I too have heard the voices of fear/ego saying "I need to help at scale" which manifested most recently as a push to build my own business as fast as possible so I could start to involve more people and increase impact. The meta crisis is real and I can sense how important healthy, integrated individuals will be to an evolution beyond it.
That said, I'm leaning, in large part thanks to our conversations, towards looking at where I am right now and heeding that still, small voice.
It points me to the following ways I'm participating:
* Loving a handful of people very well.
* Coaching one person at a time instead of thinking so much about inventory.
* Asking the question, "who can I powerfully serve today" and letting intuition fill in the answer as a daily intention.
* Looking at the building of my own company as a long-term, multi-year affair and becoming more comfortable with how it emerges at its own pace.
One thing I trust is that I'm only one part of an ecosystem greater than the sum of its parts. I get to do my one thing well. And trust that Presence is always working to enliven, awaken, and embolden others to lean into the faith required to follow their vocation. That trust gives me hope that the answer to the meta-crisis is already being given collectively, one relationship at a time.
I love this, and admire the awareness you have around the level of trust that’s required for this path.
And for me, for the same reason, it’s been helpful to also know that I can hold the whole thing more loosely than I think. I will show up fully, and contribute as thoroughly as I can (some days more than others, surely), and the rest — all the if thens and therefores — will sort themselves in ways I can’t understand, much less appreciate, much much less manage.
These questions are extremely alive for me too, Ryan. Didn't have the language at the time, but I first started focusing/worrying/wanting to help with the metacrisis when I was 11.
It's been a lifelong journey to understand what's happening and how to live well in the midst of it. I appreciate your reminder here on BOTH the importance of doing the inner work, and of packaging it effectively to increase the likelihood that your island of coherence can ripple out into the chaos.
I absolutely still struggle with doubts, both about the scale of my impact and when I'm in a session with a client that doesn't feel remotely related to any of the issues I care most about (for me, the health and thriving of the more-than-human world)
Some absolute fire from David Whyte on this topic:
So, you have me with everything after the jump from the meta-crisis. In short, organizations reflect their leadership in profound and often surprising ways. Hard agree.
But what's wrong with me that the talk of the meta-crisis lands with so much Chicken Little flavor?
Side note, I'm reading through the lines that you can relate to this response so I hope this isn't an offensive point to make.
I've read and listened to enough Steven Pinker to understand that most of our concerns about the sky falling are not new, and they're also not accurate. (And Pinker has the endless data and charts to prove it.) We're wealthier than we've ever been. We're massively less violent than ever before. We kill each other less. Etc.
The way he puts it, and we can see evidence of this, humans have been panicking about end times since the beginning of times. From that perspective, the meta-crisis just smells like the same idea, repackaged. Even though the sky isn't falling, it's actually really falling. You just can't tell.
I mean, am I still cynic if I think the cynics are too damn cynical?
Last thought: What I'll grant the meta-crisis is what Pinker fails to prove, is that we're actually happier for all of this. I may have missed those details, but I don't think he makes a case for this, certainly not a strong one. And this much I can see.
Certainly not offensive, and I empathize to a large degree. We are certainly better off than we have been. "Factfulness" did a great job of explaining that in ways that are hard to refute, as it sounds like did Pinker.
That said, I imagine we can agree that despite our relative well being compared to the past, there remain many global crises (or "problems" if you prefer) that ought be addressed, all of which are too large for most people.
The fact that we've historically done a good job at handling crises in the past does not mean that we should not attempt to do the same in the future, no?
Thank you for the reply, Ryan. Appreciate a good dialogue.
We do agree on that point, and the addendum to that point, that these issues are too large for most people. I would even take it further to lobby they are too large for any individual.
Where I come into this conversation is as a coach and a human.
You’re the second person in recent history who has discussed this topic with concern, the other being Steve March of Aletheia Coaching. I have the same reaction when Steve talks about this: Even if I grant that there is a there, there… when I’m in the coaching seat, we’re always working more locally.
In fact, I take the position that we’re mostly working on this concept of self, even when the topic is something else.
And here I don’t think I’ve made any claims that you’ll turn your nose up if I read you well enough.
But at the risk of seeming callous, other than validating a client’s concerns about the larger world, what’s worth the energy on this meta-crisis? I’m just not convinced I need to spend bandwidth on it.
It's such an important question and I'm trying to figure it out for myself. With that out of the way...
1. Logic would say that my best path for fixing an important, intractable societal issue is "fix healthcare." That's where my skills, experience, and overall comparative advantage meets a gnarly metacrisis. And I'm continuously presented with opportunities galore to tackle this issue!
2. But it just doesn't feel right to me. Maybe I'm just not interested in healthcare anymore. Maybe I'm sick of dealing with the complexity of the industry. Maybe I've realized that most "solutions" in healthcare are not solutions at all, being built on a broken foundation. Whatever it is, I don't have it in me anymore (at least right now).
3. Instead, I feel naturally drawn to bigger picture questions of meaning and purpose (for myself and others). I always have. It's as if I've realized the "real metacrisis" is our crisis of meaning or lack of orientation around human flourishing. Without solving that, I'm not sure we'll go anywhere. It's the old try-a-bunch-of-tactics-without-a-sound-strategy problem.
4. So can I really solve the entire crisis of meaning? Certainly not. But can I help some people recognize the problem and (god willing) figure it out in their own universe? I don't see why not! Sometimes solutions are not tangible, easy to grasp things like companies or policies or whatever. Sometimes solutions are cultural and social movements... and that's what I'm after now.
I love this thought process, and the reasons behind your choices.
For me it’s also helpful to remember that any choice I make is temporary, and while it feels right to go this way today, that will likely (certainly) change in the future. All I can do is follow the contribution that feels right to me to make, and trust myself to know which that is.
As Ghandi said, “my interest is in the truth, not consistency.”
Well written, Ryan.
I too have heard the voices of fear/ego saying "I need to help at scale" which manifested most recently as a push to build my own business as fast as possible so I could start to involve more people and increase impact. The meta crisis is real and I can sense how important healthy, integrated individuals will be to an evolution beyond it.
That said, I'm leaning, in large part thanks to our conversations, towards looking at where I am right now and heeding that still, small voice.
It points me to the following ways I'm participating:
* Loving a handful of people very well.
* Coaching one person at a time instead of thinking so much about inventory.
* Asking the question, "who can I powerfully serve today" and letting intuition fill in the answer as a daily intention.
* Looking at the building of my own company as a long-term, multi-year affair and becoming more comfortable with how it emerges at its own pace.
One thing I trust is that I'm only one part of an ecosystem greater than the sum of its parts. I get to do my one thing well. And trust that Presence is always working to enliven, awaken, and embolden others to lean into the faith required to follow their vocation. That trust gives me hope that the answer to the meta-crisis is already being given collectively, one relationship at a time.
I love this, and admire the awareness you have around the level of trust that’s required for this path.
And for me, for the same reason, it’s been helpful to also know that I can hold the whole thing more loosely than I think. I will show up fully, and contribute as thoroughly as I can (some days more than others, surely), and the rest — all the if thens and therefores — will sort themselves in ways I can’t understand, much less appreciate, much much less manage.
These questions are extremely alive for me too, Ryan. Didn't have the language at the time, but I first started focusing/worrying/wanting to help with the metacrisis when I was 11.
It's been a lifelong journey to understand what's happening and how to live well in the midst of it. I appreciate your reminder here on BOTH the importance of doing the inner work, and of packaging it effectively to increase the likelihood that your island of coherence can ripple out into the chaos.
I absolutely still struggle with doubts, both about the scale of my impact and when I'm in a session with a client that doesn't feel remotely related to any of the issues I care most about (for me, the health and thriving of the more-than-human world)
Some absolute fire from David Whyte on this topic:
"Start close in,
don’t take the second step
or the third,
start with the first
thing
close in,
the step
you don’t want to take.
Start with
the ground
you know,
the pale ground
beneath your feet,
your own
way to begin
the conversation.
Start with your own
question,
give up on other
people’s questions,
don’t let them
smother something
simple.
To hear
another’s voice,
follow
your own voice,
wait until
that voice
becomes an
intimate
private ear
that can
really listen
to another.
Start right now
take a small step
you can call your own
don’t follow
someone else’s
heroics, be humble
and focused,
start close in,
don’t mistake
that other
for your own.
Start close in,
don’t take
the second step
or the third,
start with the first
thing
close in,
the step
you don’t want to take."
One of my favorites :) thanks for adding it here
So, you have me with everything after the jump from the meta-crisis. In short, organizations reflect their leadership in profound and often surprising ways. Hard agree.
But what's wrong with me that the talk of the meta-crisis lands with so much Chicken Little flavor?
Side note, I'm reading through the lines that you can relate to this response so I hope this isn't an offensive point to make.
I've read and listened to enough Steven Pinker to understand that most of our concerns about the sky falling are not new, and they're also not accurate. (And Pinker has the endless data and charts to prove it.) We're wealthier than we've ever been. We're massively less violent than ever before. We kill each other less. Etc.
The way he puts it, and we can see evidence of this, humans have been panicking about end times since the beginning of times. From that perspective, the meta-crisis just smells like the same idea, repackaged. Even though the sky isn't falling, it's actually really falling. You just can't tell.
I mean, am I still cynic if I think the cynics are too damn cynical?
Last thought: What I'll grant the meta-crisis is what Pinker fails to prove, is that we're actually happier for all of this. I may have missed those details, but I don't think he makes a case for this, certainly not a strong one. And this much I can see.
Cheers for the provocation, Ryan. Keep it coming.
Certainly not offensive, and I empathize to a large degree. We are certainly better off than we have been. "Factfulness" did a great job of explaining that in ways that are hard to refute, as it sounds like did Pinker.
That said, I imagine we can agree that despite our relative well being compared to the past, there remain many global crises (or "problems" if you prefer) that ought be addressed, all of which are too large for most people.
The fact that we've historically done a good job at handling crises in the past does not mean that we should not attempt to do the same in the future, no?
Thank you for the reply, Ryan. Appreciate a good dialogue.
We do agree on that point, and the addendum to that point, that these issues are too large for most people. I would even take it further to lobby they are too large for any individual.
Where I come into this conversation is as a coach and a human.
You’re the second person in recent history who has discussed this topic with concern, the other being Steve March of Aletheia Coaching. I have the same reaction when Steve talks about this: Even if I grant that there is a there, there… when I’m in the coaching seat, we’re always working more locally.
In fact, I take the position that we’re mostly working on this concept of self, even when the topic is something else.
And here I don’t think I’ve made any claims that you’ll turn your nose up if I read you well enough.
But at the risk of seeming callous, other than validating a client’s concerns about the larger world, what’s worth the energy on this meta-crisis? I’m just not convinced I need to spend bandwidth on it.
It's such an important question and I'm trying to figure it out for myself. With that out of the way...
1. Logic would say that my best path for fixing an important, intractable societal issue is "fix healthcare." That's where my skills, experience, and overall comparative advantage meets a gnarly metacrisis. And I'm continuously presented with opportunities galore to tackle this issue!
2. But it just doesn't feel right to me. Maybe I'm just not interested in healthcare anymore. Maybe I'm sick of dealing with the complexity of the industry. Maybe I've realized that most "solutions" in healthcare are not solutions at all, being built on a broken foundation. Whatever it is, I don't have it in me anymore (at least right now).
3. Instead, I feel naturally drawn to bigger picture questions of meaning and purpose (for myself and others). I always have. It's as if I've realized the "real metacrisis" is our crisis of meaning or lack of orientation around human flourishing. Without solving that, I'm not sure we'll go anywhere. It's the old try-a-bunch-of-tactics-without-a-sound-strategy problem.
4. So can I really solve the entire crisis of meaning? Certainly not. But can I help some people recognize the problem and (god willing) figure it out in their own universe? I don't see why not! Sometimes solutions are not tangible, easy to grasp things like companies or policies or whatever. Sometimes solutions are cultural and social movements... and that's what I'm after now.
I love this thought process, and the reasons behind your choices.
For me it’s also helpful to remember that any choice I make is temporary, and while it feels right to go this way today, that will likely (certainly) change in the future. All I can do is follow the contribution that feels right to me to make, and trust myself to know which that is.
As Ghandi said, “my interest is in the truth, not consistency.”