Like
most people, I love America. I am EXTREMELY thankful to have been
born in to such an amazing country. The land of the free and the
home of the brave, right? Especially the free part. Freedom is one of
the most powerful words in these United States. In fact, a lot of
people would argue that the two words (America & Freedom) are
synonymous.
My whole
career, and the mission of my company, is to realize the dreams of
our founding fathers. It's all about, “Life, liberty, and the
pursuit of happiness,” like Thomas Jefferson said. But if you want
to really understand America you will need to understand paradox.
From its conception, so much of the United States has been
paradoxical.
Let's
just take one example, and why not make it about the country's patron
saint? I am speaking, of course, about George Washington. As we know,
Washington led the Continental army and was our first President. One thing you may not have thought about is that resolving paradoxes was one of the main keys
to George Washington's greatness.
The
paradox, which has been in my mind lately, has to do with the
Revolutionary War. In colonial times, a lot of people believed that dedication, and
conviction, were all it would take to defeat the British. The idea
was that colonists, who were devotedly committed to “The Glorious
Cause,” could defeat the seasoned mercenaries that made up the
British armed forces. This romantic illusion persisted for quite a
while. But events in New York City changed everything.
All
across Long Island and Manhattan General Howe, and the British,
kicked the crap out of the Continental army. It was so bad that Howe
had a very real chance of winning permanent victory. But, for some
reason, he chose not to tighten the noose. The events in New York
confirmed what General Washington had long believed. The only way to
defeat a standing army was by becoming a standing army.
Herein
lies the paradox. The imposition of a standing army was the very
thing that the colonists were rebelling against. The imperialism of
the monarch was precisely what caused a million dollars worth of tea
to get thrown in the harbor near Beantown. And yet George Washington
was proposing the creation of a standing army. Talk about a tough
sale!! I mean, how do you recruit people to become the very thing
they despise?
Washington
is arguably the most important of the Founding Fathers. That said, he
certainly wasn't perfect. In fact he was a pretty lousy general. He
lost more battles than he won. And the colonist's two main victories
were largely attributable to other people. In the case of the Battle
of Saratoga, Horatio Gates was in command. And it was the French that
were running the show at Yorktown.
As it
was, Washington initially had wanted to fight the British head-on.
Being an extremely proud and courageous man Washington wanted to go
at it mano-a-mano. New York City demonstrated what a disaster such a
strategy would have been.
In spite
of the seemingly overwhelming odds, they did it. The revolutionary
soldiers defeated the far superior forces of the British crown. The
fact that the colonists won has led many people to deify George
Washington. As Washington himself has said, “Reputation derives its
principal support from success.” Had the Americans lost the war,
the name Washington would probably have meant very little. As it
turned out, victory allowed Washington to name the federal city after
himself. Or at least suggest naming it that way.
George
Washington was a great man. And much of his deserved reputation stems
from his ability to resolve paradoxes. Indeed, solving paradoxes is
one of the key tasks of leadership. And Washington was definitely a
great leader.
So, how
did he do it? What did he do? Put yourself in his shoes. What would
you have done? In today's post I figured I'd ask questions rather
than give answers. The reason being, this sort of mental exercise
is quite useful. Actually, I can't think of an exercise that is more
valuable than the practice of solving paradoxes. Difficult though they may be.
So, chew
on it. Please. How would you have done it? How would you have
defeated the British? And how would you have recruited people to
become the very thing they hate? I will give you one hint, simply
appealing to patriotism didn't work.
