One of the pleasures of my work, both speaking and now driving, is the number and range of types of people that I meet. It struck me the other day how nice they all are. Watching a porter help a blind man into the hotel here in Washington yesterday; having someone call after me when I dropped something out of my pocket in NY; the amount of kindness I have been shown by pretty much everyone I have encountered as I learn the ropes of truck driving.
And yet we somehow manage to make up stories about ourselves and others, create a sense of "other", and end up in warring tribes.
I understand the power of community and acknowledge the deep seated need we seem to have to belong, but increasingly wonder why we can't be content with belonging to the biggest grouping of them all – humanity?
Our incessant squabbling, whether within business or wider society, wears us down and reduces our collective and individual abilities to deal with our challenges, many of them created by the very same sense of otherness and made up stories.
Shame we seem unable to stop…
The Obvious? 