increasingly, we are aware that climate change will make these storms even more predictable. We can’t do much about climate change (a distal event), but we can do some contingency planning (proximal event) regarding the potential loss of crops or tourist trade.
I offer a particularly timely example of a mystery about which we are apprehensive. This mystery concerns the viruses that are now impacting our collective lives. Ultimately, we probably can’t do much to control the occurrence of viruses –at least not in our persona life. Viruses are distal events. However, we can focus on steps to be taken in avoiding the virus or treating it. This proximal perspective turns the mystery into a somewhat manageable problem–or it becomes a some less manageable dilemma. As I have already noted, it can also become a particularly challenging polarity.
Then there are the very personal (proximal) and profound mysteries surrounding the impact of births and deaths on our individual lives. We know that all things have a beginning and must come to an end. However, we still find it hard to accept these inevitable, mysterious outcomes. Doulas can help us prepare for the birth of a child, and hospice workers can help us prepare for death–as can reading a book such as Being Mortal by Atul Gawande (2014). We can even be curious about the process of birth and death. These mysteries have always been a source of curiosity and creativity for authors, dramatists, poets, artists and philosophers—leading to many books, plays, poems and paintings depicting birth or death.
