I was talking with a good friend yesterday about Republicans and Democrats, Barack, Hillary, and John McCain (it just occurred to me that in McCain’s case we identify him by his last name, not his first–I guess that’s the problem if you share the same first name with 50 million other people! But there is an inherent brand problem there for him–a topic for another time!)
The point of our conversation was nothing Earth-shaking, but we were both chuckling, ironically, that George W. is going to leave office under almost the same circumstances that his dad did; even worse. And funny, up until now I considered George H. to be the worst President in my lifetime, and now George W. is going to leapfrog ahead of his dad to the top of my list. So of course we had to ask ourselves, “how did we get here?” Can we blame the Bush’s and every other politician that draws our individual ire–sure we can.
But the fact is that somewhere between the end of World War II and now, as individuals our focus has become more and more inward–our first worry is how something, anything, affects me. At the end of the day, it’s always about me, me, me. It permeates every facet of our lives: family, work, religion, politics, sports, and it doesn’t ever seem to slow down.
As I head up to bed tonight, and look in on my beautiful, innocent two children, it saddens me greatly that I believe the world that I am passing on to them is not a better world than the one I grew up in. So, beginning today, I will use the Most Important Question:
“If I do (pick an action of your choice), will it make this world a better place for my kids to grow up in than the world that I grew up in?”
I challenge all of us to ask ourselves the same question, because ultimately all we have collectively is what we can pass along to those that follow us. And if we keep going down the path that we’re on, the next generations will be cleaning up our mess.
It’s easy to make life complicated, but I’m going to start trying to make it a lot more simple, and simple begins and ends with the Most Important Question. If you like the idea, try it, and let’s see how it can change us.
I really like the idea of the MIQ. It’s a powerful concept — that seeing the world through the filter of our children can provoke positive action. Thanks for sharing!
Rob, I struggle with this daily.
If I publish a series of bestselling books on social entrepreneurship, will I make the world a better place for the next generation?
Reduced to a single, MIQ, this seems like a no-brainer: Yes. Well, hopefully anyway…I mean, making the world a better place is the whole CONCEPT behind books like that.
But what if to make these books appealing enough that people would actual buy/read/use them, I have to produce them in such a colorful, design-intensive way that the only cost-effective method of printing them is to send the job to China?
How many people will have to buy the book—and use it to start Feed The Hungry programs (or whatever)—to offset the negative consequences of my offshoring?
You’re right when you say it’s easy to make life complicated! Our MIQ decisions never happen in a void.
Great thoughts Ralf, and good to hear from you as well! The MIQ can be pretty powerful in all aspects of decision-making–admittedly not always the easiest to follow but it always seems to provide a framework of clarity. I’m interested to hear more about the concept of social entreprenuership…